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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Smart Kitchen Summit

COO of Lecker Labs, Makers of Yomee, Talks Crowdfunding Success

Since we announced the 8 finalists in our SKS Europe Startup Showcase last week, we’ve launched a series of Q&A’s to introduce this year’s talented crop of food innovators. Next up is Anindya Roy, COO of Lecker Labs, producer of Yomee.

Lecker Labs got their start at the food tech accelerator program FoodX and before launching a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign for Yomee, a countertop appliance which combines milk (and milk alternatives) with branded probiotic pods to create chilled yogurt in 6 hours.

Head to the SKS Europe blog to read our Q&A with Roy and learn more about the inspiration behind Yomee, the startup’s biggest challenges, and the secret to their crowdfunding success.

If you want to meet Anindya and more of the Yomee team in person and see them demo their countertop yogurt maker, register for SKS Europe in Dublin on June 11-12th!

 

Q&A with Jeroen Spitaels, Cofounder of Mealhero

Last week we announced the 8 finalists who will participate in SKS Europe’s Startup Showcase. Next month they’ll head to Dublin to pitch our panel of judges on how their company will change the future of food and cooking.

We’re launching a series of Q&A’s so you can get to know these founders a little bit better. First up: Jeroen Spitaels. He’s the cofounder of Mealhero, a Belgian startup which combines a frozen meal kit service with a connected countertop steamer. Head to the SKS Europe blog to read our Q&A with Spitaels and learn what inspired him to start Mealhero, the power of a good vacation, and why he wants a smart tech chef in every home.

If you haven’t already, register to join us for SKS Europe this June 11-12 in Dublin! You’ll get to meet these ambitious founders, rub shoulders with kitchen innovators, and hang out in the Guinness Brewhouse.

Just Announced: SKS Europe Startup Showcase Finalists

After some excellent applications and much deliberation, we’ve selected 8 food tech startups to pitch at our SKS Europe Startup Showcase! They’re a diverse and fascinating group, covering everything from guided cooking to taste-pairing to water purification.

Get to know the candidates below and make sure to get your tickets to SKS Europe on June 11-12 to see them pitch, watch their demos, and learn about how their products will impact the future of food. We’ll see you in Dublin!

SKS Europe Startup Showcase

mealhero
This Belgian startup, which we wrote about on the Spoon last year, is a frozen meal kit service with an accompanying cooking device. After selecting a recipe on the mealhero app, users receive a box of fresh-frozen ingredients which they can cook in the connected countertop steamer. The app helps them assemble the prepared components into a final dish.

 

Pantri
Startup Pantri’s grocery usage-tracking service connects to smart devices in your kitchen to enable users to see when they’re getting low on grocery items and reorder from their chosen online retailers. Its website tells users to think of Pantri like a “butler 2.0,” but we view it more like a DIY Amazon Dash platform.

 

 

PlantJammer
Based in Copenhagen, PlantJammer is a vegetarian recipe-generating app which uses AI to help determine optimal flavor pairings in an effort to help inexperienced chefs cook more plant-based dishes and reduce food waste. If you want a more in-depth rundown of PlantJammer’s modular cooking platform, check out our profile on them.

 

Photo: Mitte

Mitte
This Berlin-based startup wants to revolutionize the way we drink water at home. Their smart water machine purifies tap water, then lets you customize it with cartridges that re-infuse the water with minerals or increases the pH level depending on your taste preferences and fitness goals. Bonus: it syncs up with your phone to give you deeper insights into and control over your H2O.

 

Lecker Labs
Startup Lecker Labs is the maker of Yomee, a countertop yogurt maker. We’ve covered this Keurig-like machine before: you pour in your favorite milk (even non-dairy), pop in a Yomee starter pod, select your desired type of yogurt on their app (Greek, stirred, etc.), and in 6 hours it’s chilled to 55 °F and ready to eat.

 

TipCrop
TipCrop is a smart lighting platform which allows growers to fine-tune aspects of their indoor farms (such as temperature, LED intensity, and humidity), giving them the ability to optimize their crops. As of now, their technology is used to grow microgreens and leafy greens in urban farms.

 

Digimeals
Swiss startup Digimeals is working with kitchen appliance companies and recipe publishers to build their cooking interface. Their platforms let you peruse recipes based on what you already have, export the ingredient list for online grocery ordering, and monitor the cooking progress by aggregating data from your smart cooking devices.

 


The final startup finalist will be launching their technology at SKS Europe, so for now we have to keep them shrouded in mystery. But let’s just say their platform could have huge implications for the smart kitchen.

Intrigued? Inspired? Want to hear more? Register for SKS Europe in Dublin on June 11-12th to meet the people behind these startups, hear them pitch, and experience their product demos. 

Food Tech News Roundup: Grocery E-Commerce, Food Fraud & Cooking Robot Goes Beta

Food tech news time! We had quite a few updates on the Spoon this week, too. Chris Albrecht launched a brand new podcast about food-related robots and AI called The Spoon: Automat — give it a listen! We also announced the details of our next food tech meetup: The Future of Meat. Tickets are free, so if you’re in the Seattle area we hope to see you there. And finally, we’re just a little over a month out from heading to the legendary Guinness Storehouse for SKS Europe, so if you want to network with the top leaders defining the future of food, make sure to get tickets before they’re gone.

Now, grab a second cup of coffee and take a look at these noteworthy food tech news stories from around the web.

Photo: Flickr.

Alibaba hops on the blockchain train
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is rolling out a pilot program to combat food fraud in China using everyone’s favorite buzzword these days: blockchain. They’ll initially target food products from Australia and New Zealand that are sold in their Tmall online marketplace, China’s largest open B2C platform.

According to the Australian Financial Review, just two items are part of the pilot program: something in the dairy family and a fish oil supplement. If successful, Alibaba will expand the initiative and try to crack down on food fraud worldwide.

Blockchain is not a perfect cure-all for food fraud. It may be incorruptible, but it doesn’t guarantee that those inputting the provenance and quality of each food item are telling the truth. Other companies, such as Ripe.io and Inscatech, have nonetheless been working on establishing blockchain for food. But this move by Alibaba is on a different level; it’s giving some transparency — and responsibility — to one of the largest e-commerce suppliers in the world.

 

Photo: Klue.

Tech company introduces responsive wearables for nutrition tracking
This week Klue, a technology company developing an OS focused on behavior change, announced partnerships with Stanford University and Crossover Health (a healthcare company) to further their program on shifting consumer eating and drinking patterns.

They also promised to reveal their first wearable technology by May 7. We’ve written about Klue before on the Spoon, but that was when their tech synced up to compatible wearables; now, they’re about to unveil their own. Their press release said that the wearables will harness AI to track wrist movements and determine how much — and how fast — consumers are eating and drinking. According to their press release, they’ll then provide “personalized, real-time micro-nudges on dietary behavior modification,” encouraging wearers to make healthier consumption choices like eating more slowly, staying hydrated or avoiding late-night snacking.

While we’re not exactly sure what a “micro-nudge” is, it seems like this could lead to some literally hand-slapping when you reach for that second cookie. But Klue’s products are also very much in line with two big consumer food trends that have been on the up-and-up: personalization and dynamic nutrition services.

 

Photo: Instacart.

Instacart announces plans for $40M support center
This week Instacart said that it had plans to build a Customer Support Center in Atlanta — with a $40 million price tag. The new center will have a staff of 400, and will complete the construction and hiring process over the next two years, according to FoodDive.

With their latest expansions — including new deals with Costco, Albertson’s, and Sam’s club — plus a recent $150 million funding round, Instacart will no doubt need some serious customer support to help with new client onboarding and delivery organization. We made the claim that if they wanted to beat Amazon the grocery delivery company would have to both expand and innovate — maybe this new service center will help them achieve both of these goals while keeping their customers and suppliers happy.

 

Photo: Whole Foods

Amazon ups Whole Foods perks
Speaking of groceries, this week Amazon amped up Whole Foods perks for Prime members in an attempt to get them to shop more often at the grocery store. Most prominently, Prime members will get an additional 10% discount off of already discounted products.

According to CNBC, roughly 75% of Whole Foods shoppers are Amazon Prime members, but only 20% of Prime members shop at Whole Foods. These perks could help the grocery store move away from its reputation as “Whole Paycheck” and capture Amazon’s Prime members, who value convenience and a good deal.

 


Plant-based protein drink company raises $1.1M
This week protein drink startup Après raised $1.1 million seed round led by Rocana Venture Partners. According to BevNet, the company targets women as the core consumers for their plant-based protein shakes — each of which contains 180 -190 calories and 13 grams of protein.

While plant-based protein drinks made of almond or soy have been around for a while, this is one of the first drinks to market itself purely as a protein beverage — and to emphasize that it’s made of plants. Après’recent funding round indicates that plant-based protein’s popularity has expanded way beyond “chicken” nuggets and burgers. And if consumer trends hold true, the market for plant-based protein will continue to grow over the coming years. So we’ll probably be seeing it pop up more often — and a lot more prominently — in a lot of different food categories.

A user prepares food for the Oliver cooking chambers

Else Labs opens up beta testing for cooking robot Oliver

We’ve followed cooking robot startup Else Labs ever since they appeared as part of our Startup Showcase at the Smart Kitchen Summit, so we were intrigued to hear they’ve opened up beta testing for their cooking robot Oliver.  The company, which is raised $1.8 million through the Qatar Development Bank last summer, announced they were looking for beta testers via email.

Live in North America and want to beta test an Oliver? Apply here. If you live outside of North America, you may have to wait a while longer, as the company states via its beta tester survey this round of beta testing will be in “selected cities in North America.”

Talking Sustainable Kitchen Innovation with Electrolux’s David Cronström

Over the past few years, appliance brands large and small have begun to stake their claim on the smart kitchen market. One that’s been especially active is Electrolux; in 2015 the company launched a smart steam oven with a connected camera, and they acquired sous vide company Anova in February of 2017.

In preparation for SKS Europe this June in Dublin, we spoke with David Cronström, their Head of Strategy and Ecosystems, about the future of smart kitchens, what connectivity means to him, and his favorite pasta dish (hint: it has truffles).

Read the full Q&A on our Smart Kitchen Summit blog. If you want to hear Cronström speak in person about creating sustainable innovation, get tickets to see him at SKS Europe in Dublin on June 11-12th!

Agenda for SKS Europe Announced

We just released the agenda for the first-ever SKS Europe! All the action will be happening at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin on June 11-12th.

We’ve got an amazing lineup full of experts in some of the biggest topics in food innovation this year, like food delivery, the future of grocery, IoT and the connected kitchen, and taste and AI.

A few highlights:

  • Conversations with innovation leads from Europe’s biggest appliance makers such as Electrolux, BSH and Groupe SEB
  • TED-style talks from the founders of some of Europe’s leading smart kitchen startups, like Smarter and Whisk
  • A look at the personalized, guided recipe led by food journalist Katie Quinn along with Hestan, Recipe Guru and FlavorWiki
  • Analysis of the foodtech & smart kitchen investment landscape from leading European and US venture capitalists.

If you’re interested, you can view the full conference schedule here.

Tickets are on sale now, so grab yours before the event sells out. We’ll see you there!

Dishq CEO Kishan Vasani Predicts You Want Snails for Dinner

At one point or another, we have all suffered from menu confusion: the feeling when a restaurant offers too many good-looking dishes, overwhelming us with choice. You don’t want to choose the wrong thing and be stuck with it, but you need to make a decision.

Bangalore-based startup dishq is using AI and consumer data to try and simplify the process by giving companies like restaurants, office cafeterias, and food delivery services the power to make personalized food recommendations to their customers.

In preparation for SKS Europe this June in Dublin, we decided to ask dishq co-founder and CEO Kishan Vasani a few questions about how his company is trying to simplify the food decision-making process.

Read the full Q&A on our Smart Kitchen Summit blog to learn about how the company uses AI to personalize your restaurant recommendations, the future of predictive ordering, and what Vasani predicts that I want for dinner. (Hint: he was (partially) right.)

If you want to hear Kishan Vasani speak more about how AI and predictive ordering will shape our eating patterns, make sure to get your tickets for SKSEurope in Dublin June 11-12th. 

Rohan Pradhan, Head of Deliveroo Editions, is Coming to SKS Europe

While Rohan Pradhan was in Harvard Business School he created a startup, Chefstro, which linked restaurant chefs with customers who wanted to hire them for private dinner parties and pop-up events.

He eventually left his startup to work at Amazon Prime Now, but kept up his interest in food-related business ventures. Good thing, because he now works for Deliveroo, one of the largest restaurant food delivery companies in the U.K. In addition to leading new initiatives for the fast-growing startup (like robot chefs, perhaps?), Pradhan is also Head of Editions.

The Deliveroo Editions team uses customer data to curate restaurant hubs in areas which have unfulfilled demands for certain restaurant chains or cuisines. This model allows restaurants to launch with zero start-up costs while providing customers a wide variety of delivery food options, even if they aren’t located in an area with a high concentration of restaurants. Essentially, it’s cloud kitchens meets a food hall, with some heavy analysis to determine which foods customers want and where.

So how does Pradhan help Deliveroo innovate and thrive in the extremely crowded and competitive food delivery market?

That’s what he’ll tell us at Smart Kitchen Summit Europe on June 12th at the Guinness Storehouse. You can buy your tickets here. 

See you in Dublin. 

Video: Dovetailed’s CEO Imagines a 3D-Printed Food Future

At last year’s Smart Kitchen Summit by the Spoon, Vaiva Kalnikaitė, CEO of unconventional design studio and innovation lab Dovetailed, took the stage to talk about one of food futurists’ favorite topics: edible 3D printing. “Over the last few years, I’ve been exploring how we can design new dining experiences using various different types of technology,” she said. And the one that caught — and captured — her interest was 3D food printing.

There are a few companies working in the edible printing area. Some like Foodini extrude pastes to make food that must then be cooked or dried, like pasta; others like ChefJet print with sugar molecules; and then there’s Dovetailed, which has developed a pretty cool way to print with liquids. Despite its popularity as an idea, the number of companies actually applying 3D printing technology to food is relatively few.

But Kalnikaitė thinks that it won’t be this way for long. “Perhaps this is the shape of taste to come,” she said to the audience. “I’m really excited about the 3D printing of food in general and I think that it has a lot of potential.”

It might be a slow road, however. “One of the challenges is the way that we’re trying to retrofit 3D printed food into the same practices we use for traditional cooking,” said Kalnikaitė.

Watch the video below to see her lay out her vision for the future of 3D food printing. And if you want to hear more from innovators who are disrupting the way we grow, cook, and eat our food, make sure to register for SKS Europe in Dublin on June 11-12th.

Imagining A Printed Food Future from The Spoon on Vimeo.

Smarter CEO Christian Lane Coming To SKS Europe

At the age of 19, Christian Lane became the youngest person to ever pitch for investment on British TV’s Dragons’ Den, on which he won an investment from Dragon Theo Paphitis.

Back then, Lane was pitching a foldable stationary product called Foldio, but nowadays he’s the CEO of a company building products to make the kitchen smarter and more connected.

Lane’s company, Smarter, launched their first product — a WiFi-enabled kettle — back in 2013, and their latest product is a retrofit fridge cam that lets you remotely check what’s in your fridge via mobile phone.

How did Lane build a startup in the connected kitchen? That’s what he’ll tell us at Smart Kitchen Summit Europe on June 12th at the Guinness Storehouse. You can buy your tickets here.

See you in Dublin. 

Thermomix Head of Product Talks Community, Kitchen Gadgets, & Broccoli Salad

If there was ever such thing as an all-in-one kitchen gadget, Thermomix would be it. Over the last few years, it has attracted a cult-like following with its promise to replace over 12 kitchen appliances. From mixing and kneading to chopping, weighing, and steaming, the device lets users create restaurant-quality meals in a fraction of the time it would take with the usual arsenal of kitchen tools. Its German parent company Vorwerk is edging further into the smart home space by adding connected recipes and guided cooking accessories for step-by-step kitchen assistance.

We recently chatted with Dr. Stefan Hilgers, Vice President of International Product Management at Thermomix, to learn more about the appliance’s secret to success, its struggle to enter the U.S. market, and his favorite dish to whip up in his Thermomix at home.

Head over to the Smart Kitchen Summit Europe blog to read the full Q&A with Dr. Hilgers. 

If you want to hear him speak in person about what Thermomix is doing to further the future of food and cooking, make sure to get your tickets for SKSEurope in Dublin June 11-12th!

Video: James Ehrlich Talks Food, Epiphanies, & the (Eco)Village of the Future

Take a second, right now, and picture the community of the future. Are there green roofs, lazily-turning windmills, and streetlights powered by solar energy? Maybe even a lawn-mowing robot or two?

James Ehrlich, CEO of ReGen Villages, has a pretty innovative vision for how neighborhoods of the future should look and function. After a career as a tech entrepreneur and television producer for The Hippy Gourmet, with a few epiphanies along the way, he came to the sobering realization that “the planet is, in fact, falling apart.”

In response, Ehrlich began sketching out plans for modern ecovillages with food “not as a sidebar or a flourish, but as the actual mechanism for how a neighborhood infrastructure is built.” ReGen Villages is currently in the midst of construction their first pilot community in Almere, Netherlands, with plans to expand.

After he wowed us with his optimistic vision for the future of homes, neighborhoods, and communities at the Smart Kitchen Summit last year, Ehrlich sat down with Allen Weiner of The Spoon chat with about epiphanies (and breakdowns), the concept behind ReGen Villages, and what’s on the horizon (hint: their ecovillages might be coming to a state near you!).

Psst—look out for videos from past Smart Kitchen Summits every Friday on The Spoon. And if you’re in Europe (or just want an excuse to EuroTrip), register for SKS Europe, coming to Dublin in June.