Sustainable Snacking: traceless® Friespickers Debut at Major Festivals

How can sustainable single-use items succeed at large-scale events? traceless materials demonstrated it at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, where their plastic-free friespickers took the stage. It's a practical step towards circular solutions in the foodservice industry.

Two of Germany's most iconic music festivals became the stage for a material innovation in 2025. Together with catering partner Gastro Team Bremen (GTB), part of Aramark Germany, the Hamburg-based start-up traceless materials deployed its compostable traceless® friespickers — and received positive feedback from food operators and festival guests alike.

The foodservice sector is under growing pressure to replace conventional plastics — driven by regulatory measures and shifting consumer expectations. At large-scale events, reusable systems are often impractical due to logistical constraints.

traceless® offers a viable solution:

• Made from agricultural residues, it is plant-based, plastic-free and home compostable
• The production process emits around 90% less CO₂ compared to fossil-based plastics
• The material is safe, free from microplastics and harmful chemicals

traceless®' collaboration with GTB began in 2022 during the Labor Tempelhof concert series, an experimental event format promoting Cradle-to-Cradle design. After initial tests, the 2025 edition marked the first wide-scale application of industrially produced friespickers.

"The practical testing of innovative solutions such as the traceless® friespickers is an important step in this mission. Initial feedback is encouraging and shows that a solution like traceless® can offer the same convenience and practicality that festivalgoers expect – while ensuring true sustainability," says Karen Matthiesen, Project Manager & Sustainability Officer at GTB Gastro Team Bremen.

The successful pilot was made possible through collaboration:

• traceless materials – material development and design
• Ecko-Pack & CompriseTec – manufacturing partners
• GTB / Aramark Germany – catering and logistics
• Rock am Ring & Rock im Park – festival organisers

With its festival debut, traceless® is preparing for full market entry in 2025. Its growing foodservice collection includes friespickers, spoons, trays and more — all designed to combine real-world usability with circular design.

"This is just the beginning of our journey, and I'm excited to see our production grow, enabling us to provide meaningful solutions for businesses and consumers on a large scale, thereby making the kind of impact needed to tackle plastic pollution," says Anne Lamp, CEO and co-founder of traceless materials.