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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Smart Kitchen Summit

Burden of Proof Makes Cocktails with All the Pizzazz, None of the Booze

It used to be, if you wanted a non-alcoholic drink you were basically stuck with water, soda, or maybe a virgin pina colada. Now, spurred by younger generations’ embrace of wellness, ‘mocktails’ are becoming a craft area all their own.

Burden of Proof, a finalist of our Future Food competition for the Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS}, is trying to cash in on this new trend in non-alcoholic beverages that excite just as much as their boozy counterparts. They’ll be pitching onstage at SKS next week, but we spoke with Zain Tarawneh, founder of Burden of Proof, to get a sneak peek into how their company hopes to turn the social beverage game upside down. Check out the Q&A below then grab your ticket to SKS!

This interview has been slightly edited and condensed for clarity.

First thing’s first: give us your 15-second elevator pitch.
Burden of Proof makes culinary-inspired sparkling cocktails, 0% ABV, packaged in aluminum cans. Crafted from a range of ingredients like cold-pressed citrus, purées, cold brew herbal teas with l-theanine and spices/herbs, our priority is to the retain the fresh, nutritious and functional elements of the ingredients we mindfully choose. Our elevated beverages provide healthy alternatives in social settings while promoting social inclusivity.

What inspired you to start your company?
As someone who prioritizes health and wellness, I questioned why functional wellness beverages were sold everywhere except in social settings. It was frustrating that water was my only healthy option at restaurants, bars, networking happy hours, live sporting events and concerts. With attention to health and wellness at an all time high, I was even more baffled that sugar-loaded mocktails were classified as the healthy alternatives.

After researching non-drinkers and drinkers choices in social settings, I found they shared the same problem: the lack of healthy beverage options was pigeonholing them into mindless, unhealthy choices. So we took the fresh elements that people love in mocktails like fresh-squeezed citrus, purees, teas, herbs and spices and prioritized retaining their functional properties like nutrients and antioxidants. We then added l-theanine, an amino acid found in green tea known for counteracting cortisol (the stress hormone), benefiting mood and alertness and promoting a calm, focused relaxation. Finally, we made it sophisticated in taste and elevated in style so it would fit into social settings. It was also important that we make it sustainable in practice so we planned to can it into recyclable aluminum cans. With that, Burden of Proof was born.

What’s the most challenging part of getting a food startup off the ground?
The food and beverage space is a real science and with that comes a huge learning curve. I constantly have to research and learn new things. That can be daunting, but it helps having people you can go to who have successfully launched and currently sell in the food and beverage space.

Creating a clean, functional and transparent product is also more challenging than creating an industry standard beverage that contains things like artificial sweeteners or preservatives. Most of these beverages position themselves on flavorings versus function. For example, many co-packers heat pasteurize which leads to changes in flavor and degrades nutrients. Because our brand is built on retaining the freshness and nutritional qualities of our ingredients, popular manufacturing practices are limiting. Going completely against that is challenging. Although it can feel like you are trying to solve problems that are unsolvable, part of being a creative is creating a way out of your circumstances when there isn’t one.”

How will your company change the day-to-day life of consumers and the food space as a whole?
Burden of Proof is built on the belief that you shouldn’t have to carry the burden of providing proof or reason for your positive choices. Similar to drinking, both eating and smoking are also considered social activities but here is where they differ: if you are a vegan, there is no social expectation to explain why you arn’t eating a cheeseburger if everyone else is. Mainstream society accepts and promotes healthy eating options. If you don’t smoke, it’s socially acceptably to just say no. That is because there was a rise in public awareness surrounding the ill effects of cigarettes.

But if you aren’t drinking because you work early the next day, you are allergic, it gives you headaches, you are on medication, you are expecting, you abstain for spiritual reasons, or you just don’t feel like it (the list goes on), there is social pressure to provide your reason. We want to lift that burden so there’s freedom to make positive decisions without having to explain yourself. By working to provide alcohol-free but sophisticated beverage options, we can help carve social change with regards to normalizing healthy lifestyle choices.

Whether it’s at a company happy hour, on a night out with friends or enjoying your own company at home, we want our consumers to not only have healthy alternatives but also feel free, confident and socially included irrespective of their beverage choices.

Millo Is Reinventing the Blender to Make it Quieter, Sleeker and Smarter

You probably have a blender in your house. It’s probably… fine. But what if your blender could not only make you a really good smoothie, but do it silently — and look pretty dang cool in the process?

That’s exactly what Millo, a new startup reinventing the blender, is trying to do. They’re one of the finalists in the Startup Showcase at our Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS} food tech conference. We spoke with Ruslanas Adam Trakšelis, the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Millo, to learn more about how the company is improving upon one of the most common household staples. Check out the Q&A below then grab a ticket to watch him and the other Startup Showcase finalists pitch live next week! We only have a few left (seriously), so get on it if you’re interested.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

First thing’s first: give us your 15-second elevator pitch.
MILLO is the blender reinvented as a smart gadget. Using unparalleled magnetic clutch and a brushless motor called AirDrive, the MILLO has no bulky-looking mechanical parts and stands out by its sleek Scandinavian premium/minimalist design. MILLO is cordless, buttonless and fully portable. Its smart electronics, together with firmware, enable real-time tracking of changes in liquid consistency, which allows extreme precision and creates a new dimension in recipes that are conveniently shared within the Millo app.

What inspired you to start your company?
MILLO was born out of the frustration experienced by everyone who makes smoothies. Usual blenders are noisy, messy and hard to wash. After a number of occasions in which I woke up my newly-born daughter while making my post-workout morning smoothie, I decided to reinvent the blender.

The moment of inspiration came when I was watching my daughter playing with a toy which rotated two dancing figures with magnets. That inspired me to develop AirDrive, a motor based on the magnetic coupling. The AirDrive technology eliminates mechanical friction of engine parts, thus the noise level is reduced significantly and I don’t disturb my family’s sleep.

What’s the most challenging part of getting a food tech startup off the ground?
I believe this is not related to food tech startups in particular, but startups in general — the main challenge is to find the right people who believe in the project the same way as you do, or close to it. Not only co-workers, but also investors, advisers, etc.

How will your company change the day-to-day life of consumers and the food space as a whole?
Today’s lifestyles have us more overworked and time-poor than ever, with our bodies and our well-being suffering as a consequence. Obesity, heart disease, and stress-related illnesses are some of the greatest threats to our health today. But we don’t need devices telling us to break our bad habits — we need technology to help us to leave them behind.

MILLO is not just an improved blender, but a true gadget specifically designed to help us integrate a better diet and nutrition to our modern, busy lifestyles. It takes the noise, mess, and hassle out of blending, making it easier than ever to make the right choices

Get one of the last remaining tickets to SKS to watch Trakšelis pitch onstage with the other Startup Showcase finalists! We’ll see you there.

Naveen Jain Says for Perfectly Personalized Food, Trust Your Gut. Literally

What if the food you ate could not only help you feel better and lose (or gain) weight, but also cure chronic health conditions, make you more alert, or even clear up your skin?

That’s exactly what personalized nutrition company Viome is trying to do. Viome’s CEO Naveen Jain will be onstage at the Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS} next week to talk about biomapping your menu and the power of personalized diets.

We spoke with Jain recently to learn more about how he’s trying to reinvent individual nutrition, starting with the gut. Read a little teaser about our conversation on Viome’s capabilities below, and be sure to get your tickets to SKS (there’s only a few left!) to hear him talk about the future of nutrition and personalization onstage.

You might not know it, but there are over 40 trillion microbes currently living in our gut. These microbes help us break down food and absorb nutrition, but, as living organisms, they differ person to person. So why isn’t the food we eat attuned to our specific gut microbe breakdown?

Jain thinks it should be. “We understand the human body at a biochemical level,” Jain told me. “Everything in your body is so personalized. That’s why we should change healthcare from the ‘one size fits all’ model.”

That’s why he created Viome, which uses an individual’s stool sample to check out what the microbes in their gut are doing. Based off of that data, the company can tell them which foods are good for them (and why)‚ which ones are not so good, and can also recommend dietary enzymes to help stabilize your gut or facilitate weight loss.

Viome used to be limited to analysis and supplements, but a few months ago the company acquired personalized nutrition company Habit. Jain said that they’re using Habit to add integrated recipes and meal planning into the Viome platform. Though it’s added new services, Viome has also gotten a lot more affordable. When it first launched in 2016 its test cost $400 — now it’s under half that.

All of this goes to show that personalized nutrition is getting more accessible, relevant, and better about pinpointing exactly how individuals should eat to meet their health goals. Is it the future of eating? It very well could be. The best way to find out is to join us at SKS as Jain and others do a deep dive into the potential power of personalized eating. We’ll see you there!

Lisa Dyson Says to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint, Eat “Air-Based Protein”

We’ve all probably seen research on how plant-based protein has a lower environmental impact than protein from animals. But what if an even more sustainable source of protein was quite literally all around us?

Dr. Lisa Dyson, CEO of Air Protein (a spinoff of Kiverdi), is making edible protein out of — you guessed it — air. Specifically carbon dioxide. (For more info on the logistics of how they do this, check out our post from this summer.)

Dyson will be speaking about this innovative new protein source onstage at the Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS} next week alongside Perumal Gandhi of Perfect Day and Michele Fite of Motif Foodworks. Check out our quick Q&A with Dyson below then grab your tickets now — there are only a few left!

What gave you the idea to experiment with making protein out of carbon dioxide?
My colleague Dr. John Reed and I discovered NASA research conducted on long space flights, where they investigated closed-loop carbon cycles that could feed astronauts and sustain them for the length of their missions. My team and I took this technology off the shelf and developed several closed-loop carbon solutions that are scalable for the global marketplace.

Here on earth, our current way of producing cannot sustainably keep up with the demand of our growing population. And we will have to sustainably feed 10 billion people by 2050. I see this as one of our most significant global issues, which is why we launched Air Protein, which, we believe, is one of the most sustainable solutions to feeding our growing population without putting a strain on natural resources.

How will Air Protein change the way we eat?
We are already seeing a shift from animal-based protein to plant-based protein diets for both environmental and health reasons. Air Protein provides an additional step in the right direction: from land-based protein to air-based protein. Air Protein is sustainably produced from the elements found in the air we breathe and requires minimal land and resources. In fact, an Air Protein farm the size of Walt Disney World would make as much protein as a soy farm the size of Texas.

So if consumers want to minimize their footprint, eating delicious foods made from Air Protein will be the way to do it in the (near) future. And, it does this while being nutritious, having all the essential amino acids needed for a healthy diet and the same amino acid profile as animal protein. It is also rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B12 which is lacking in a vegan diet. One in three Americans considers themselves a flexitarian. Air Protein will enable consumers to make the choices they are increasingly interested in making: eating delicious, healthy foods without the footprint.

Do you see Air Proteins main application being in space, or here on Earth?
It can (and likely will) be for both. Companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have paved the way for consumer awareness and excitement about meat alternatives with plant-based products that replicate the flavor and texture of meats. We believe air-based foods is the next evolution of the planet-based movement and to feed 10 billion people, we are in need of radical new food solutions — ones that use less of our planet’s resources. Air Protein offers such a solution.

Want to hear Dr. Dyson speak about her futuristic vision of feeding the world with protein made from thin air? Make sure to see her TED-style talk at SKS in just over a week! Tickets here.

Perumal Gandhi of Perfect Day Thinks that Yeast and Bacteria Can Help Feed the Planet

The temptation of ice cream can be a killer for even the most devout dairy-abstainers and flexitarians. So much so that Perumal Gandhi and Ryan Pandya were motivated to create Perfect Day, a company that makes animal-free dairy products with the exact same proteins as the real thing, thanks to fermentation. Their debut product, a suite of ice creams, disappeared as soon as they were released (I can personally attest that they were very, very delicious).

We reached out to Perumal Gandhi to learn more about his motivation behind co-founding a company that makes dairy from microbes. It’s just a snippet of what he will discuss onstage at the Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS} on October 7 & 8 in Seattle, so get your tickets now!

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. 

What inspired you to create Perfect Day, a company that makes dairy without the cows?
For me it all comes back to the animals and the environment. My entire life, I’ve always been a nature lover and been conscious about humanity’s impact on the world. Although I was raised eating meat, dairy, and eggs, I decided to go vegetarian when I was young. This first transition was pretty easy, I just ate more dairy and eggs to compensate. Fast forward to grad school, I learned that dairy and eggs are part of the same problematic system of industrial farming, so I changed to a 100% plant-based vegan diet.

This second transition was far from easy — I found that I really missed cheese and dairy products. Given my scientific background, I knew that there had to be a way to make real milk in an environmentally friendly way, so I looked into it. Then, thanks to a coincidental twist of fate, I got connected with Ryan Pandya through our mutual friend, Isha Datar of New Harvest. New Harvest is a nonprofit research institution dedicated to funding cellular agriculture research. Isha told Ryan and I that we were the only two people who had ever approached her with the idea to make dairy without animals.

Ryan, like me, had a background in biomedicine, loved the natural world, and had struggled to completely give up dairy foods. We started trading our ideas for making dairy using well-known fermentation techniques. The rest is history! Five years later, we now lead a team of nearly 70 people, have begun to commercialize and scale our technology, and we plan on working with food companies around the world to help evolve what is possible for dairy foods and beyond.

You call your animal-free dairy “flora-based,” instead of plant-based or cell-based. Why is that?
Microflora refers to microorganisms collectively. We use flora as a shorthand way to refer to the fungi, yeast, algae, bacteria and other organisms commonly used across the world to produce ingredients via fermentation.

Not only can fermentation using microflora address the world’s nutrition needs — and our demand for animal products — without the significant environmental and climate impacts caused by animal agriculture, it can also allow for a climate- and geography-agnostic way to produce nutritious food.

Protein made using our flora-based approach is identical to that from animals, but also fundamentally and functionally different than plant-based proteins. We use the term “flora-based” rather than plant- or cell-based because it’s the most scientifically accurate term. We’ve found that it differentiates us from both plant and animal products and describes the origin of our protein in a concrete way.

Perfect Day recently launched its first product: flora-based ice cream (which was delicious). Where is it available now/when will it be on grocery shelves?
We’re so glad you liked the ice cream! This launch was very limited and was only available for purchase through our website. However, we’re working hard to get products made with our protein into stores in the near future. For now we’re directing people to sign up for our newsletter at our website — subscribers will be the first to know when, where, and what the next product will be!

What other products can we expect to see from Perfect Day?
It’s too early for us to share any details about future product launches – but we can say that we’ll have another announcement before the end of this year. Stay tuned!

What a tease! Come see Perumal speak about next-gen protein at SKS on October 7th and maybe you can get some more details out of him. Get your tickets here!

Planeteer Is Cutting Down on Plastic Waste with Cutlery You Can Eat

We all know that single-use plastics — like disposable cutlery, straws, and cups — often end up hanging out in landfills and clogging up the oceans. Some companies opt for biodegradable options, but those can also take a long time to break down.

Planeteer LLC is trying to solve the problem of single-use cutlery waste by making single-use spoons that are meant not to be thrown away or composted, but eaten. The company will be pitching live onstage at the Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS} for our first ever Future Food competition this October! Read a short Q&A with co-founder Dinesh Tadepalli below and grab your tickets to see (and taste) his innovative cutlery for yourself.

This Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.

First thing’s first: give us your 15-second elevator pitch.
Did you eat your spoon today? It’s time to ditch the single-use disposable plastic — which, though only used for a few minutes of comfort, hurts nature for hundreds of years. Let us be more creative and innovative in helping the planet be a better place for future generations by eating your spoon! Our edible cutlery revolution starts with spoons that are all-natural, vegan, protein-rich and compost in just days! They come in two shapes and fun flavors, and will stay firm up to 25 minutes in a hot soup and 50 minutes in a cold dessert.

What inspired you to start your company?
We owe our future generations the same planet we enjoy. Our mission started after our kids were born. We felt responsible not just to secure their education but also to provide them clean oceans and environment. This started our path to exploring and innovating the way to make edible cutlery. Every spoon eaten is one less plastic one in the ocean!

What’s the most challenging part of getting a food startup off the ground?
Being a new concept and more expensive than a plastic spoon, our most challenging part is convincing customers that they can eat the spoon, literally! Our flavors and win-win pricing strategy helped all the sections of the business from manufacturing to the end customer. Now, we have about 20 shops selling these spoons for a minimal add-on cost, where the customer can leave the shop with gratitude and empowerment that they have not wasted another plastic spoon today.

How will your company change the day-to-day life of consumers and the food space as a whole?
We strive to replace all the single-use plastic spoons with a spoon you can eat. Edible Coffee stirrers are next. Take-out food is a huge market in US, so just imagine how many plastic spoons can be saved from oceans and landfills if we make a conscious switch.

A few minutes of eating ice cream with a plastic spoon leaves 500 years of impact on the planet. Our only goal is to help customers provide better alternatives to single-use plastic.

Get your tickets to SKS 2019 now to meet all the Future Food companies and give their products a taste!

Michele Fite Wants to Defy Your Idea of What Animal-Free Alternatives Can Be

Burbling bread starters and pots of kimchi or kraut are common in today’s fermentation-forward, health-conscious kitchens. But what happens when you merge the ancient craft that brought us fine wine, soy sauce, and chocolate with cutting-edge science and technology ? You get protein, which is exactly what new(ish) spinoff company Motif Foodworks is all about: making animal-free protein solutions to help feed the alt-meat revolution.

We talked to Michele Fite, Chief Commercial Officer of Motif FoodWorks, to find out more. She will be at the Smart Food Summit (SKS) on October 7th speaking about Next-Gen Food Building Blocks next month. Tickets are almost gone, so register now!

This Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.

Tell us more about how Motif FoodWorks works.
We are an ingredient innovation company dedicated to reshaping the landscape of food through science and technology. We will do that by partnering with food innovators, from chefs to startups to major enterprise brands, and creating animal-free ingredients that will enable new and better food experiences. Ultimately, our goal is to defy expectations of what animal-free alternatives can be.

To achieve breakthroughs in ingredient innovation, we employ an exhaustive process to understand and unlock new food properties. We start with a thorough analysis of the sensory experience that allows us to identify the underlying components. We then decode the genetic makeup of those ingredients, translating them into animal-free counterparts. Powered by fermentation, we harness biology and select microbes designed to produce our target ingredients — ones we have traditionally gotten from animals — through a process that is akin to brewing beer.

Motif FoodWorks just raised $27.5 million dollars. What do you plan to use your new capital to achieve?
With the new funding, we plan to add to and accelerate our product pipeline; expand academic collaborations across a broad set of molecular food science disciplines; scale our science and regulatory staff; and deepen our research and development efforts.

This year alone we have been able to expand our leadership team with the additions of Janet Collins, Head of Regulatory, Government and Industry Affairs, Julie Post-Smith, Director of Business Development, and Morgan Keim, Business Development Manager, who will help Motif unlock the secrets of food and meet consumer demand for delicious, responsibly produced foods.

Why do you think the alternative protein space is so white-hot right now? What is motivating its rise in popularity?
The alternative protein space is rising in popularity because of shifting consumer attitudes, emerging technologies, and the “cool factor” of brands like Beyond and Impossible drawing more attention to the industry as a whole.

People want to eat a little better, both for their own health and the health of the environment, and Motif sees a unique opportunity to move plant-based and animal-free foods beyond a fad and solidify them into a movement by making sure consumers don’t have to compromise between taste, nutrition and values.

You previously worked in big CPG companies such as Nestlé, Dupont and Kerry. How has your experience informed your role at Motif Bioworks?
I am fortunate to bring a depth of experience in the food industry to my work at Motif – from working in consumer packaged goods experience as a marketer and brand manager to serving as a B2B executive in highly technical and specialized businesses such as infant formula, weight management, sports nutrition, medical foods, and dietary supplements. I will apply my abilities to understand consumer insights and trends in the food space and connect them back to technology to my role at Motif, as we work to reshape the food landscape and bring more nutritious, accessible and sustainable food experiences to consumers.

Come hear Michele, Perumal Gandhi of Perfect Day and Lisa Dyson of Air Protein speak at SKS next month! Tickets are going fast.

SKS 2019 Is In Two Weeks And We Couldn’t Be More Excited

With Smart Kitchen Summit just two weeks away, we’re getting really pumped to share with you what we’ve been working on for the last few months.

We had the first SKS in 2015 in an old cannery, and every year we’ve grown to include more speakers, sponsors and attendees, and this year we are really outdoing ourselves with our biggest summit year.

I wanted to share with you some of the things we’ve been working on and why we’re so excited.

Welcome to the Waterfront

When you go to Seattle, the one place you usually want to be is on the waterfront, and that’s where we’ll be for two full days at Bell Harbor Conference Center.

But great views isn’t the only reason we moved to a new venue. Moving to our new home  allows us to really expand our content, and we have more fantastic sessions than ever. This year we explore themes like the future kitchen, next-generation interfaces, the changing eater, new sources of protein, the impact of robotics and AI on the food system, the reinvented restaurants and much much more. Heck, we’ll even be talking about space food.

Networking Goes Next Level

One reason SKS has become indispensable is because it’s where those in the world of food tech and smart kitchen come to meet new partners, find innovative startups and, in general, do deals.

And in 2019 we’re taking this next level with our first-ever networking app. We are partnering with Brella to create a customized networking experience called SKS Connect that will allow attendees to find others schedule one on one meetings at the show. Once you buy your ticket, we will email you details to sign up for Brella SKS Connect!

Our Amazing Speakers

Every year the Spoon team searches for those who doing the most interesting work in the future of food and cooking and tells their stories. SKS is where we invite them to have a conversation with our community tell their stories live and in person.  This year we have an amazing group of founders, makers and visionaries, ranging from IBM Watson’s lead researcher to someone creating protein from thin air to the creator of Europe’s most successful connected recipe platform in the Cookidoo to India’s equivalent to Martha Stewart. We’ve got investors, hackers, inventors and makers, all coming together to help us take stock of the future of food and set the course for the next year.

Plus, the whole Spoon team will be here and who doesn’t want to meet us?

So Many Great Startups

Each year at SKS we bring together some of the most innovative new startups in the world of food tech with our Startup Showcase. This year we’ve doubled the innovation, not only bringing together amazing food tech startups but also we’ve launched a new Future Food showcase where you can see what some of today’s most innovative food startups are working on.

Touch and Taste The Future

SKS isn’t just about great content and networking, it’s where you come to touch and taste the future. Our startups, sponsors and partners will have all sorts of innovative products, food and innovations on display, including some product launches that will make news at the show. You’ll be able to taste plant-based sea food and chicken nuggets, edible cutlery, cricket protein and so much more. You’ll see new cooking robots, new types of cooktops, countertop chocolate appliances to just name a few.

So if you just attend one event of the year to help you understand where the future of food and cooking is going, make it this year’s SKS.  Whether you’re looking for a new partner, an investor, a new employee or just want to figure out your food tech strategy, SKS 2019 is where you should do it.

There are only two weeks left (and just one week left to buy double pack tickets), so hurry up and get your tickets today! Use the discount code SPOON for 15% off your ticket.

Eat Safe Verified Wants to Fight Food Recalls and Waste with Radical Transparency

Remember last year’s notorious romaine lettuce recall? That was only one of hundreds of food recalls in 2018 alone. These outbreaks are the sort of food safety issues that a new startup called Eat Safe Verified (ESV) is trying to mitigate. Their solution? Putting more information into the hands of consumers in the form of an app that lists details about the contaminant testing, ingredient sourcing, manufacturing and more behind each product.

We were pretty intrigued by this concept, so we chose ESV as one of the 12 finalists for the SKS 2019 Startup Showcase. To give you a little taste of the action, we spoke with founder and CEO Kiran Kastury about how radical transparency can help solve widespread issues like food waste, allergic reactions and contamination.

Check out the Q&A then get your tickets to SKS to see Kastury pitch live in Seattle this October!

This Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.

First thing’s first: give us your 15-second elevator pitch.
Eat Safe Verified makes software that brings people and food closer together. Consumers can gain valuable insights into their food, while food businesses are able to easily share information across their supply chain to expedite their business processes, thereby ensuring effective transparency, communication, and collaboration.

What inspired you to start your company?
My co-founder and I collectively have spent years working in bio-tech, specifically in the food testing and analytical services sector, where we saw a huge number of food companies unable to effectively show their customers how they strove to make the best product possible. Furthermore, we were tired of hearing about situations like food recalls, consumers getting sick because of allergens or food contaminations, and food getting lost and wasted by the ton. We believed that in today’s tech-driven world, there had to be a better way for people to learn more about their food, and a better way for companies to easily share information throughout their network.

What’s the most challenging part of getting a food tech startup off the ground?
I think that education and awareness are probably the biggest hurdles for food tech startups right now. In the case of ESV, we are embarking on a mission of introducing the concepts of information sharing and transparency to an industry that hasn’t been faced with this sort of disruption just yet. We’re confident that with the right product however, we can transform how food is perceived by people on a daily basis.

How will your company change the day-to-day life of consumers and the food space as a whole?
With launching ESV, we are well on track for achieving the free flow of information all the way from the farm to the consumers’ fingertips. Consumers wouldn’t have to spend the significant amount of time they do now worrying about whether or not they are eating a potentially harmful allergen, putting irresponsibly created food in their bodies, adhering to dietary restrictions for heath or personal reasons. I think that ESV is the answer to ensuring that things like consumer miseducation, consumer harm, or food loss cease to happen as regularly.

Come watch Kastury pitch live onstage at the SKS Startup Showcase next month! Get 25% off your tickets here.

Anrich3D Wants to 3D Print Food Personalized Just For You

The concept of 3D printing food is already pretty futuristic. Add in nutrition personalization, and you get something that sounds even more like it’s straight out of Star Trek.

That’s exactly the device that Anrich3D, one of the finalists in our SKS 2019 Startup Showcase, is trying to make. The soon-to-be-incorporated company is developing a system of 3D printers which can precisely dispense food based off of an individual’s particular nutritional and aesthetic preferences. Pretty radical, huh?

We spoke with Anrich3D founder and CEO Anirudh Agarwal about why he thinks 3D printing could make food more nutritious, affordable, and accessible. Check out the Q&A then get your tickets to SKS to see Anirudh pitch live in Seattle this October!

Give us your 15-second elevator pitch.
We produce personalized meal plans for health enthusiasts based on information from health trackers, apps, wearables and medical check-ups. Each meal is personalized to the individual using multi-material food 3D printing at scale.

What inspired you to start your company?
Most people don’t know what to eat. There are many apps and services out there to give you very personalized advice. But there are no services to convert those apps into meals. Moreover, humans are good at and enjoy creativity, while number crunching is a machine’s forte. I may want to decide what physical form of food I am in the mood for or even what cuisine, but I don’t want to measure every ingredient according to my nutritional requirements.

A food 3D printer can provide personalized nutrition integrating data from all the apps, wearables and even medical records that exist to create the mathematically optimized meal for me — inarguably, the best possible thing I could be eating. It is said, “It’s 80% nutrition and 20% exercise.” With this, I never have to worry about my 80%!

What’s more, it can produce little bite-sized pieces I call “foodlets” so as to make every bite perfect and an absolutely effortless experience. The peak of convenience beyond what any fast food restaurant can provide. And when machines make it, with scale, it can be available and affordable for all.

With “fast-food” made healthy, we can liberate people to always have a healthy option no matter how busy or broke. There is a saying in Hindi, “Jaan hai to Jahan hai”: if you have your health, you have the world! Health is the foundation of our productivity. With optimal nutrition and therefore good health within grasp, people can reach their full potential and propel humanity forward. And of course lower instances of diabetes, obesity and other lifestyle diseases. A lower strain on the healthcare system. Preventive healthcare!

It doesn’t end there. With enough scale, we can transform the supply chain for food by applying manufacturing inventory management techniques. We can work with grocery stores to minimize inventory and even utilize the fresh produce left at the end of each day to minimize food waste. With more efficient distribution, we may be able to reduce world hunger if not eliminate it completely!

I could go on about specific ground-level applications, but this is the overarching vision. This drives me and gives me a reason to wake up in the morning!

What’s the most challenging part of getting a food tech startup off the ground?
Where do I begin! Food is a touchy subject. Literally — we need to be careful about what is literally touching the food! We need regulatory approval (FDA for the U.S.) for the parts, the machine and the process of preparing the food. We also need food handling certification for all personnel that handle the food.

Food is also “touchy” figuratively. People have deep emotional connections to their food. A new form of food may have a psychological barrier to cross for acceptance. We need to focus on demonstrations and education and make this “new” thing mundane and “normal” with exposure for the majority to adopt it. The good thing is, instead of giving supplements powders, we want to focus on real food ingredients and just give the precise proportions of those!

How will your company change the day-to-day life of consumers and the food space as a whole?
Food 3D printing at scale has the potential to make “fast” food healthy. In other words, make healthy food convenient and affordable!

No two people are the same. Everyone has different needs and goals. Food 3D printing at scale has the potential to make individual-level personalization available and affordable for all. Beyond personalized nutrition, people crave a personal touch. For some people, a sandwich is most convenient, while it may be a wrap or hot pocket for others. Some want a dish displayed traditionally, while others may like their toast carved as a dinosaur. With 3D printing, this personal touch can also be added.

Armed with personalized nutrition and this personal touch, Anrich3D can change the perception of food and what form it can take! Star Trek anyone?

For kids, healthier food can be delivered in the shapes of their favorite characters to improve their motivation to finish the meal. This can be made into a gamified nutritional educational program for kids where they unlock more characters by finishing each meal. As the levels progress, they need to identify ingredients and make estimates for the amounts of each ingredient in a balanced meal. The program gradually helps them acquire the taste for healthier foods and teaches them about healthy ingredients and nutrition along the way!

This can be a government-mandated nutrition course in every school all over the world to raise a generation of healthier kids with an acquired taste for healthier food and a deep understanding of nutrition to create a healthier and more productive tomorrow!

Even beyond all that, Anrich3D can streamline the food supply chain from farm to grocery store to your plate so as to minimize waste and redistribute existing produce to minimize hunger. Mobilizing forces across countries, we can end world hunger!

Come watch Anirudh pitch live and at the SKS Startup Showcase next month! Get 25% off your tickets here.

Rotten Avocados? StixFresh’s Sticker Will Keep Them From Going Bad

Have you ever bought a bunch of avocados that ripened so quickly you had to throw them away before you could use them?

Well I have, and I’m not the only one. In fact, almost half of food waste happens at home, often because of scenarios like the one above. StixFresh is a new startup that’s combatting downstream food waste in grocery stores and consumer kitchens — with a sticker. They’re also one of the finalist companies who will pitch live at the SKS 2019 Startup Showcase in October.

We spoke with StixFresh cofounder and CEO Moody Soliman to learn a little more about these seemingly magical food waste fighting stickers. Check out the Q&A below then grab your tickets to SKS before they sell out.

Give us your 15-second elevator pitch
At StixFresh, we’ve developed a food-safe sticker that can extend the shelf life of fresh fruit by up to two weeks. This simple sticker can be applied at any point along the produce supply chain.

What inspired you to start StixFresh?
My co-founder and I both have an unyielding passion for bringing innovative technologies to market that ultimately improve people’s health, safety and quality of life. This is exactly what we saw in StixFresh — a technology that truly has the potential to change the world. It will not only have an economical benefit, but it will also have enormous social and environmental benefits across governments, companies and communities around the world.

What have you found to be the most challenging part of getting a food startup off the ground?
In a food tech startup, efficacy and safety go hand-in-hand. You are not only faced with the challenge of developing an innovative and potentially disruptive technology that has to work, but it must also be 100% safe. Because of our backgrounds, this has been our focus from the get-go. Nevertheless, this requires extensive R&D and product development work. This takes significant resources in the form of time and money in order to do it right, neither of which are a luxury for most startups.

How will StixFresh change the day-to-day life of consumers and the food space as a whole?
StixFresh will (1) significantly reduce fresh food waste by extending shelf-life via an all-natural process, and (2) maintain the food’s freshness longer, thus allowing many communities (especially developing ones) to consume fresh, natural, organic foods they were not able to access previously.

Furthermore, fruits and vegetables account for the largest portion of wasted food in terms of mass. So, by reducing the food waste that makes up a significant portion of today’s landfills, StixFresh will help reduce our carbon footprint and foster more responsible stewardship of the huge amounts of natural resources required to grow our food. StixFresh will not only help consumers save money, it will also help farmers, governments, companies, and communities provide food sustainably, as well as help address the issue of climate change.

Come watch Moody pitch live and at the SKS Startup Showcase next month! Get 25% off your tickets here.

Steve Nackers on The Evolving Role of Cyber-Security in the Connected Kitchen

Does your blender prefer a specific brand of low-fat yogurt? Is your stovetop eager to share snapshots of last weekend’s epic dinner party? Just how connected are smart kitchens, and more importantly, which appliance knows what (and who are they sharing it with)?

Steve Nackers, corporate Manager of Electronic Controls for Sub-Zero, will be at this year’s Smart Kitchen Summit discussing cybersecurity, the connected kitchen, and the chances of your slow-cooker chili setting off five alarms in all the wrong places.

We sent him a few questions before the October event about how the Sub-Zero team are tackling innovation, performance, and adaptive privacy settings.

This interview has been lighted edited for clarity. 

Tell us more about what you do for Sub-Zero Group, Inc.
I’ve been with Sub-Zero Group, Inc. for over 18 years. During that time, my career has spanned from field support to product launches to innovative research initiatives. I have enjoyed experiencing a wide part of the DNA of this family-owned company and its commitment to its customers — something I’m excited to see even more growth around with the recent breaking ground on our new innovation center that will serve as a hub for research and development.

As the Corporate Manager of Electronic Controls for Sub-Zero Group, Inc., my team will be one of the first to move to the new innovation center where we will work alongside teams from across our three great brands on developing and integrating the controls, software, and innovations that deliver on that promise of quality and value that Sub-Zero Group, Inc. is known for.

How have you seen technology transform the way we cook in the kitchen?
Yes — technology is reshaping the kitchen and the home space around us in ways we see, and in ways we don’t. However, it is important to make sure that those technologies are applied in meaningful ways that enable and enhance the consumer experience. From the NASA-inspired air filter technologies that enhance food preservation to precision software and instrumentation that has evolved greatly in the last decade to provide the consumer greater control and more predictable cooking results, these technologies are reshaping the cooking experience. We continue to take really innovative and new technologies and shape them in ways that help our consumers to have an experience in the kitchen that gives them confidence.

Do you envision a future in which all kitchen appliances are connected and controllable via your phone/voice?
The key thing is providing the consumer with choice. Homeowners still really value the ability to interact with their appliances, but are also looking for ways to improve their efficiency in the kitchen. Their data, privacy, and security should be what they have control over, and we need to enable them to interact with their appliances in the ways that are most seamless and comfortable for them. For some people, that will be voice, for others it is mobile, and still others it is a physical knob. Thoughtfully designing the appliances from day one throughout our engineering process to accommodate that choice and respecting the values of our consumers is what drives our vision of the future.

How do you address consumer concerns about privacy with IoT-enabled devices?
We take security very seriously and have worked closely with organizations like UL and Microsoft from the start to ensure proper measures are in place to be proactive about vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity is an ever-changing landscape, and is something we must continuously evolve and update our security measures to stay on top of. The most important thing is to have a mindset and commitment to security as a priority in every step of your design process and throughout the various levels of your organization. That is something we take seriously and continue to cultivate.

We also understand that consumers have concerns about IoT enabled devices. Our customer service teams are dedicated to working with consumers on their questions. Our hope is always that any concerns they might have we address so effectively that they come away with confidence and a greater sense of trust. To that end, we work to be clear, transparent, and effective in communicating what and how data is handled.

What’s the one kitchen appliance you could never live without?
My Wolf induction cooktop, hands down. Induction is finally making inroads in the U.S., and I’ve converted a few family and friends as well. I had used gas and standard electric methods for years previously, but getting my first Wolf induction cooktop was eye-opening. The power, efficiency, and absolute precision was amazing. To be able to drive a pot of water to rolling boil in under a minute, and yet leave chocolate at a soft melt for as long as needed with such precision on the same devices is incredible. There is a lot of exciting innovation to come in this space too which makes me even more eager for future generations of the product!

Come watch Steve speak on Hacking The Oven: Cybersecurity & The Connected Kitchen at SKS next month! Get 25% off your tickets here.