Today’s food system dramatically impairs our and our planet’s health. This is bound to change. Change is driven by a combination of people, ideas and concepts which will be embodied in novel circular rather than familiar linear processes. We want to be a prime mover by facilitating opportunities to pioneers who fascinate us with their unconventional but promising mindsets. AVINA seeks, supports and accompanies people who are dedicated to their project to develop new forms of human nutrition. We consider it our strength to provide agile support where this is difficult to obtain. Ideas we support routinely go against established mainstream.

AVINA is proud to stand out by being a family funded independent Swiss foundation. Our decisionmaking is fast, simple and straightforward. Our assessment of a project primarily depends on the person’s ability to make it happen. We invite those with whom we work to become part of a broader and growing movement. In this spirit we conduct our business in distinctly personal way based on mutual confidence

AVINA was created in 1994 by Dr. Stephan Schmidheiny, successful business entrepreneur and founder and honorary chair of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development. As a pioneer, he continued his family legacy in his own progressive way and inspired numerous people and institutions with his visionary work. Earlier on the foundation had its emphasis on funding and supporting social, cultural and educational projects. In the recent past as we learned more about the complex issues around producing and consuming food, we decided to make nutrition with its effect on the planet and our health our main focus.