Mike Hoogveld
Co-founder nlmtd
Mike Hoogveld is a partner at nlmtd and an expert in future-proof organizing. With more than twenty years of experience as a manager and advisor across a wide range of organizations, both in the Netherlands and internationally, he is also a startup mentor, conducts scientific research at Nyenrode, and teaches at various universities and business schools.
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What if eating better did not have to be more complicated, but could actually be simpler? And what if one of the biggest challenges in the food transition lies not in production or scarcity, but in how we organize it? In the podcast Mastering Transitions, we spoke with serial entrepreneur Tom Peeters, founder of Crisp, among others. His story shows that the food transition does not begin with technology or innovation in the traditional sense, but with redesigning a system we have long taken for granted.
From Personal Frustration to Systemic Innovation
As with many transitions, this story starts small and personal. For Peeters, the idea for Crisp grew out of a familiar frustration. As a busy family, you quickly end up in the supermarket, even though what you really want is better, fresher, and more local food. That immediately reveals a fundamental tension in our current food system. While high-quality food from local farmers, growers, and makers is widely available, it is often difficult for consumers to access. Not because it does not exist, but because the system is not designed for it. Peeters set out to change that, and his approach offers several important lessons.
Lesson 1: The biggest challenge in the food transition is often not supply, but organization
One of the most striking insights from the conversation is that food is not scarce in the Netherlands. On the contrary, there is abundance. The problem lies in distribution. The current system is optimized for scale, shelf life, and efficiency, with central distribution centers, long supply chains, and standardized products. That approach works, but often at the expense of quality, freshness, transparency, and price.
Crisp turned this logic on its head. Instead of building on the existing system, it starts from a different set of principles:
- Rather fresh than long-life.
- Rather near than far.
- Rather known than anonymous.
The real challenge then becomes how to organize these principles at scale.
Lesson 2: What seems simple becomes complex once you scale it
At first glance, the idea sounds straightforward: connect local producers with consumers. In practice, complexity emerges the moment you try to do this at scale. Not because the individual steps are difficult, buying products, packing groceries, organizing transport, but because everything has to work together at the same time.
This reveals a crucial insight for transitions. Complexity rarely sits in the individual components, but in the coherence between them. That calls for a different way of thinking. Not optimizing parts in isolation, but designing a system in which all elements reinforce one another.
Lesson 3: Transitions accelerate when you build for the future, not the present
Many organizations try to make existing models more sustainable step by step. Crisp takes a different approach by starting from the desired end state. Rather than making the supermarket a little better, it designs a model that aligns with where the market is heading. The advantage is clear: you do not have to persuade customers to do something unnatural, but instead tap into a movement that is already underway. According to Peeters, successful transitions do not follow customers, they anticipate where customers are going.
That said, platform models face a classic chicken-and-egg problem: what comes first, supply or demand? Crisp’s solution is both pragmatic and effective. Start anyway. Build a first version that works, however small, and grow from there. Waiting for perfection only slows change.
Lesson 4: Behavior changes through experience, not belief
One of the biggest hurdles in any transition is changing behavior. People are creatures of habit, especially when it comes to daily routines like grocery shopping. Crisp demonstrates that behavior shifts not through arguments or ideals, but through experience. Once people taste better food or experience greater convenience, they do not want to go back.
This leads to a powerful principle. Focus less on convincing people and more on letting them experience a better alternative. New habits can then form naturally, and lasting change follows.
Lesson 5: Transitions require a different mindset than traditional innovation
Where many organizations focus on unique ideas and competitive advantage, Crisp deliberately chooses openness and scale. Instead of protecting innovation, the goal is to create a movement. A transition only becomes meaningful when many actors move in the same direction.
That requires a fundamentally different mindset:
Think in growth rather than scarcity.
- Do not protect, but share.
- Do not optimize what works poorly, but scale what works well. Find evidence of what works, and do more of it.
In short
Perhaps the most important reflection from the conversation is that transitions rarely happen through a big bang. They unfold gradually, as an undercurrent. This applies not only to food, but also to domains such as energy, healthcare, and education. The implication is clear. You do not have to change the entire system at once, but you do have to start moving in the right direction.
In doing so, several recurring patterns become visible:
- See transitions as an organizational issue, not just a technological one.
- Build systems, not isolated solutions.
- Focus on enabling people to experience change rather than trying to convince them.
- Work from a vision of the future, not from the constraints of the past.
- Start small, share what works, and scale it up.
Transitions are not predefined projects with a clear end date. They are dynamic movements that gain momentum as more and more people begin to move in the same direction.
Listen to the full episode
Curious about Tom Peeters’ full story, including concrete examples and real-world insights? Then listen to the Mastering Transitions episode and discover how the food transition is unfolding in practice.
