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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

CES

CES 2023: GROW UP Wants You To Make Plant-Based Milk at Home

If you’re an adult, there’s a good chance you’ve weaned yourself off of cow milk in favor of a plant-based alternative. After all, not only is plant-based milk less disruptive to the digestive tract, but it’s also often healthier.

But it’s not all good news. Plant-based milk is often filled with weird-sounding additives like xanthan gum and lecithin, while some have more recognizable ingredients like sugar and salt that you may want to cut out of your diet.

So if you want plant-based milk but want more control over what goes in it, one option is to make your own. One way to make your own is to try using your blender and a milk nut bag. But if you want to automate the process and have less mess to clean up, you might want to buy a countertop machine to create nut milk for you.

The latest nut milk machine to make its debut is from GROW UP. The machine, which was at CES last week in Vegas, “brews” up to 10 different kinds of plant-based milk. To do so, it uses what its creator calls a “cold extraction” process in which it grinds the ingredients and then vacuums the liquid through a built-in filtration system. Once the milk is dispensed – which takes about 3-4 minutes – the leftover pulp can be taken out and dried to use in baked goods.

The person behind the GROW UP Milk Brewer is Luiz Felipe Rapacci, a former F&B industry veteran who has worked for big CPG brands such as Coca-Cola and General Mills in Brazil. In 2017 Rappaci moved to the US to attend UC Irvine, where he studied innovation management and entrepreneurship. After working for a food tech startup and a basmati rice producer, Rapacci started working on what would become the Milk Brewer in 2020. GROW UP is beginning to manufacture the Milk Brewer for customers and expects to have it to market by mid-spring of this year.

The price for the countertop milk maker will be $599 and is available for pre-order. The price is a bit on the high-end, considering there are other plant-based milk makers on the market today for less than half that. That said, none of the ones I’ve seen make as many types of plant-based milk as Grown Up claims their brewer will make (10). GROW UP also has what looks like an easy-to-use touchscreen with pre-configured options that allow users to easily choose different types of plant-milk.

You can watch our interview with Rapacci from the show floor at CES below.

Milk Brewer Makes 10 Types of Plant-Based Milk!

Haura Unveils a Modular Food Factory for the Kitchen at CES 2023

Nestled in the basement of the Venetian Expo center last week at CES, a startup from Italy showed off a machine that its inventor hopes will empower home cooks to do pretty much anything their heart desires: making home-made pasta noodles, roasting coffee beans, making cheese, brewing beer and lots more. In short, the machine, called the Haura, is intended to be a modular food factory in a box.

The Haura comes with three major features that unlock all of that flexibility: a motor to power different add-on modules (lasagna-maker, blender, cocktail shaker, sauce and frosting shippers, etc.), an induction heating surface for cooking, and a built-in extruder to enable home cooks to make food that usually requires pro-style equipment.

“The extruder means that you can automate a lot of processes that you only industrial food-making machines,” Haura spokesperson Matteo Pressacco told the Spoon. “For example, if you need to make pasta, candies, snack bars, are confectionery packed, baby’s food, everything can be automated.”

A Look at the Haura Food Factory at CES 2023

The company is working on a number of different modules, ranging from a lasagna maker to a beer brewer, that can be plugged into the appliance’s motor or extruder. This modularity gives the box its flexibility and sets it apart from other all-in-one cooking appliances.

The machine will have its own 10″ touch screen that shows the progress of any food-making project, including information such as temperature and humidity. The Haura will have what the company calls the F-OS, short for Food Operating System, that will enable the operation of the appliance. Different cooking instruction sets, called F-Apps, will come with pre-set processes for operating the machine and allow the user to cook a variety of foods through repeatable, step-by-step processes.

The inventor of the Haura is Angelo Pressacco, a mechanical and electrical engineer, who worked with chef Dario Zuliani on the conceptualization of the Haura.

The patented machine is still in the design phase, and it’s not clear at this point when it will be shipped to consumers. Let’s hope they can pull it off, because if Pressacco and his team can bring their idea to market, they may just create an entirely new category of home food-making appliance.

Kara Water Shows Off Its Air-to-Water Dispenser at CES 2023

At CES 2023, Kara Water showed off its Kara Pure water dispenser that takes moisture from the air and turns it into drinking water.

The Kara Pure combines three functions into one machine. The machine uses the process of desiccation to gather water from the air and accumulates up to 2.5 gallons (10L) of water per day. The machine also acts as a water purifier and dispenser, making it an all-in-one water machine, only without the need to replace water jugs every few days.

Air-to-Water Dispenser at CES 2023 #shorts

Kara Water isn’t the first company to show off water-from-air technology at CES. Watergen, which sucks in air and cools it to a dew point to create water droplets, demoed their machine in 2019 and debuted the working model a year later. Zero Mass Water, which uses solar power to capture moisture and turn it into drinking water, showed off its machine at CES 2019.

Kara Water was founded in 2017 by Cody Sooden and Michael Di Giovanna. The two wanted to create a machine that could produce clean drinking water free of contaminants. Sooden’s interest in the technology started after he began experimenting with capturing water from air while studying architecture. He eventually wrote a research paper on harvesting moisture from the air, which eventually became the genesis of the company’s technology.

The company ran a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and raised $722 thousand dollars. The company announces it had finished production of its first units and started shipping to backers last month.

The Kara Pure is available now, but at a price of $3,799, it’s most likely priced a little high for consumers and will probably show up in offices or coworking spaces. The company’s founders have already started working to sell the technology in emerging markets like India, where contaminated water is a significant issue.

Brava Debuts the Brava Glass at CES 2023

Brava, a maker of smart oven technology, unveiled the Brava Glass smart oven this week at CES. The new model is the first update since the company debuted its eponymous in 2018.

The Brava Glass fixes what, for many, is the biggest shortcoming of the original Brava: not being able to see inside the cooking cavity. Ok, technically you could peek inside, but only by using the camera that resides inside the cooking chamber of the original Brava. But with the new Brava Glass, no cameras are needed (thought it does have one) as you look inside the Brava through a pane on the front door.

According to Brava spokesperson Steven Barush, the company had always intended to put a see-through glass on the door of the Brava, but didn’t want to rush it. That makes sense, especially considering that Brava’s cooking technology uses high-intensity light. To make looking inside the Brava with the naked eye without getting sun-blinded possible, the Brava Glass has a 97% tint says Barush.

As you can see below, even with a significant tint, the internal cooking light brights things up enough to get a good view of the inside of the oven.

A Look at the Brava Glass at CES 2023

The new Brava Glass with retail for $1,995 (compared with $1,295 for the original Brava) and comes with accessories like a cast iron dish, a muffin tin, a bread pan and more. The company expects the Brava Glass to shipping in early April.

Fridge Cam Maker Smarter Launches New Models at CES, Announces Acquisition of Chefling

Smarter is off to a busy 2023. At CES in Las Vegas today, the fridge cam and kitchen tech startup announced a new lineup of fridge cams. And, if that wasn’t enough, the company also announced they have acquired smart kitchen software maker Chefling.

The new lineup of fridge cams includes an update to the company’s original model. The FridgeCam2 has an extended 3-month battery life, an upgraded processor, and easier one-click set-up via the device’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. In addition to new FridgeCam, the company also introduced the FoodCam Mini, a small form-factor model that can be placed in the fridge or the pantry.

Smarter is also debuting the FridgeCam Pro this week, a model targeted at appliance manufacturers who want to retrofit a fridge cam into their refrigerator models without significant redesign. According to Smarter, the Pro model, which is powered by a USB-C connection, can be added to a fridge without having to make expensive modifications to an OEM’s pre-existing hardware.

Above: Smarter Image Recognition Technology

In addition to new hardware, the company announced it had acquired Chefling, a startup whose software helps home cooks manage food inventory, create shopping lists and plan meals. Smarter plans to pair Chefling’s food inventory database with its food image recognition capabilities to create what it says is the most advanced food inventory management system available.

Chefling, which got early traction through a partnership and investment from Bosch, has been pretty quiet for the last year and a half. By putting its software into the hands of Smarter, it gives its technology new life through the newly combined companies’ fuller suite of software targeted at the difficult task of consumer inventory management.

“The software offered by Chefling is the missing piece of the puzzle in terms of providing a full end to end service,” Chrisian Lane, CEO of Smarter, said in a release sent to The Spoon. “Taking the hard work out of stock keeping, meal planning and deciding what you need to buy next. We have automated the entire planning and cooking experience, making it the ideal assistant for the kitchen”.

Smarter also announced a new inventory management software tool it calls KitchenSync. The tool, paired with Smarter’s computer vision, can determine whether food is in stock or not. The software can factor in other sensor data (such as a weight sensor) and determine whether an item needs to be replenished. The software can also integrate with a customer’s online grocery service and can match food inventory to purchases.

If you want to check out Smarter’s new FridgeCam lineup, they’ll be at Showstoppers at CES.

Smarter Managing Director Isabella Lane will be on stage tomorrow at the CES Food Tech Conference on the future of cooking session.

The Walkaround Guide to Food Tech at CES 2023

If you’re heading to CES to check out food tech, we’ve got you covered. The Spoon team has scoured the exhibitor pages and the news releases and is keeping running track of all the companies exhibiting in the food tech category in Las Vegas this week.

You can use the handy table below to read a description of what each is showing off at CES as well as find a link that shows a map of the location of their booth.

The exhibit floor open tomorrow and we’ll be updating this throughout the show, so feel free to check back!

The Smart Cutting Board is the Latest Kitchen Gadget to Make Its Way to CES

Over the years, there’s been no shortage of kitchen gadgets at CES. But next week, a new category will join the smart ovens, connected thermometers, and AI-powered fridges on the floor of the world’s biggest tech conference: the smart cutting board.

Yep, there will be not one but two on display in Vegas next week, each with a very different focus. First is Versaware, a company that makes a connected cutting board that works in tandem with a bowl as part of a system that helps users calculate and track calories and nutrition. According to Versaware, when a user prepares a meal, they scan the ingredient barcodes (for packaged food) or query an item (for fresh produce) on the touchscreen display before they drop it onto the cutting board. Then, the app takes the weight of the added ingredient and calculates the incremental calorie count and macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) as you build your meal.

The other smart cutting board on display next week is BLOK, which its creators bill as a ‘Peleton for the kitchen.’ The idea with BLOK is users will learn to be better cooks through access to live and on-demand cooking classes viewable through the device’s video screen. When the cutting’s all done, the BLOK’s wooden cutting board detaches from the video screen and is washed. The assembled BLOK (wooden cutting board and video screen) is stored in a wireless charging station that fits on the countertop. The company will monetize through – what else – a subscription service for access to cooking videos.

Both devices beg the question of whether consumers will embrace technology being inserted into the most basic of kitchen mainstays, a category that – at least up to this point – has excelled in being nothing more than a reliable surface on which to slice and dice our food. While I think both companies will have an uphill battle selling the idea to consumers, I am more skeptical about the BLOK, primarily because I’m not convinced of any Peleton-for-kitchen business model. I’m also not sure the cutting board is the most logical place to put video playback, especially with most consumers’ easy access to smartphones, Alexa video screens, and tablets.

I plan to swing by and see both products next week. If you’re at CES and want to see a smart cutting board up close, you can find Versaware at booth 53414 and BLOK at booth 61706.

Meet Joe, The Oven-Shaped Brother of Bob the Dishwasher

Remember Bob the Dishwasher? He has a brother that likes to cook.

Daan Tech, the French-based startup behind Bob the Dishwasher, has created a small form-factor countertop oven called Joe. Joe is a multifunction oven with a steam/combi oven, convection heating/air-frying, and a microwave. As far as I know, this oven is the first countertop appliance with all three of these capabilities in one box.

Like Bob, Joe the Oven comes in a Smeg-ish design that looks cool on the countertop. Daan isn’t planning on releasing Joe until 2024, and, at this point, they haven’t revealed pricing, but since they are showing up at CES in about a week, we may know more soon.

We’ll be covering CES and what’s happening in food tech all the next week, so if you have a tip or story about a product you see or will be bringing to CES, drop us a line.

The Kitchen 2030: How Food & Cooking Will Change in the Future (Video)

If you’ve been following The Spoon since the early days of 2015, you might remember that our flagship event that started it all was the Smart Kitchen Summit. Dedicated to the quiet revolution that was happening in the consumer kitchen, SKS became the event to examine the tech disruption upending business models and changing the way we source, cook and eat our food forever.

So it was fitting that our opening panel at the first CES Food Tech Conference was “The Kitchen 2030: How Food & Cooking Will Change in the Future,” featuring some of the leading companies in the kitchen and appliance industries. The panel discussion was hosted by Michael Wolf, CEO and founder of The Spoon and included Khalid Aboujassoum, Founder & CEO of Else Labs, Dochul Choi, Senior Vice President at Samsung, Robin Liss, CEO at Suvie and Kai Schaeffner, executive at Vorwerk (Thermomix).

The panel talked about where and how cooking, storing and even shopping for foods has shifted in the last several years; with more transparency and information about the foods we eat, the digitization of the recipe, guided cooking features and a whole new wave of kitchen appliances that may change the entire layout and function of the consumer kitchen.

“The Kitchen 2030” panel can be viewed in its entirety below — leave a comment with your predictions for the next decade of innovation in the connected kitchen.

CES: Tackling Food Waste With Technology (Video)

The topic of food waste and innovation is so important — in the US alone, $408 billion worth of food is wasted each year. But the topic is too often overlooked when it comes to food tech conversations.

That’s why we invited experts to join us at the CES Food Tech Conference last month to talk about waste at different points in the food supply chain as well as the systemic issues plaguing the global food system.

We welcomed Vonnie Estes, Vice President of Innovation with the International Fresh Produce Association to moderate this panel with participants including Spencer Martin, CEO of Clew, Adian Mouat, Co-Founder & CEO of Hazel Technologies and Tim West, President of True West Ventures LLC.

The full panel — “Tackling Food Waste With Technology” is ready for viewing below.

CES 2022: Hazel Technologies Wants to Extend The Life of Perishable Food

Food waste startup Hazel Technologies started by creating solutions that could integrate into the existing global food chain by taking aim at food packages. In a sit down interview at CES 2022, CEO Aidan Mouat explained the way they think about their solution the way you would with a traditional tech stack. “Hazel is creating a chemical stack where our technology acts as the biochemistry layer to existing food packaging. The inserts are activated using atmospheric chemistry to control certain parameters in perishable food shelf life during storage and transit,” he added.

Today, Hazel Technologies are also working on the supply side, tracking as perishables get from distributors and farms to the grocery shelf. They’re also collecting data, looking at logistics and partnering with larger brands to optimize their own packaging and shipping procedures.

Food waste is clearly going to be a big part of the conversation in the world of food and tech this year. We’re not only seeing hardware and software innovation from food and kitchen companies but in biochemical innovation in places like packaging to keep food edible and safe longer.

Don’t miss this conversation on sustainable packaging tech and the impact on waste with The Spoon’s Mike Wolf and Hazel Technologies’ CEO Aidan Mouat at CES 2022.

CES 2022: The Spoon Interviews Hazel Technologies' Aidan Mouat.

We Tried Goodside Foods Meatless Crumbles Made by MycoTechnologies Mushroom Fermentation Technology

Having gone to numerous CES shows, I’ve developed a few survival strategies for the big tech conference: Bring hand sanitizer, wear comfortable shoes, and eat food whenever you get a chance.

While that last rule is mostly because food lines at CES are usually insanely long, as of late, it also applies whenever a company introduces a new plant-based food. And this year, three years after Impossible Foods debuted their second-generation plant-based burger at CES, we had a chance to try a new alt-meat in the form of Goodside Foods meatless crumbles.

Goodside Foods crumbles, a texturized pea and rice protein blend fermented by mycelia, debuted last week at CES 2022. The product is the first under MycoTechnology’s new consumer-facing brand. According to the company, Myco’s natural fermentation process makes their plant protein easier to digest and removes any off notes from plant-based meat alternatives. Interestingly, the product is packaged in a dry, shelf-stable form that is activated by water or broth. Once activated, the crumbles can be served in meat-based products such as pasta sauces or chili.

I decided to drop by the booth and give Goodsides crumbles a try. The company was serving up chili made with the new crumbles, the other usual chili fixings, and a plant-based cheese made by the company’s technology.

How’d it taste? Pretty darn good. I’ve tried both Impossible and Beyond ground beef alternatives in chili and pasta, and the Goodside Foods’ crumbles were on par with both of these products.

What I didn’t do was try the crumbles on their own in, say, a hamburger patty, so I can’t give a verdict on its standalone flavor. However, since the crumbles essentially gave me the same experience in chili as, say, a ground beef, it tells me Goodside Foods has really nailed the mouthfeel of a ground meat product (which is where many of the early plant-based meat products I’ve tasted fall down).

I also have to say, I like the idea of a dry, shelf-stable alt meat product (that isn’t, well, spam). While most plant-based meats freeze well and many – like Impossible – have pretty long refrigerator shelf-lives, the reality is sometimes we all get busy. Like others, I have forgotten to put a package of alt-meat in the freezer before it spoiled. With a shelf-stable product like Goodside’s crumbles, you can load up your pantry and not have to worry about spoilage.

If you’d like to try Goodside Food’s crumbles, you can order them online.

And, if you’re curious to try more mushroom-powered food, you may not have to wait long. The company was also showing off a mushroom milk at CES (ed note: it tastes like Oatly), which Goodside hopes to start shipping in Q1 or Q2 of this year.

You can see the chili made with Goodside’s crumbles in the video below.

The Spoon Tries GoodSide Foods Meatless Crumbles at CES 2022