Our mission
To create new and better ways for people to understand and experience food.
The food sector is now one of the largest revenue drivers for the economy. It is also one of the most damaging industries to society and the environment, with food systems accounting for a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
As the global population continues to surge so does the demand for food. In parts of the world, communities are going hungry due to famine, drought, and corrupt economies. Elsewhere, daily expenditures and investments in food are increasing at a pace. When it comes to healthcare, poor diets and lack of education cause immense suffering while healthy diets and increased awareness can be life-changing and life-saving.
Organizations worldwide have a remit and responsibility to produce sustainable products, improve our health and reduce food waste, all while meeting a growing population and demand for premium customer experiences.
Portion Collaborative is committed to working with businesses and individuals — both local and global — to create a better food future by disrupting the many stages of the food value chain.
Meet our founder
Lara Hanlon
Founder, Director
Lara is a problem solver, creative thinker, and connector of people and ideas. A Food Systems Strategist, her curiosities lie in the intersection of design, business, sustainability, and humanities.
Before founding Portion Collaborative, Lara served as a Senior Designer at IBM in Ireland and New York City where she supported global teams to envision and advance design practices, transform corporate culture, and deliver market differentiated outcomes for the enterprise. During her time at the multinational corporation, she was integral in the facilitation and delivery of design thinking engagements for clients in the food and retail sector including Unilever, Walmart, CocaCola, McDonald’s, CVS, and PepsiCo. Toward the end of her tenure, Lara worked with IBM Research where she completed a Sustainable Business Strategy program with Harvard Business School Online to further advance her skills in business innovation and sustainability.
In parallel, Lara became increasingly interested in “the future of food”. She conceived éntomo — a research project that used design strategies and methodologies to encourage Western society to embrace insects as a sustainable food source. In 2017, she delivered a TEDx talk on her discoveries. While undertaking this multi-year research endeavor, she observed the need for increased creativity in the food industry. This prompted her to pursue certification in Food and Sustainability at The European Institute of Innovation and Sustainability.
The combined experiences and acquired expertise in the last decade ultimately inspired Lara to establish Portion Collaborative in 2022.
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Lara co-delivered Ireland’s first PostGrad Design Thinking course at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design + Technology (IADT). She has held lecturing positions in Graphic Design, Interaction Design, and Universal Design at IADT, and has delivered guest lectures to the School of Visual Arts New York, and Temple University Philadelphia.
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An active contributor to the design community at large, Lara is a committee member at 100 Archive and a mentor for The Big Idea. She has delivered talks to audiences all over the world including TEDx, Creative Mornings, Design Thinking Ireland, Why Design, National Digital Design Conference Pakistan, Bulgaria Web Summit, Mobile UX London, among others.
Her design work has been exhibited, featured, and published by Milan Design Week, FastCompany, Shenzhen Design Awards, Silicon Republic, Dezeen Magazine, Offscreen Magazine, and Bloomsbury Publishing NYC.
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Why work with Portion Collaborative?