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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Lauren Knope

Whirlpool Smart Kitchen Announcements Include Cooking Automation And Yummly 2.0

Whirlpool is kicking off CES with a slew of smart kitchen announcements, including an update to the Yummly personalized recipe app, voice integration with Google Assistant and scan-to-cook guided cooking technology.

Whirlpool made a huge effort at CES 2017 to move further into the smart kitchen space, showing off a suite of connected appliances. Then, in May of last year, the company acquired recipe app startup Yummly and gained an entire community of users and a host of food content.

Whirlpool spent the rest of 2017 working on taking full advantage of the Yummly acquisition and is introducing the results of its work today at CES 2018. Among the brand’s many kitchen-related announcements, Whirlpool is launching Yummly 2.0, a new version of the recipe and cooking resources app that includes image recognition, meal scheduling features and an enhanced guided cooking experience when using Whirlpool connected appliances to cook.

Ingredient Recognition 

The next-gen Yummly app will include built-in image recognition software powered by machine learning to recognize multiple foods in one picture and dole out recipe recommendations based on what foods are shown. With a large database of food images, Yummly will continue to get better at identifying the food that users have on hand, using machine learning to evolve and grow its knowledge base.

In the Whirlpool mobile app, the company is launching the new Scan-to-Cook technology, a feature that allows users to scan a UPC barcode on frozen food packages and an existing set of instructions including temperature and cooking time for that particular food will be sent to the appliance. Scan-to-Cook setting can be customized to individual preferences if a food is preferred more or less cooked than the standard settings.

Guided Cooking Gets Better

For home chefs that have Whirlpool’s connected range or microwave, Yummly is now able to identify recipes that will work with those appliances and send cooking instructions to the device while following an interactive step-by-step tutorial in the app with images and video. While the user is instructed on what to chop, wash and prepare, the participating oven can be heating up and preparing a timer so it’s ready to go when they are. 

Starting in the spring of 2018, users will also be able to control their connected appliances straight through the Yummly app – a good sign that the brand plans to continue to invest in the platform as the center of their smart kitchen strategy in 2018.

Same Day Grocery Ordering 

Many smart appliances offer grocery list integrations, but Whirlpool takes it a step further in the Yummly app. The ingredients are categorized automatically in an attempt to make shopping easier (better than my Amazon Alexa grocery list which is just one giant list of things I may or may not have already bought) but even better – a new integration with Instacart means you can get the ingredients you need, delivered in about an hour.

Scheduling, Voice, Remote Start

The Yummly app lets users schedule their meals out for the week and let them know when it’s time to start cooking based on the scheduled desired eating time. And, like almost every other company at CES, Whirlpool is announcing integration with Google Assistant to be able to control connected appliances through voice command. Details on the integration weren’t provided but with Google pushing back at Amazon’s domination in voice assistants, it’s not surprising that they’re pursuing the kitchen as a space to gain mindshare. Additional features in the app lets families remotely start their appliances from outside the house to warm up the oven and get the kitchen ready for dinner.

For more #smartkitchen news at CES, follow @TheSpoonTech, @SmartKitchenCon and @michaelwolf for updates.

Nima Unveils Portable Peanut Sensor to Make Meals Safer

The startup behind the world’s first portable gluten sensing device is launching a peanut sensing version at CES this week. The new Nima Peanut Sensor is a handheld device designed to detect peanut particles in food by testing small samples in an insertable cartridge.

According to the Food Allergy Research & Education organization, around 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies and around 1/5 of those have some type of peanut allergy, ranging from mild to severe. The Nima Peanut Sensor aims to give people with peanut sensitivities or parents of children with peanut allergies a portable tool to test liquid or solid foods before they take a bite.

The sensor shares the same form factor as the gluten version – a compact black triangular device with room for a testing cartridge and a readable diagnostic screen. But, instead of coming with capsules that create a reaction when interacting with gluten particles, the peanut sensor ships with cartridges designed to detect 20 parts per million (ppm) of peanut protein or more in foods or drinks. Users take a portion of the item they want to test and insert a small sample into the cartridge and place both inside the sensor. After three minutes, the test gives a simple reading; if the peanut sensor detects peanut protein, the portable device will display a peanut icon. If no protein is found, a smiley face pops up letting the user know the food is safe to eat.

When Nima first launched its gluten sensor, the real excitement around the company’s innovation was around the technology – and science – inside each cartridge. What Nima’s founders have done is essentially developed a mini-laboratory in every device and a capsule with the right test materials to detect the unique proteins found in gluten. But as many pointed out, the setup Nima created could be used to detect other allergens and even beyond.

“There’s no reason it can’t be used for dairy or peanuts and there’s nothing stopping them from going to pathogens either,” food tech VC Brian Frank told the Spoon at the 2016 Smart Kitchen Summit.

While the gluten sensor goes after a growing segment of awareness of gluten intolerance in the U.S., the peanut sensor hits an even bigger market and one that’s close to the heart of many parents. Peanut allergies tend to appear in childhood and can produce a life-threatening reaction. Parents and caregivers will be able to use the Nima Peanut Sensor to test foods on the go, at birthday parties and restaurants to avoid a reaction.

Just like the gluten sensor, the peanut sensing device will connect to the Nima mobile app to share test results and build a user database of peanut-free friendly restaurants and packaged foods.

Nima’s peanut sensor is only available for pre-order right now in the U.S. and Canada through March 8 and starter kits are $229 during this promotional period. A starter kit will come with the sensor, a twelve pack of test capsules along with the charger and a carrying case. The sensor will ship at retail later in 2018 and regular price for the peanut sensor starter kit is $289 and additional cartridges will be $6 each and sold in twelve packs. Nima also offers an auto-delivery or membership option which lowers the price of capsules to just under $5 a piece (sold in packs of twelve.)

Interestingly, Nima also has waitlist signs up available for soy, tree nuts, dairy, shellfish and eggs. The company clearly has plans to be the go-to for the millions who suffer from all kinds of food allergies in the future.

Microsoft Unveils Echo Competitor Powered By Cortana

Microsoft is not necessarily a leader in the smart home these days, trailing Samsung, Apple and Google in platforms and hardware offerings and instead focusing on other core offerings. But as the Amazon Echo and then Google Home voice assistants jumped onto the scene, the tech world speculated about whether Apple and Microsoft would put their respective AI voice assistants – Siri and Cortana – into physical devices, too.

Rumors abound that Apple is about to do just that – but they’ll be last to the table as Microsoft previewed its Cortana-powered wireless speaker on Monday. Ahead of their BUILD developer conference, which starts tomorrow, Microsoft showed off the Invoke, a speaker manufactured by Harman Kardon and enabled by the company’s digital voice assistant.

Invoke does what Google Home & Echo do for the most part – weather reports, news, music, reminders, timers, etc – and the details thus far are fairly underwhelming. The company reported Invoke will offer “deep integration with Microsoft’s suite of knowledge and productivity tools,” making it a potentially interesting tool for home offices or businesses as a scheduling tool. The device will also have integration with Skype, allowing users to make calls via the platform.  It will certainly sound better than the Echo with Harman Kardon audio engineering and design behind the speaker – and that feature alone might drive audiophiles to Invoke over the competition.

Microsoft’s blog does not detail how or if the device will allow for third-party developers to build additional features and functions – something both Echo and Google Home are capitalizing on to add use cases and turn the speakers into sous chefs, personal assistants and smart home controllers.

Harman Kardon’s press release announcing the speaker definitely positions the audio brand to offer a competitive device to other premium smart speakers like Sonos – with a high-powered AI engine inside. The speaker will have seven microphones and advanced ambient noise technology to help Cortana hear you even in loud environments – another area where HK’s contribution could give Invoke an edge over the Echo. Pricing wasn’t given yet but the product should be available via Microsoft stores in the fall.

With the BUILD conference starting tomorrow, we’ll be sure to share updates and details about Invoke and the features it might bring to the home and kitchen.

Ok Google, What’s For Dinner?

When Google Home first arrived on the scene, Mike and Ashley speculated on the Smart Kitchen Show about how it would stack up against Amazon Echo. Amazon’s big entrance into the smart home, Echo came with convenient functions like timers, grocery lists, playing on-demand streaming music and radio services and eventually included recipe skills. It was an ideal device to sit on your kitchen counter.

Google introduced its answer to Echo but at first lacked the functionality that Echo has grown to enjoy due to its open API and thousands of skills developed by third parties. One of those skill areas that’s seen growth is in food & beverage, especially recipes. But this week, Google partnered with big food content houses like the Food Network, New York Times and Bon Appetit to give Home users access to over 5,000 recipes that can be read step by step by the Google Assistant.

The interesting thing about Google Home’s announcement is the way Google is adding functionality to its device. Amazon’s Alexa relies on skills developed by other companies – in order to get access to Allrecipes content, for example, you have to enable that skill in your app before you can use it.

Google takes a different approach; if you have a specific recipe you want to look up, you can head to the Google Assistant app on your phone, pick it out and send it to Google Home to walk through. So a component of this feature still involves your phone – unless you want suggested recipes, and then you can just ask “Ok Google, let’s make spaghetti” and Google’s Assistant will suggest a recipe for you. That suggestion feature, enabled without any input on the part of the user, is fairly unique.

The process is a little more intuitive and baked into the platform than Alexa skills, which sometimes can be clunky depending on how the developer choose to integrate. Some skills require you to say “Alexa, ask (brand/company) to XYZ” which is an awkward way to speak and harder to remember.

Google also choose powerhouse brands to partner with for this integration – collectively, Food Network, NYT and Bon Appetit have amassed loads of food content through the years and probably have recipes for just about anything you’d want to cook. In fact, these and other publication and content houses are constantly thinking about how to leverage their digital warehouses of recipes and food knowledge and partnerships like these are easy ways to make money outside of traditional advertising.

According to Google, the feature will start rolling out in the coming days. We’ll finally be able to say – Ok Google, let’s eat.

We Use 50 Billion Water Bottles Per Year. Here’s An Edible Container That Can Stop The Insanity

It’s hard to deny that the food industry is experiencing lots of disruption from startups around the globe who are trying to solve the market’s tough problems. Things like delivery, supply chain, sustainability, waste and sourcing are all on the minds of startups like Skipping Rocks Lab. The particular problem they’re trying to tackle? The proliferation of plastic bottles and the waste they generate.

Skipping Rocks Lab isn’t just minimizing plastic production or coming up with new ways to recycle water bottles – they’ve created a product that basically redefines the way water can be delivered and consumed. Meet Ooho, the water “bottle” that delivers single serve gulps of water and can actually be eaten.

Ooho Short Web from Skipping Rocks Lab on Vimeo

The Ooho balls look like a cross between a gross Jello-based dessert and one of those plastic stress balls you can squeeze to get out frustration. But the balls are in fact edible – made by dipping frozen balls of ice into an algae concoction – and biodegradable, meaning they won’t sit in the ocean somewhere for eternity but rather disintegrate after about 4-6 weeks. Given that 50 billion plastic bottles are used by humans every year (EVERY. YEAR.), it stands to reason that this type of innovation would attract lots of interest.

And so far, it’s working. Skipping Rocks has successfully funded their first campaign on CrowdCube and the videos of people popping spherical water into their mouths have gone viral. The company is mainly serving Ooho at events and festivals – and you can see why. They are small and are perfect for quick hydration where storage isn’t a factor. The product is great for things like marathons and sporting events as well.

But Skipping Rocks vision is to become THE go-to seaweed-based packaging company in the world; they clearly have plans to move beyond water and adapt this packaging to all types of beverages that might be served in plastic. How they move the concept from small balls of water to actual practical implementation remains to be seen. For one, people generally like to consume more than one sip of a beverage in any given setting, and the packaging as it stands cannot be resealed. Once you’ve bitten into it, you’ve committed to consuming whatever is inside in one shot.

The other issue is distribution – the idea that they could be sold widely to consumers in stores means the balls themselves will likely need some type of packaging around them. The membranes are edible and therefore can’t just be left to sit out in the open on shelves. The retail model definitely leaves some questions around sustainability and the impact of the product as a whole.

But for now, it will be interesting to see how the startup uses the investment money and what types of unique implementations they come up with next. And of course, we’ll keep our eyes out for any Ooho balls in the wild – and be sure to document the experience.

What Does Samsung’s Bixby Mean For The Smart Kitchen?

If you follow any tech news, you’ve seen announcements in the past week coming out of Samsung around their Galaxy S8 launch. One of the most intriguing parts of the Samsung event was the news around Bixby, Samsung’s AI assistant and answer to Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant. In some ways, it competes with the Amazon Echo too – Bixby is both a voice assistant and a smart home controller as well as an augmented reality camera.

Bixby comes with a range of new functions baked into the Galaxy S8, many of which have some interesting implications in the smart kitchen.

First, Bixby actually gives you virtual control over apps on your phone with your voice. At the moment, that functionality is extended only to Samsung apps – the phone, messaging, email, camera and video, etc – but it opens up the possibility for mobile apps to be “Bixby” friendly. Adding voice to apps that help you in your kitchen could be a unique way to get voice control without a standalone device that sits on your countertop. A recipe app that Bixby could read you the instructions step-by-step would be a quick way to get guided cooking without an extra gadget or device.

The Verge got an up close look at another Bixby feature – augmented reality via the S8’s camera. Point the camera at an object and Bixby recognizes what it is you’re both looking at and identifies it. Though not a new concept (Google Googles, Amazon Flow), it seems like a fairly flawless execution and Samsung is supposedly in talks with folks like Amazon, making it an interesting AR solution for things like grocery shopping. Other interesting applications include a partnership with Vivino that gives you tasting notes when you scan a bottle of wine.

Finally, there’s Bixby Home, which is Samsung’s answer to aggregating your home’s smart devices and controlling them via voice. Similar to the Echo or Google Home, with the difference again being the in phone location as opposed to an external device. If you could tell your phone, which might be in your kitchen as you follow a recipe app, to preheat the oven as you finish mixing cupcake batter, that might be useful. But do users typically carry around their phones from room to room at home? The benefit of an Echo or Google Home is the convenience – walk into a room, issue a command.

It seems like Bixby has some potential benefits, but it remains to be seen if it will work as promised. CNET had some fairly buggy experiences with Bixby though and they point out that Samsung isn’t even committed to putting Bixby on the S8 quite yet. It could appear as a software update later in the year. There are also other AI and machine learning technologies developing in the kitchen that might make a voice assistant on your phone irrelevant in the future. After all, the smartphone is just another pane of glass where information can be consumed and controlled – artificial intelligence can be baked into just about anything.

Want to meet the leaders defining the future of food, cooking and the kitchen? Get your tickets for the Smart Kitchen Summit today.

Amazon Go Delays Public Opening Due To Tech Challenges

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Amazon is delaying the public opening of its first fully automated grocery store known as Amazon Go. The store, which has only been open in beta to Amazon employees in the Seattle location, was supposed open at the end of this month. This is being pushed back, due to a few glitches involving tracking items and processing payments.

Amazon reported that it was experiencing technical problems with two key areas of its “Just Walk Out” technology – the company’s payment system was unable to handle or process payments when more than 20 people were in the store at a time. The system also struggled when an item was moved from its specific location on a shelf.

The traditional grocery store has been experiencing disruption for the last several years, with the rise of e-commerce giants like Amazon and Jet.com taking aim at consumer packaged goods (CPGs). Other rising stars like meal kit delivery subscriptions and grocery store delivery give consumers more options for fresh foods like produce and meat that don’t involve setting foot in a brick and mortar store.

But Amazon’s vision for the more convenient food store utilizes existing and emerging tech like connected sensors, machine learning, RFID tags and mobile payments to implement a cashier and checkout line-free experience for consumers. Not only does it create a streamlined door-to-door shopping event for the customer, but it cuts costs for the grocer – who in this case is Amazon – and could help impact the bottom line in a field where margins are shrinking.

And it’s clear why Amazon wants to build physical stores – as much as e-commerce is making grocers in North America rethink ways to attract customers with sales, fresh foods and produce and upgraded natural food and organic offerings, Nielsen’s 2017 research shows only 10% of consumers are currently shopping online for groceries. Amazon will need a multi-prong approach to remain competitive in grocery, especially when it comes to fresh foods and non-CPG items.

Amazon Go’s tech issues don’t seem major – but they are a good reminder that full-on grocery automation is hard. There are a lot of variables to consider, especially in a busy store, where customers are moving around, bumping into each other, moving merchandise without putting it back but not actually buying it. As a reminder to automation enthusiasts, earlier versions of what Amazon is trying to accomplish – self check-out kiosks – are still widely underused in grocery stores. And those of us who have used them know all too well that often, the light above the conveyer belt will inevitably blink when a customer has a problem, beckoning a store employee over.

So the future may be automated – but it’s not clear how seamless those shopping experiences will be, at least not yet. Amazon Go’s public opening and subsequent operations will certainly be telling.

Turning Text Messages Into Machine Language For The Smart Home

There’s a new race in the smart home – it’s not about who will control your home but rather how. The introduction of voice assistant devices Amazon Echo and Google Home have definitely changed the conversation and the market for how we interact with the tech inside our homes. But if speaking commands to things in the house to turn them on or off or check their status seems unnatural, you could always text instead.

That’s the premise of Unified Inbox, a small company based Singapore that’s developed soon-to-be-patented software that delivers smart home control via text messenger. It’s easy to see the appeal of texting your home – it’s an easy and common way for humans to communicate with each other and it removes the awkwardness of barking out orders to an inanimate object.

The CEO of Unified Inbox, Toby Ruckert, makes the case to Reuters, saying “Think of it as a universal translator between the languages that machines speak … and us humans.” Though the company is small and privately funded, it has companies like Samsung, Bosch and IBM jumping on board to integrate functionality into their own devices. Using Unified Inbox’s platform, manufacturers can add a text assistant to their product, capitalizing on the ubiquity of smartphones in every home.

The API developed by Unified Inbox is called UnificationEngine or UE and works by taking text inputs to a messenger app and translates the human words into machine language. Described as an “IoT messenging platform,” UE was developed to bridge the language gap between people and the things around them.

Credit: Reuters

Text commands such as “turn off the lights,” “start the coffee machine at 6,” and “preheat the oven to 450” can be typed into over 20 different messenger apps along with Twitter and SMS to control a variety of home devices. From ovens and kettles, the platform can work with many appliances and Unified Inbox is testing more including garage door openers and toasters.

But why have “more than half of the world’s appliance makers” – according to Ruckert – signed up to partner with this small startup? Reuters reports that Ruckert and other tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg see a huge future in text control – and think that big companies are worried about Amazon’s dominance.

“They’re worried the big tech companies’ one-appliance-controls-all approach will relegate them to commodity players, connecting to Alexa or another dominant platform, or being cast aside if Amazon moves into making its own household appliances.”

Check out the full story on Unified Inbox, their API and how machine learning that continues to change how we talk to our things.

Want To Eat Like A Star Quarterback? There’s A Meal Kit For That

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in general usually elicit one of two reactions: complete fanboy love or abject hatred. But if you’re in the love fan group or you’re just someone who wants to follow the diet plan of a superstar athlete, then meal kit delivery service Purple Carrot has a new product for you.

Called TB12 Performance Meals, a nod to the quarterback and his Patriot’s team jersey, they were designed to give consumers a super healthy, plant-based, gluten-free weekly meal plan that mimics Brady’s own regimen. According to Purple Carrot, the TB12 meals were designed around the needs of someone who requires fuel that promotes healing from intense physical workouts and fuels the body to encourage peak performance.

The TB12 philosophy is focused on preventing injury and promoting accelerated injury recovery through holistic, whole-body wellness, incorporating exercise, recovery, and hydration & nutrition concepts like those expressed in TB12 Performance Meals.

The meal kit comes with ready to prep ingredients, similar to competitive meal delivery kits like Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and Sunbasket but is higher priced at around $13 per plate or $78 for the week at only 3 meals a week. The meals are highly specialized and created to be high in protein and low in sugar, soy and processed ingredients. Purple Carrot points out in the FAQs that the TB12 meals are different from their traditional offerings, designed specifically for individuals that have a higher metabolism due to increased daily activity and are only available for 1-2 people in each box.

Brady’s diet and commitment to personal wellness are well known among fans and was chronicled in the Boston Globe extensively. Purple Carrot approached Brady last summer and the pair began to discuss the potential meal delivery partnership. They worked to identify meals that Brady regularly eats at home and on the road and crafted workable recipes that could be recreated in a meal kit.

In a statement to Fortune, Purple Carrot Founder & CEO Andy Levitt said about the opportunity, “The meal kit industry has grown significantly since I launched Purple Carrot two-and-a-half years ago. Partnerships with great organizations like Whole Foods Market, and incredible people like Tom Brady, enable us to elevate our brand even further.”

Brady isn’t the first celebrity to cash in on their personal brand and the meal kit boom – Martha Stewart partnered with the Marley Spoon to create one her own along with countless celebrity chefs like Michael Mina and Jamie Oliver. Athletes as food spokespeople is a well-known advertising tactic and it’s no surprise that companies will look to increasingly popular products like meal kits to continue that trend as the way we cook and consume food evolves.

The TB12 brand is something Brady has worked to build out with other offerings as well, partnering with Under Armour to offer apparel, creating a foundation to support elite athletes who become injured and creating a personal gym and fitness program. TB12 Performance Meals can be ordered today and boxes will start shipping on April 3rd.