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Catherine Lamb

April 22, 2020

Japanese Startup Base Food to Debut High-Nutrition Bread in U.S.

Bread seems to be the unofficial food of quarantine. No wonder — it’s comforting, it’s affordable, and it’s a soothing home project to tackle, if you’re into that sort of thing.

But much as we love bread, we know that eating it all day, every day is probably not the healthiest decision in the world. A Japanese startup called Base Food is bringing a more nutritionally appealing bread offering to the U.S.

Founded in 2016, Base Food uses nutrient-dense ingredients like whole grain flour, seaweed, and flaxseed to develop healthier versions of staple foods. Starting today, the company’s second product, Base Bread, will be available direct-to-consumer in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada and Colorado.

It will come in just one big 72-gram roll, which will cost $3.33 each or $2.99 each if you sign up for a monthly subscription. The bread will come frozen, which is why the company is only able to ship within a 2-day radius of their Reno, Nevada manufacturing facility. Frozen food typically equates to high shipping costs, but when I spoke to Base Food’s COO Michael Rosenzweig last week said they have yet to finalize their fees. 

Photo: Base Bread

Base Food already sells two products — Base Noodles and Base Bread — in its native Japan, and the noodles are already available in the same seven U.S. states which can purchase the bread. Down the road, Rosenzweig said that the company is looking to get into foodservice retail channels, specifically through corporate cafeterias.

Another selling point is Base Bread’s shelf life. Rosenzweig told me that the bread will last a year in the freezer. We’ve in the midst of a pandemic that leads to both panic shopping and a fear of the grocery store, so Base Food’s nutritional profile and long life are both timely selling points. Then again, $3.33 is expensive for a single-serve roll of bread when you can buy a hefty loaf of artisan sourdough from your local bakery for $6 or $7 bucks — or just make your own.

I actually got to sample Base Bread at SKS Japan in August 2019. It was soft and squishy with a malty sweetness — sort of like a honey whole wheat bread. We also got to taste Base Noodles at the SKS 2019 Future Food competition in October, and they were tasty with a flavor akin to a nutty soba noodle.

As someone who loves carbs more than anything else in this world, but is trying to hang onto some semblance of healthy eating during quarantine, Base Bread offers an appealing option. At least until I smother it with butter.

April 22, 2020

Waste Free! Loop Expands Reusable Packaging Program Throughout the U.S.

With the coronavirus pandemic forcing me to order more things than ever online — from groceries to toiletries to fancy dried beans — I’m accruing quite a lot of single-use packaging at my house. And I feel bad about it.

Maybe I’ll soon be able to assuage some of that guilt when Loop, the reusable packaging service, expands nationwide over the next few months (tip via Fast Company). Loop, an initiative from recycling company Terracycle, sells name-brand CPG products directly to consumers that are packaged in reusable containers made from metal and glass. After the consumers use them up, they put the empty containers back in the tote they came in and Loop picks them up to be sterilized and refilled.

Loop launched in the U.S. last May with a pilot program in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. According to an Instagram post from the company, Loop will roll out its reusable-container service across the contiguous U.S. sometime this summer. Globally, Loop is available in Paris and has plans to head to Canada, Germany, Japan, and the U.K. this year.

At launch Loop already had a roster of big-name partners like Kroger, Pepsi, Nestlé, and Walgreens. The platform has expanded to include roughly 200 products, including plant-based burgers and ice cream from Häagen-Dazs (my personal favorite).

I know what you’re thinking — during a pandemic when we’re all anxious about contamination, are we really going to be okay with receiving groceries packed in containers that someone else has already used? Especially since bring-your-own mugs and reusable totes in retailers are becoming a thing of the past?

Loop’s CEO certainly thinks so. He told Fast Company that Loop has seen evidence that “consumers are comfortable with reuse during COVID.” Since Loop has a reuse protocol in place — with stringent cleaning measures and pre-established health and safety checklists — he’s confident that they’ll be able to continue their closed-loop packaging practice without putting users at risk.

If users are comfortable with this, Loop’s extended platform could be a real help to cut down on our persistent packaging problem. Even if your delivery boxes are technically recyclable, COVID-19 is causing challenges for the waste management industry as a whole. Many packaging elements — like styrofoam and ice packs — aren’t recyclable anyway. Considering that the EPA reported that over 32 million tons of packaging and containers went into landfills in 2017 — almost a quarter of the total waste from the entire year — this is an issue we need to take seriously.

Today is Earth Day, so there’s no better time to take a moment and consider how we can help preserve our planet. Come this summer I know one small step that I’ll be taking cut down on the amount of packaging I’m tossing out. Bonus: I still get to enjoy my chocolate-fudge ice cream.

April 20, 2020

The Collaborative Raises $7M to Fuel U.S. Expansion of Coconut Yogurt Empire

The Collaborative, a plant-based yogurt startup formerly known as The Coconut Collaborative, has closed a $7 million Series A funding round led by PowerPlant Ventures.

Founded by twin brothers in 2014, The Collaborative started off making coconut-based yogurt and desserts in the U.K. They expanded to the U.S. market in 2018. It’s currently available in retailers nationwide and will launch on Amazon Fresh in May.

It looks like The Collaborative will use its new funds to really put down roots in the U.S. market and expand its retail footprint. The company is also updating its yogurt offerings to include new sizes (like a multi-serve size) and expanding its dessert lineup.

The Collaborative frames its product as a more sustainable alternative to regular yogurt. While dairy has a hefty environmental footprint, coconut harvesting has its own share of evils. To offset its impact, The Collaborative works with Pur Project to plant coconut trees in Southeast Asia to replenish the ones it uses to create its yogurt.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic slowing down the economy, a slew of plant-based companies have announced funding over the past few weeks. Rebellyous Foods raised $6 million for its vegan chicken nuggets, and Impossible Foods announced an eye-popping $500 million raise to help it weather the COVID-19 storm. As restaurants close and people turn even more to retail, animal alternatives have been experiencing a boom in sales — that’s good news for The Collaborative.

The bad news is it has plenty of competition to contend with. The plant-based yogurt space has really been heating up over the past year. Startups like Yofix, Kite Hill, and Lavva, who makes yogurt from pili nuts, are all jostling to come out with a yogurt tasty enough to convert dairy lovers. Even Big Food corporations, like Chobani and Yoplait, are getting in on it.

With so many new entrants crowding the plant-based yogurt section of your grocery shelf, the differentiator will come down to one thing: taste. Our own Jenn Marston (and self-described dairy lover) sampled some of The Collaborative’s coconut yogurt a few years ago and thought it did a pretty good job of imitating the taste and texture of regular yogurt. With its new funding, The Collaborative will be able to launch new products — in new areas — to try and get even more dairy skeptics on board.

April 18, 2020

Food Tech News: CRISPR Blackberries and a New Nordic FoodTech Fund

Are you baking bread this weekend? (Hot tip: Even if you can’t find yeast at the store, there’s a simple way to make your own at home.)

In between your dough prooves is a great time to catch up on your latest dose of food tech news. This week we’ve got stories on fresh varietals of gene-edited berries, a new Nordic FoodTech VC fund, Burger King’s trouble over its plant-based burger ads in the UK, and more.

Pairwise partners to breed new type of berries
Agriculture and biotech company Pairwise forged a partnership with Plant Sciences Inc (PSI) this week to create new types of berries (via WRAL TechWire). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Pairwise uses CRISPR gene editing to develop new varietals of food that are optimized for nutrition, have longer shelf lives or grow more quickly. First up, Pairwise and PSI will focus on black and red raspberries, as well as blackberries. They’re hoping to have their first round of berries on shelves within the next few years.

Lyft launches delivery program for orgs affected by COVID-19
Rideshare and last-mile logistics company Lyft launched a new COVID-19-related initiative this week. Essential Deliveries is a program that partners with businesses and nonprofits to help them deliver staple goods like groceries, prepared meals, and cleaning and medical supplies (h/t Techcrunch) to consumers. Partners can tap into Lyft’s platform to set up deliveries or schedule rides. The program will be available in at least 11 cities nationwide and drivers will be alerted about the nature of the goods they’re delivering. All deliveries will be contact-free.

Nordic FoodTech VC launches with €24.55 million
Nordic FoodTech VC, a new venture fund targeting early-stage tech companies making the food system more sustainable and nutritious, has launched this week. The fund will begin investing with €24.55 million ($26.7 million USD) in capital. It’s the first fund in the Nordic countries and plans to invest in “dozens” of companies innovating to improve the global food system.

Burger King’s Rebel Whopper (Photo: Burger King)

Burger King’s plant-based Whopper ads banned in UK
Three ads from Burger King in the UK promoting its Rebel Whopper have now been banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority. Burger King launched the Rebel Whopper, which features a plant-based burger from Unilever-owned Vegetarian Butcher, back in January 2020. Since then, complaints came in stating that the ad was misleading consumers by suggesting that it could be eaten by vegetarians, vegans, and people with egg allergies, despite the fact that it’s cooked on the same grill as meat products and features mayonnaise. The ASA has sided with the complaints, stating that the small print at the bottom of BK’s ads stating that the Rebel Whopper is cooked alongside meat products was not sufficiently in informing consumers.

April 17, 2020

Study: Consumers Willing to Pay 37 Percent More for Cultured Meat

A new study from Maastricht University (UM), where Dr. Mark Post created the world’s first cultured hamburger in 2013, suggests that consumers are willing to pay a premium for cell-based meat.

The study, published in PLOSONE this week, was based on a tasting that UM scientists held for 193 consumers in the Netherlands. It’s the first study on consumer reactions to cell-based meat that included a physical product to taste. The participants were first given a presentation on cultured meat, including the science behind its production and its environmental benefits. They were then given two samples of hamburger, one labeled ‘conventional’ and the other ‘cultured.” However, in reality both were traditional beef burgers.

Even though the samples were identical, all participants rated the flavor of the so-called ‘cultured’ hamburger higher than the ‘conventional’ one. Afterwards 58 percent of the tasters said they would be willing to pay extra — an average premium of 37 percent — for cultured meat.

The participants also noted that their main deciding factor to determine how much more they’d pay for cultured meat was information. The more they knew about the process behind cell-based meat production — and its global societal and environmental impact — the more they were willing to pay for it.

The study also delves a bit into the idea of disgust, which is often more dependent on cultural norms than actual taste (ex. Westerners won’t eat bugs, even though they’re super sustainable). Disgust is certainly one of the bigger challenges that cultured meat will face when it gets to market. Companies have to convince consumers to not only sample this newfangled product — meat grown from cells in bioreactors — but, at least initially, they’ll also have to pay more for it.

“The study shows… that consumers will eat cultured meat if they are served it,” Post noted in an email sent to The Spoon. Not only that, they might even be willing to fork over more money for it. That is, as long as they’re provided with enough information to understand what exactly cell-based meat is, and why it could be an appealing option.

Of course, when cultured meat does eventually hit the market — likely a few years from now in restaurants, a decade from now in supermarkets — companies won’t be able to sit down every consumer and give them a presentation on why it’s a good option for the planet. Instead, they’ll have to rely on marketing to get the word out. Maybe even rope in some high-profile celebrity and chef endorsers like Beyond Meat has done.

They’ll also likely have to face negative campaigns from Big Meat and its friends. The CCF, a lobbying agency with ties to meat corporations, has already aired harsh commercials tearing down plant-based meat. When cultured meat — which is actual animal tissue, just grown outside the animal — becomes available, you can bet that Big Meat will come out swinging. At that point, information (and misinformation) will become all the more important.

April 16, 2020

Impossible Foods Will Be in Nearly 1,000 Retailers Starting Tomorrow

As of tomorrow, you’ll have a lot more opportunities to buy Impossible Foods’ meatless “bleeding” burgers. The company announced via a press conference on Facebook Live today that it will roll out its flagship plant-based beef product to 777 supermarkets in California, Indiana, Illinois and Nevada on April 17. All stores are part of the Albertson’s family, which includes Safeway, Jewel-Osco, and Wegmans. Impossible’s CCO Rachel Konrad noted in the conference that the expansion will put Impossible in almost 1,000 grocery stores nationwide.

This news comes just a few months after Impossible announced a $500 million Series F round — “the largest fundraising round for a food tech company in the history of the world,” according to Konrad. Impossible currently has a total of $1.2 billion in funding.

The plant-based beef will be sold in 12-ounce packages which will cost $8.99 to $9.99, depending on the retailer. Konrad also noted that the product might be available in several different sections of the grocery store — you might find it in the meat section, vegan section, or even the frozen section.

While Impossible has been planning to expand its retail footprint since it first launched in Southern California last fall, it’s no surprise that they’re making a big push now. In fact, Brown stated that the company had actually accelerated the launch in response to the coronavirus. However, he also admitted that COVID-19’s effect on the restaurant industry was challenging for Impossible’s foodservice partners — all 15,000 of them. “It’s been devastating,” Dennis Woodside, the President of Impossible, added.

In an effort to pad sales, Impossible worked with the FDA to allow its restaurant partners to sell uncooked 5-pound bricks of Impossible Foods beef directly to consumers. But that’s a short-term fix, and more a way to help the restaurant augment their sales than anything else.

The time is ripe for Impossible to start concentrating on its grocery presence. “We think retail is going to be a very large business,” said Woodside, noting that the company has added a second line at its manufacturing facility specifically to cater to grocery.

During the conference, Woodside also weighed in on the fact that COVID-19 is also disrupting manufacturing supply chains left and right. Meat production, specifically, has been disrupted by factory shutdowns due to employee sickness. Woodside made a point to contrast that with Impossible’s manufacturing setup, which is automated and therefore “much easier to keep people apart” than in meat processing plants.

Brown also touched on a point that’s been a favorite of alternative meat companies ever since the pandemic hit. He stated that COVID-19 was introduced to the human population through the consumption of wild animals, and that “our reliance on animals as a source of food is not only an environmental disaster… but is at the root of some of the largest public health risks to the human population.”

There’s some pushback against that argument. But one thing that’s not in question, at least for this reporter, is that Impossible burgers are delicious. Sadly since I’m based in Seattle I won’t be able to purchase any Impossible Beef on my next masked grocery run — but at the speed that Impossible is expanding, I have to bet that time isn’t too far away.

April 16, 2020

Hargol FoodTech Raises $3M to Launch First Grasshopper Protein Product

Hargol FoodTech, a company that produces commercial grasshopper protein, announced today that it had raised $3 million from existing shareholders Sirius Venture Capital and SLF Investment Partners. This brings the company’s total funding to $5 million.

With its new funding Hargol plans to expand its production capacity to launch its first insect protein product line, which will be called Biblical Protein.

Based in Israel, Hargol is a portfolio company of The Trendlines Group and has been commercially farming grasshoppers for human consumption since 2014. This will be its first product release. Back in 2018, the company stated that it had already received $5 million in requests for orders of its grasshopper protein from companies like Ikea and Pepsico. Almost exactly two years later it seems like it’s finally prepared to start fulfilling said orders.

Hargol is far from the only company out there in the bug biz. Aspire makes B2B insect protein and acquired consumer-facing cricket bar brand Exo in 2018. Entomo Farms makes roasted crickets and cricket powder, and Orchestra Provisions is trying to entice consumers to eat insects by turning them into spice mixes.

There’s no question that we should be eating bugs — they’re high in protein and amino acids, incredibly sustainable, and easy to produce. But what is unsure is whether or not we’ll ever want to eat bugs. Western consumers may never get over the “ick” factor around eating creepy crawlies, regardless of how high in protein or easy on the environment they are.

Hargol has an advantage in that its grasshoppers are blended up into a powder, so they’re unrecognizable as bugs and can be easily added into other foods, like smoothies or cookies. Still, I’m not sure how ready Western consumers will be to “hop” up and buy a bag of grasshopper powder.

On the flip side, the coronavirus pandemic is making us all take a long, hard look at our food systems and security. Insects have the advantage of being incredibly easy to produce with limited natural resources and space, so maybe COVID-19 will actually help nudge consumers to open their minds to eating bugs.

April 15, 2020

Yes Health Raises $6M for Personalized Weight Loss and Nutrition Platform

We all know that sticking to diets is really hard work — especially when you’re stuck at home and the snack cabinet is never far from reach.

Yes Health is a digital health platform meant to help people reach their weight loss or diabetes prevention and management goals. Today, the startup announced that it had netted $6 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures (hat tip to Techcrunch).

Yes Health’s mobile platform is meant to help people do one of two things: lose weight, or prevent diabetes. New users select one pathway and answer a short questionnaire about what sort of coaching you prefer (cheerleader/straightforward), your top goals, and the biggest challenges you struggle with to reach those goals. The system then creates an individualized health plan and schedule which outlines when you should eat meals, exercise, and sleep, and tracks your progress via photos and a daily weigh in.

Yes Health costs $49/month for the one year diabetes program (which comes with a Fitbit and digital scale), or $69 for coaching only. The four-month weight loss program costs $49/month (and includes a Fitbit). Yes Health sells both directly to consumers and is included in some employee health plans.

The real value add of the app seems to be the ease with which the personalized coaching is woven into the system. Users can take a picture of their meals, which Yes Health shares with nutritionists for assessment — no need to manually enter every ingredient in their salad or soup. Users also get access to personalized coaching for their workouts, including feedback when they complete certain exercises.

Yes Health isn’t the only app out there to offer nutrition coaching via photo. Bite.ai is a food journal that automatically breaks down the nutrition info of your meals based on photos, and in France, Foodvisor does much of the same thing. But neither service offers the same level of exercise recommendations and coaching that Yes Health does.

True, the messages all come from computers, not actual humans, so the interaction isn’t as powerful as it would be with an in-person coach. But an in-person coach is going to cost a lot more than $69 per month — plus, we’re not allowed to see people in person anymore.

For that reason, I think COVID-19 will present some appealing growth opportunities for online healthy lifestyle services like Yes Health. Since we can’t go to gyms or restaurants, we have to create our own exercise and dining plans. Tools like Yes Health could help folks to create a structured plan for nutrition and exercise to stay on course during social distancing. And that’s especially critical at a time when health is on the top of mind for all of us.

April 15, 2020

Can’t Find Yeast? This Geneticist Says There’s a Solution Hiding in Your Cupboard

Obviously, Americans are baking a lot of bread right now. Don’t believe me? Just look at the aisles of your local grocery store — nary a packet of yeast to be seen.

According to NPR, sales of baking yeast were up 647 percent during the week ending in March 21, and 456 percent the week following. But if you can’t find those elusive packets to make your loaves/waffles/focaccia rise, don’t despair! One geneticist has a solution.

Sudeep Agarwala, a geneticist specializing in yeast for biotech company Gingko Bioworks (the parent company of alternative protein company Motif Foodworks), posted a tweet at the end of March that made a pretty bold claim:

Friends, I learned last night over Zoom drinks that ya'll're baking so much that there's a shortage of yeast?! I, your local frumpy yeast geneticist have come here to tell you this: THERE IS NEVER A SHORTAGE OF YEAST. Here's where I'm a viking. Instructions below.

— Sudeep Agarwala (@shoelaces3) March 29, 2020

If you’re an adamant baker, you likely know where Agarwala, is going. In the tweet thread he goes on to describe how to make your own sourdough starter using dried fruit (which is covered in natural yeast!), water, and flour. If you follow the instructions correctly you should be able to have your own burbling sourdough starter in two days.

For those of us who have been on Instagram lately, the fact that you can make sourdough starters at home is not exactly ground-breaking news. You likely know someone right now who is giving you updates on their starter’s progress — maybe you’ve even got one going yourself! Agarwala’s tweet also gives tips on how to experiment by adding wine or beer to tweak your starter’s flavor profile, or incorporating breadcrumbs to keep the starter fed when you can’t find flour.

What was more surprising from Agarwala’s tweet — and our subsequent phone conversation — was his broader take on bread’s role in the current pandemic.

“Yeast is technology, flour is culture,” Agarwala told me, as things turned anthropological on our call. “I can tell you the technology, but the actual cultural reasons being all of this… that’s a much bigger question.” His take? We’re baking so much bread because it’s familiar and comforting; “bread returns us to our childhood.”

Well, at least some of us. Agarwala did note that the fact that everyone in the U.S. seems to be using their fermentation skills to create bread right now is, well, a little basic. “There are plenty of other things that can be fermented — lentils, oats, rice,” he said.

Maybe as the rising mania around homemade bread starts to overproof and fall, we’ll see consumers begin to experiment making fermented comfort foods from different regions around the world. The next hot “it” food flooding your Instagram could be Indian dosas, thin pancakes made of fermented lentils and rice, or injera, the spongy Ethiopian flatbread made from teff flour. “Now is the time for all the multiculturalism we’ve been harvesting to take precedence,” Agarwala told me. “It’s exciting.”

Bonus? These dishes don’t require flour — another sought-after ingredient that’s nearly impossible to track down at your local grocery store.

April 15, 2020

FDA Approves Perfect Day’s Animal-Free Whey Protein as Safe to Eat

Perfect Day, the startup using fermentation to create animal-free dairy proteins, has officially received approval for its proprietary whey protein from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a letter, the FDA writes that it has “no questions” that β-lactoglobulin — Perfect Day’s proprietary protein for its flora-based products — is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS).

Perfect Day submitted the notice to approve β-lactoglobulin to the FDA on May 20, 2019, so it’s taken roughly 10 months for the FDA to officially approve it. The protein is created by fermenting a genetically modified strain of the yeast Trichoderma reesei. Said yeast is submerged in media, where it ferments and excretes the β-lactoglobulin protein. The whole solution is then put through a centrifuge to separate out the protein, which is then filtered and dried to create a raw product. Add fat and water, and you’ve got something that’s essentially animal-free milk — and can be used to make ice cream, cheese, and basically anything that contains dairy.

In the FDA letter, Perfect Day plants an important stake in the ground. The company “concludes that the protein characterization data shows that the sequence of β-lactoglobulin produced by fermentation is identical to commercially available bovine-produced β-lactoglobulin.”

In short, Perfect Day claims that its flora-based milk is essentially the same thing as the milk from a cow you’d buy in the store. The FDA backs that up — at least to some extent — when states in the letter that β-lactoglobulin needs the same allergy labeling as milk. It is, at least for those with dairy allergies, the same thing.

The FDA hasn’t approved Perfect Day to sell its protein willy-nilly. The letter explicitly states that the β-lactoglobulin protein is “not intended for use in infant formula or in products subject to regulation by the United States Department of Agriculture.” But Perfect Day is free to sell its flora-based dairy protein to larger CPG companies to make animal-free products, as it had planned to do all along.

According to Ryan Pandya, Perfect Day’s CEO, this GRAS certification hasn’t affected their go-to-market timeline one way or another. He wrote to me that “we were expecting to secure the certification,” and had essentially been preceding under the assumption that it would be granted. Since the FDA has already approved fermented ingredients to replace animal products in the past — like Impossible Food’s blood-like heme — it’s not a reach that Perfect Day’s dairy proteins are considered GRAS.

Waiting for the GRAS letter may not have been holding up Perfect Day’s plans, but COVID-19 could still wreak havoc on their timeline. Pandya didn’t reveal any specifics about the pandemic’s effects, only noting that they are “adjusting our plans as needed.”

Perfect Day released its first product — animal-free ice cream — last year and plans to announce its first commercial partnerships in early 2020 (as in, any day now).

April 14, 2020

Will Fear of Grocery Contamination Boost Sales of CSAs and Specialized E-Grocers?

I knew it was going to be a great day when I opened up my Twitter feed morning and immediately saw a CNN story about a woman who was arrested for licking $1,800 worth of merchandise at a Safeway store in California. She was purportedly licking jewelry, not food, but there have been multiple other instances of people coughing on and contaminating aisles of food in grocery stores around the country. These stories are heightening our already heightened fears around grocery shopping — and the risk it poses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Those are just stories of people who are contaminating food on purpose. Goods in supermarkets are handled not just by employees but also by perhaps dozens of other shoppers before they make it to your grocery cart. That’s one of the reasons we’re seeing a spike in online grocery delivery sales as well as curbside pickup — contactless delivery programs cut down on the literal touchpoints before food even reaches your home, hopefully lessening the risk of contamination.

All this contamination-mania makes me think that COVID-19 will not only transform how we shop for groceries, but also where we shop for them.

One avenue that could see growth as people take steps to avoid contamination is smaller, more specialized online grocers. These operations, which focus on a more selective array of products, are already seeing a spike in demand. Services like bean marketplace Rancho Gordo and online flour purveyor Maine Grains are selling out or having to delay shipments due to sudden increases in shoppers. Localized grocery delivery services, like Farmstead and SPUD.ca, are also extending delivery hours, waitlisting customers and hiring new staff to try and keep up with the new demand.

Peter van Stolk, CEO of SPUD.ca, told me that one reason these smaller operations are seeing such an increase in demand is that they can “feel safer” than the big box stores.

The key word is “feel.” He noted that, regardless, “the supply chain is the supply chain” — if you buy a box of Annie’s Mac & Cheese from Amazon Fresh or a local e-commerce site, both had to go through the same number of steps (warehouse, distribution center, etc.) to get to the retailer.

SPUD.ca goes to great lengths to ensure the safety of their warehouses — locked doors, gloves and masks, etc. — but Amazon has the same safety measures in place. So if you’re buying foods from established brands, they’ll likely have gone through quite a few (hopefully gloved) hands to reach you, regardless of which store you purchase from.

One thing you can control is whether you purchase from e-commerce services that ship directly from warehouses or from grocery stores. Instacart, for example, uses Shoppers to pick up your groceries from a physical store, meaning all the goods they’re getting are open to contamination from regular old shoppers. Walmart operates in a similar manner, for both delivery and curbside pickup. Services like Amazon Fresh (and Whole Foods), Farmstead, or SPUD.ca, however, fulfill your online orders directly from their warehouses, where all the handlers have to adhere to safety protocol.

Fear over grocery contamination could be one reason that we’re seeing an increase in sales is Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs). Food purchased through CSAs often go through significantly fewer hands than food purchase from large grocery chains, which typically travel through warehouses, distribution trucks and more before ending up on your doorstep. The number of touchpoints varies farmer to farmer, but Simon Huntley, CEO of online farm share platform Harvie, told me over the phone that “people have this perception that if they buy from a local farm or retailer there are less hands on their food.”

There are other benefits to buying food sourced nearby, specifically when it comes to produce. Executive Director of ReFed Dana Gunders also noted via email that “another upside to buying local or from a CSA is that the product is typically fresher, so can last longer (thus accommodates less frequent shopping).”

Obviously, even smaller, more localized e-commerce stores are not guaranteed to be COVID-free. As Huntley admitted: “I don’t know if we can prove that it is safe to buy from a local retailer.” They’re also often more expensive, so they won’t be a feasible retail channel for all budgets. And since many of the stores are more specialized or feature a smaller range of products, you’ll still have to turn to your local grocery store (or e-commerce store, or bodega) to get some essentials, like trash bags and hand soap.

But in a time when we’re trying to be as cautious as possible and also support local businesses, trust is more important than ever. With that in mind, COVID-19 could set up smaller, specialized grocery delivery services for a boom — one that could linger even after the pandemic passes.

April 13, 2020

COVID-19 Summit: The Question That Keeps Online Grocers Up at Night

It’s no secret that as the pandemic rages on, more and more consumers are ordering groceries online. But as with everything else right now, circumstances and protocols seem to change minute by minute. As Peter van Stolk, CEO of Canadian sustainable e-commerce grocery store SPUD.ca, put it during our virtual COVID-19 summit last week: “The ground is moving under our feet everyday.”

That sentiment seems to be especially true of grocery. We know that we’re relying on grocery — and grocery delivery — more than ever before to keep ourselves fed while social distancing. But how are grocery stores reinventing themselves to stay relevant, safe, and profitable?

That’s exactly what van Stolk discussed with Phil Lempert of Supermarket Guru at last week’s virtual summit. To keep up with this fresh demand and new safety protocols, grocery retailers — both online and brick & mortar — are having to institute new protocols and readapt their current business models.

One big change that SPUD.ca has been tackling is staffing. Van Stolk said that in the two-week period after the coronavirus pandemic hit, the company’s inbound employee applications skyrocketed from 200 to 10,000. Of the people they hired, SPUD.ca had to figure out best practices to keep the workers (not to mention shoppers) safe, including allowing employees to don personal protective equipment (PPE) if they so choose.

To that end, Lempert asked van Stolk about the question that’s keeping him (and presumably other grocery owners) up at night: How can grocery stores absorb additional costs from PPE for grocery workers, bonus payments, and paid sick leave, and still stay profitable?

For SPUD.ca, the answer was simple: start charging handling fees. In the interview, van Stolk said that SPUD.ca had originally stated that it would never charge delivery fees for their online orders. However, as with so many things during the pandemic, van Stolk said that has now changed. SPUD.ca will now charge customers a handling fee for grocery deliveries which is around $6. The company breaks down the fee to show where all the money will go: packaging, labor, sanitization, etc.  

SPUD.ca has had to make other compromises to keep their shoppers safe during the pandemic. Previously, one of the retailer’s main selling points was its emphasis on sustainability: it delivered food in returnable totes which it would later pick up, used reusable cups, etc. For now, the company has had to halt those initiatives to reduce the risk of contamination. “There’s a stop right now on that process,” van Stolk said. “People are focused on safety.”

SPUD.ca is a smaller retailer that only serves the Vancouver and surrounding regions of Canada, so it’s obviously not going through the exact same challenges as, say, giants like Walmart or Amazon which have to coordinate shipments around the globe. However, some problems are universal to the grocery industry right now, including safety, staffing, stocking, and the threat of impending price hikes for certain foods. I’m sure many retailers, large and small, will have sleepless nights as they try to figure out how to navigate this new normal for grocery.

You can watch the full video of the fireside chat below, and check out the other videos from the virtual conference here.

The Spoon COVID-19 Summit: How the Grocery World is Evolving During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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