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Podcast: Hospitality in the Era of Web3 with Ben Leventhal
Ben Leventhal has nothing if not good timing. In 2004 the New York entrepreneur launched Eater at the dawn of the blogging era, when food media was still mostly legacy publications and message boards. After selling Eater to Vox, he launched Resy in 2014 just as restaurants were beginning to...
Will AI Make For Better CPG Products? These Startups Think So
While the overall food tech market has seen a contraction in funding in 2022 as venture investors become more cautious, one area of companies that seems to continue to raise interest is those that leverage ML and other forms of AI to power CPG decision-making, product development, and core ingredient development.
How ChatGPT Is Going to Make You a Better Cook
You’ve probably heard of ChatGPT by now, the AI-powered chatbot wowing technologists, journalists, and a whole bunch of Twitter users with its ability to understand human language and give realistic human-like responses. The New York Times called ChatGPT the “best artificial intelligence chatbot ever released to the general public”...
Food Tech Weekend Podcast: Talking Food Robots With Clayton Wood
Our guest this week on our weekly food tech news wrapup is Clayton Wood, the CEO of pizza robot startup Picnic. We talk about the latest food tech news and hear Clayton’s view on where things are going in the world of food robots. Here are the stories we...
Forum3 Announces $10M Seed Round On Heels of Launch of Starbucks’ Web3 Loyalty Beta
Today Forum3, a Seattle-based startup that helps companies build Web3-enabled loyalty programs, has announced it has raised a $10 million seed funding round. The company, co-founded by former Starbucks loyalty lead Adam Brotman and Seattle-based VC and ex-Microsoft exec Andy Sack, raised funding from Decasonic and included participation by Bloccelerate, Liberty City Ventures, and Arca, along with strategic investments from Polygon Ventures and Valor Siren Ventures.
Motif and Impossible Patent Fight Continues as Europe Revokes Key Impossible Patent
Motif Foodworks announced today it has filed four additional challenges to U.S. patents held by Impossible Foods, pointing to a recent preliminary decision by the European Patent Office (EPO) to revoke a key European patent of Impossible’s. According to Motif, the EPO recently revoked Impossible patent No. 2,943,072 B1...
New Culture Believes Its Animal-Free Casein Will Help Grow the Alt.Cheese Market
It might sound like a scene from “Forest Gump,” but consumers love cheese–sliced, diced, shredded, spread, liquid, and chunked. Globally, according to Expert Market Research, we’re looking at a space that reached a value of about $75.46 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% in the forecast period of 2023-2028, reaching a value of approximately $109.85 billion by 2026. Any way you look at it, that’s a lot of cheddar.
Israel’s Brevel and Vgarden Team Up to Add Taste to the Alt.Cheese Market
Vegans would agree that cheese is one of the more difficult foods to put aside when entering the plant-based world. A decade ago, vegan cheese options were lacking, and even though the choices have skyrocketed, finding a smoked gouda cheddar. Mozzarella, or provolone’s taste closely approximates its dairy counterpart, has been challenging. Yes, some smaller artisan brands do a respectable job, but finding a creamy, melty vegan cheese that nails taste and texture is a tall order.
Food Tech Friday Podcast: Farmbots, Smart Mixers and Cocaine Bear
We’re ramping our Friday food tech casual news podcast back up again, and on this week’s episode, Mike and Carlos talk about some of the stories that caught their attention this week:. Will reusable containers take off at colleges? What about restaurants? One startup is trying to make...
GE Appliances Debuts Voice-Controlled Smart Mixer That Detects Texture and Viscosity
GE Appliances just dropped an interesting new appliance: a smart stand mixer with built-in scale, app control for guided recipes, and voice control through Alexa and Google Home. The Profile Smart Mixer is, as far as I can tell, the first Wi-Fi controlled smart mixer on the market, which is...
Monarch Launches Production of Electric, Driver-Optional Tractor
Monarch, a California-based maker of autonomous electric tractors, announced it had launched production of its first model, the MK-V. The first models of the MK-V, a driver-optional, all-electric tractor, will be going to Constellation Brands, a large wine and spirits producer. According to Monarch, the first six MK-Vs off the production line are heading to Constellation.
Beer Brewing Startup iGulu is Back from the Dead, Plans to Split Brewing Machine Into Two
Like something out of a horror movie, beer brewing automation startup iGulu has come back from the dead, reanimating into something resembling a startup trying to bring a product to market. The company, whose demise was well-documented here on The Spoon, apparently never gave up on its dream of delivering...
The Secret to Scaling a Plant-Based Meat Startup With Nowadays’ Max Elder
In his previous life, Max Elder worked as a futurist, where he helped food brands develop strategies for the future. One of his primary motivations in this work was the belief he could help steer these brands away from animal agriculture and toward a future centered around more humane and sustainable foods. Over time, however, Elder realized that to have a meaningful impact, he’d have to create his own product.
Here’s Your 2022 Kitchen Tech Black Friday Deals
If you’re shopping for the kitchen tech nerd in your life (or if you’re one yourself), you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a list of the cooking and kitchen-tech-related Black Friday deals we’ve found. If you spotted a good deal we don’t have listed, drop us a line or put it in the comments.
Reusable Takeout Containers Gain Traction at Universities, But What About Restaurants?
Like everywhere else, colleges saw a jump in takeout food and delivery during the pandemic as students avoided the dining hall amidst stringent social distancing rules at the height of COVID. However, even as things normalize, on-the-go food options put into place during the pandemic remain popular due to the convenience they afford busy college students, resulting in a lot of single-use containers making their way toward landfills.
High Tech Farmer AppHarvest is Rapidly Running Out of Money
Kentucky-based controlled environmental agriculture company AppHarvest has warned in its latest financial report that it only has enough capital to continue operations into the first quarter of 2023. According to its quarterly report filed on November 7th, the company says there is “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as...
Restaurant Tech News Pod: Web3 Restaurants, Sweetgreen Robots, Subway Smart Fridge
Last week I caught up with Expedite’s Kristen Hawley to talk about some of the recent happenings in the world of restaurant tech. Some of the stories we talked about on this episode include:. Subway debuts smart fridges to sell sandwiches as they up their unattended retail efforts. Flyfish...
Hack Drains FriesDAO Restaurant Project of $2.3M in What Looks Like Potentially Lethal Blow
Late last month, FriesDAO, the organization that made a splash when it raised over $5 million via a token offering earlier this year, saw its treasury raided and drained by a hacker. According to a postmortem created by the DAO’s admins, hackers were able to access the DAO’s treasury and...
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