For the past three years, Fazer’s research and innovation unit Fazer Lab has been busy studying the connections between nutrition, sleep, physical activity and the well-being of the brain in an extensive research program called Fazer Brainhow. 

Now you can test and taste some of the outcomes of our research in the TestEat restaurant, as IBM employees are piloting the Fazer Brainhow well-being service.

In the Fazer Brainhow research programme, we are building a science-based understanding of how nutrition, sleep, activity and recovery affect our cognition and well-being. And as we build our understanding, we then use our knowledge to create products and services that help boost well-being easily, every day.

One example of this is the Fazer Brainhow Service – a well-being service and a mobile app that encourages people towards a more brain-friendly lifestyle and helps boost well-being in a fun, relaxed way. The five-week program that includes active coaching on holistic well-being – nutrition, sleep, recovery and physical activity. We have developed the service with Fazer Food Services, to help their clients support the well-being of their employees. The mobile app has content – tips, hints, guidance – to make small changes that boost well-being, but the brain-friendly food served in a Fazer restaurant is a crucial part of this well-being experience.

Another important part of the service is the personal coaching given by Fazer Lab’s nutrition specialist Iina Savenius. Iina answers questions and gives feedback on the meals people share through the service’s meal diary: “We’ve noticed that people are sometimes a bit shy about sharing their meals, perhaps concerned about getting negative feedback on their diets. But our idea is not to blame anyone or to be too serious about every bite you take. We want this to be a fun, enlightening experience that gives people the support they feel they need, and perhaps a small push to help them feel better in their everyday lives. To have more energy at work and after work,” says Iina.

Try out Fazer Brainhow brain-friendly food in TestEat in May

We have piloted Fazer Brainhow Service with several Finnish companies, collected feedback, and then continued developing the service and content according to the feedback.

And now, from the end of April until early June, IBM employees in Finland are piloting this well-being service. About 70 IBM employees have signed up to the pilot and we are looking forward to hearing their feedback on how the technical solution works, on what they think about the content we have produced, and how the service helped them on their well-being journey.

The pilot lasts for five weeks – and during that time, Fazer Brainhow brain-friendly food is available to all in the TestEat restaurant.

Sara Karvinen, Senior Manager, Fazer Lab