INCREASE Featured in German TV Cooking Show
The INCREASE project recently reached a wide audience through national German television. On 27 October 2025, INCREASE was featured in the popular VOX TV cooking show Lege kommt auf den Geschmack (“Lege acquires a taste for it”), where product developer Sebastian Lege set out to create “Das perfekte Chili” – the perfect chili con carne.
As part of this episode, Lege visited the IPK gene bank to explore the diversity of bean varieties preserved there, tasting several traditional types in search of the perfect match for his chili masterpiece. Among them were INCREASE beans, whose unique flavours and textures contributed to creating the ultimate chili dish.
The episode also featured Dr Kerstin Neumann, Coordinator of the INCREASE Citizen Science Experiment (CSE), who joined the expert jury to evaluate the dishes and decide whether Lege’s chili truly deserved the title “Das perfekte Chili”.
With 900,000 viewers tuning in, and a 10.0 percent market share among the 14- to 49-year-olds – the highest rating ever achieved by the show – the episode reached a broad audience and offered an engaging glimpse into the power of biodiversity in everyday cuisine.
“It’s fantastic to see INCREASE beans celebrated in such a popular format,” says Tamara Messer, Project Manager of INCREASE at EURICE. “INCREASE bridges science and society by demonstrating the culinary potential of genetic diversity in legumes. Through formats like the VOX feature, we can show how scientific research on crop diversity directly connects to people’s everyday lives – from the gene bank to the kitchen.”
Driving outreach and knowledge valorisation activities in INCREASE, EURICE supports the communication and dissemination of these scientific achievements, ensuring that the project’s messages on biodiversity, sustainability, and citizen engagement reach audiences well beyond the research community. The VOX feature represents a significant step in bridging science and society by turning complex research on genetic diversity into a tangible and inspiring story for the public.
The full episode “Das perfekte Chili” can be streamed online via RTL+.
INCREASE Featured in ARTE Documentary
INCREASE also gained attention in the ARTE documentary “Superfood Beans”, produced by MDR and directed by Jasmin Lakatoš. The film follows INCREASE scientists and citizen participants across Europe as they explore the remarkable diversity of beans and their potential for the future of sustainable food systems. The documentary is now available in the ARD Mediathek.
