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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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Re-Blog: David Chang Talks Moneyballing Restaurants and Melted Cheese

At the risk of tooting our own horn here, I kinda feel like David Chang should read The Spoon.

The famed chef/restauranteur/TV personality was back on The Bill Simmons Podcast this week. The last time Chang was on there (if I recall correctly), it was at the very start of the pandemic, and the more pressing concern at that time was how third-party delivery services would decimate the restaurant industry (a topic we cover quite a bit!).

Normally, we wouldn’t write about someone’s appearance on another podcast, but since we started the pandemic with Chef Chang, I thought it was worth checking back in as we close out the year to hear what he had to say about the restaurant biz with the pandemic still in effect nine months later.

As we’ve been saying for awhile, winter is coming here, and Chang’s biggest fear for restaurants is their ability to survive until Spring. In addition to a lack of dine-in options, restaurants are also being hurt by the disappearance of downtown office workers/restaurant customers that are no longer coming in to work on a daily basis and buying sandwiches. All of this, Chang continued, is compounded by an administration that isn’t doing anything to help the industry or the people who work in it.

In order to survive, Chang said on the podcast restaurant owners need to adapt, whether that’s by selling packaged goods (homemade sauces, spices, etc.), or Moneyballing their menus. As Chang suggests (and we’ve covered before), restaurants may need to embrace analytics and pare down their offerings to just the dishes that are good for delivery and that generate the most revenue.

As the two talked about how restaurants will change, how owners won’t put a lot of effort/energy in the dining rooms and will focus more on setting themselves up for delivery. What struck me as I listened to Chang was that he didn’t once mention ghost or dark kitchens. He obviously knows what they are (I mean, he sold his delivery-only concept, Ando, to Uber).

Maybe the Bill Simmons podcast isn’t the place to discuss such matters, and maybe Chang talks about it on his own podcast. I get that. But it was still odd that the topic didn’t even come up, especially since they are in Los Angeles, which is home to ghost kitchen outfits Kitchen United and CloudKitchens (for more, check out The Spoon Plus Guide to Ghost Kitchens).

The conversation between Chang and Simmons drifted to restaurant delivery. Instead of talking about the economics of delivery this time around, the two soft-balled it and spoke more about the types of food that deliver well again (pizza, sushi, Chinese, fried chicken). One funny sidenote was dispelling the notion that cheese was good for delivery. Outside of pizza, Chang commented, melted cheese dishes do not travel well in delivery, which, I hadn’t thought about but is totally true. I mean, Soggy Food Sucks.

Ultimately, what struck me about the interview was that nobody, not even a famous high-end chef who won Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (and donated the money to restaurant workers), really has the answers as to what’s going to happen next with restaurants, especially independent ones. Everyone is just doing their best to just make it through, and we at The Spoon doing our best to inform you about developments and innovations that can help. Even if it’s as simple as getting dropping melted cheese items off the menu.

If The End of Meat is Here, What’s Next?

The New York Times ran an Opinion piece this morning entitled ‘The End of Meat is Here” that soon had that phrase trending on Twitter. The piece was written by Jonathan Safran Foer, novelist and author of the book Eating Animals.

The full article is definitely worth a read, but here, I’ll just summarize Safran Foer’s key points:

  • Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of global warming.
  • We don’t need animal protein to survive and thrive.
  • Family farms will not suffer if factory farming goes away.

He also dives into why COVID-19, in particular, is shedding light on the problems that come with industrial meat farming. He points to the high amounts of infection within meat slaughterhouses, and how farmers are forced to euthanize animals as said slaughterhouses close. For these reasons, Safran Foer states, the sun might finally be setting on meat.

“Our hand has been reaching for the doorknob for the last few years. Covid-19 has kicked open the door,” he writes. “At the very least it has forced us to look.”

If the time of meat is ending, what’s next?

That’s where foodtech will come in. Here’s what I envision the End of Meat could look like, based on recent shifts we’ve seen during COVID-19:

Mostly plant-based

If traditional factory-farmed meat goes away, plant-based meat certainly seems like the most viable replacement. Consumers are already familiar with it, from industry veterans like Tofurky to disruptors like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. It’s so ubiquitous that you can even get an Impossible Whopper at a Burger King drive-thru.

In fact, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales of meat alternatives have skyrocketed. In response that growing demand — and the fact that its restaurant partners are struggling — Impossible Foods has rapidly increased its retail footprint. Big Food companies like Cargill are also entering the space with their own plant-based plays. And smaller startups, like Rebellyous and Plantible, are taking new funding to accelerate their commercialization timelines.

Right now companies are developing technologies to make realistic plant-based versions of everything from steak to raw tuna. Are they perfect? Not yet. But with more investment, within the next decade or so consumers could theoretically buy any and every type of meat — just made from plants. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more consumers turn towards meat alternatives, the better they will be.

Finally time for blended meat?

Blended meat, which is made from a combination of animal meat and plant-based protein, could be a stop-gap on the transition away from factory-farmed meat. Consumers who aren’t ready to switch over to a diet of Impossible burgers and Rebellyous nuggets could wean off meat with blended beef burgers and chicken nuggets.

Right now there aren’t a ton of companies offering blended meat products. However, two of the biggest meat producers in the world — Tyson and Perdue — launched lines of hybrid products over the past few months. If the pandemic continues to throw a wrench into meat production, it would make sense for more leading meat companies to develop blended products to both stretch their own meat supply and lower their costs.

Photo: Raised & Rooted blended burgers from Tyson Foods

Futuristic protein sources

Not all meat alternatives will rely on plants as their protein source. Companies like Motif Foodworks are using fermentation of microbes to create bespoke proteins — and other elements — to more accurately mimic meat. Some companies, like Air Protein and Solar Foods, are even using carbon dioxide to create protein.

As the popularity of meat alternatives grows, producers will likely explore new inputs beyond just pea and soy protein. Fermentation could be a key to unlocking more evolved, more affordable alt-meat.

Coming soon: cell-based meat

We’ll know that the End of Meat is truly here when cell-based meat comes to market. Or at least when it becomes semi-affordable and accessible.

After all, if consumers can buy a steak that tastes like a cow, cooks like a cow, and is made of cow cells, will they really care if it came from a cow or from a lab? There is certainly some consumer resistance to the idea of cultured meat. But as COVID-19 sheds light on some of the less savory aspects of meat production — especially in slaughterhouses — I’m guessing that eating meat grown in sterile lab conditions could seem a lot more appealing.

Regulatory issues are the biggest hurdle for cultured meat right now. We’re at least a year from cell-based meat hitting the market, and likely a decade away from it reaching price parity with real meat. But if COVID-19 continues to cause meat prices to spike then cultured meat could actually reach price parity sooner than expected.

Photo: Impossible Foods

So what’s next?

Safran Foer’s piece argues why it’s time for the End of Meat. But how exactly will it come about? That’s a lot more complex.

Meat won’t disappear all at once with a fiery bang. Instead, we’ll likely see a gradual transition from traditional meat to meat alternatives, including plant-based and blended meat. That’s actually good news for the disruptors making alternative protein. Plant-based and cell-based meat will have to increase production astronomically to fulfill consumer demand for protein left behind by industrial meat. And once cultured meat comes into its own, the need for factory farmed meat will be all but gone.

That will be when the End of Meat can indeed transition into the Dawn of Meat Alternatives.

Johnny Grey on the Post-COVID Kitchen: No Cabinets, Bigger Pantries, More Pleasure

With COVID keeping many of us at home, kitchens are taking on a bigger role than ever before. They’re not just the place we cook meals; they’re also our offices, a place to teach kids homework, the background of our Zoom video calls as we cook along with family.

Considering we’ve long considered the kitchen the heart of the home, it’s no surprise that they’re shifting as we spend more and more time homebound. But how will the kitchen transform to better suit our new needs during quarantine?

To answer that question we turned to Johnny Grey, a British design leader specializing in — you guessed it — kitchens. Today Grey (and a few surprise guests) joined us for our latest Spoon Virtual Event, titled The Future of Kitchen Design in a Post-COVID19 World. He talked about some of the constants of kitchen design, how to embrace the DIY, and how the kitchen is a sort of “3D timepiece.” Here are a few of the highlights:

Fewer cabinets, more pantries
If there’s one part of conventional kitchen design that Grey absolutely hates, it’s cabinets. He thinks they take up too much space in the core of the kitchen itself, which should be a more social space.

In fact, Grey’s overarching goal with kitchen design seems to be to make it a more pleasant space for gathering. To that end, he’s a big fan of kitchen islands (or peninsulas), ideally ones with adjustable heights that can go from a bar space to a dining table.

When asked what he thought we could learn from the past, Grey answered in one word: pantries. He likes a walk-in pantry because you can see things in front of you — like all those bulk bags of dry goods you bought — and you don’t have to rely on dreaded cabinets to store everything.

Where does smart tech fit in?
For Grey, smart tech does have a role to play in kitchens of the future. Specifically when it comes to two things: precision and safety. Grey also emphasized that kitchen technology can help generations age in place. If individuals can cook for themselves, he theorizes that they won’t have to move to assisted living facilities as quickly — thus keeping them home for longer.

Photo: Innit and Sharp

The kitchen as a timepiece
During the virtual event Grey unveiled a new concept he’s been working on. Called the Evening Kitchen, he explained that the kitchen has multiple different lives during each 24-hour cycle. During the day it may be an area for quick meal prep, but in the evening it morphs into a bistro, a nightclub, or even a quiet living room, depending on the circumstances. Grey calls the kitchen a sort of “3D timepiece.”

For that reason, the evening kitchen must look different than the kitchen of daytime. Grey talks about the power of lighting, which gives intimacy, as well as smell and music to transform the space. If you’re curious you can watch his video explaining the concept here.

Especially now, embrace joy
Especially now, kitchens should be a place of joy. “It should be a pleasure to use your kitchen,” Grey said. To make it pleasurable, designers should think about touch, ease of movement, and even color. They could set up places to set a chair in the sun. Consumers themselves can do a lot to improve their kitchen. “Embrace the DIY,” Grey told the audience.

Grey also urged listeners not to put too much pressure on themselves to de-clutter, especially now that the kitchen table is also a coworking space and/or classroom. “It’s not really how people can live,” he said.

Overall, it was a fascinating conversation and — bonus — you get to enjoy Grey’s soothing British accent. You can watch the full video below.

Kitchen Design in a Post-COVID World: A Conversation with Kitchen Designer Johnny Grey

Finally, don’t forget to mark your calendar for our next event on May 21st 10am PT, when Gingko Bioworks program director Sudeep Agarwala will talk about fermentation as a food tech platform.

Eat Beyond Global’s CEO on Why Now is Prime Time to Invest in Food Tech

With so much instability in the world right now, it may seem like a tricky time to be raising money for an investment fund. Especially in a burgeoning space like food tech.

But according to Patrick Morris, CEO of Eat Beyond Global, COVID-19 actually presents a ripe opportunity for investment in food innovation. Eat Beyond Global is a Canadian fund focused on food tech, particularly in the alternative protein realm. Morris told me that they plan to make 10-20 plant-based investments ranging in amount from $1 million to $10 million CAD over the next four years with a minimum ownership goal of 5 percent.

Right now Eat Beyond is raising the second half of its initial fund, which will be between $5 million and $7 million CAD. By the end of the year, Morris hopes to raise as much as $30 million CAD.

The fund has whittled down their initial potential investment companies to 5 options and will deploy capital over the next several months. They’re targeting early-stage companies, ones that are “just starting to make an impact,” according to Morris. He hopes the fund will be public on the Canadian stock exchange by Q2 of this year.

Morris wouldn’t divulge the names of the five companies they’re considering, but said that four were focused on plant-based foods (eggs, milk, bread, and ice cream), with one concentrating on cellular agriculture. True to its name, Eat Beyond Global isn’t limiting its investments to Canada; Morris named the U.S., Japan, and England as other areas it’s exploring.

Despite the looming economic uncertainty brought on by COVID-19, alternative protein is one area that has actually seen a lot of investment recently. Over the past month alone, plant-based chicken startup Rebellyous raised $6 million, Singaporean alt-meat company Growthwell Group nabbed $8 million, and Israeli chickpea protein producer Innovopro raised $25 million.

Venture funds are also taking notice. In the U.S. Big Idea Ventures (BIV), which raised $50 million for its New Protein Fund last year, is in the midst of raising a whopping $250 million fund for investment in new technologies throughout the food system.

Clearly, the global pandemic isn’t putting a damper on Tom Mastrobuoni, a Venture Partner at BIV, who told me last week that the coronavirus could actually shed some light on the shortcomings in our food system — and the need for sustainable, tech-driven solutions.

Morris agrees. “The fact that we could close the first half of our financing during COVID-19 — when all hell is breaking loose — shows the strength of the category.”

Want to Help Restaurants Survive? The National Restaurant Association Suggests Just “Buy a Meal”

With restaurants struggling as they’re forced to adjust to the new restrictions in place to fight COVID-19, you, like us, are probably wondering “How can I help?”

There are almost too many options about where to put your dollars to aid struggling foodservice locations. You can buy gift cards, virtually tip your bartender, or donate to relief funds. For places that are still open, you can also order takeout or delivery, either from the restaurant themselves or through a third-party site like DoorDash or Grubhub.

So where’s the best place to put your dollars? That’s the question I posed over the phone this week to Vanessa Sink, Media Relations Director of the National Restaurant Association. According to Sink, the answer is simple: buy a meal.

“Restaurants still want to cook for us,” Sink said. “They’re safe, and they’re there to make sure that we’re getting good food and enjoying it.” If you can, order pick-up or for delivery directly through the restaurant. That way, they don’t have to pay super-high fees to third-party delivery services, which, despite their claims, are not cutting restaurants much slack right now.

Restaurants are trying desperately to get the word out about the importance of ordering to-go meals, while we’re still permitted to do so. Foodservice establishments have actually banded together to launch a new initiative called The Great American Takeout (#TheGreatAmericanTakeout on Twitter) to motivate people to order more to-go meals from their local restaurants. It’s launching today.

Maybe you don’t feel comfortable ordering takeout or delivery from restaurants at this time. And that’s okay. “We support whatever people can do,” Sink said. You can still donate to relief funds for restaurant workers and bartenders — there’s a comprehensive list right here. You can follow the New Yorker’s Helen Rosner’s advice and call your elected officials to demand government relief for restaurants and foodservice workers. If your favorite restaurants are selling gift cards, you can buy one for when this all blows over (but be aware there’s always a risk that the restaurant won’t return to full service).

Or you can see how chefs are getting creative in your area. In Seattle Eric Rivera is offering the sale of pantry items made in his restaurant as well as pick-up meals. Celebrity chef Sean Brock is doing live, private cooking classes. Famed restauranteur Hugh Acheson is offering contracts to come and cook at your house when the COVID-19 quarantine period is over.

Finally, no matter what you do, tip well. Hopefully together we can help more restaurants come out the other side.

From Edible Spoons to Adaptogen Chewing Gum, Here are 8 Startups Shaping the Future of Food

Super nutritious noodles. Cricket-based seasoning powders. Edible spoons to replace single-use plastics. Chewing gum that’s actually good for you.

These are just some of the awesome companies that pitched at the inaugural SKS 2019 Future Food Competition last month. Check out the video below to see the 8 finalists describe their company and explain why they’re the next “it” edible CPG company.

Once you’ve determined which startup you think should be the winner, click here to see if our judges agreed with you. And keep an eye on The Spoon to follow along as these companies grow, head to market and continue their efforts to shake up the way we eat.

SKS 2019: Future Food pitches

SKS 2019: How Tech Companies Large and Small are Fighting Food Waste

Food waste is a pervasive issue in the food system, one that strikes up and down the supply chain. But not everyone realizes that roughly half of all food waste occurs not in restaurants or on the farm, but in the average consumer’s kitchen.

Seems like something that tech should be able to fix, right? That’s why we’ve teamed up with the Future Food Institute (FFI) for The Wise Kitchen, our initiative to raise awareness about, celebrate collaboration around and foster innovation towards reducing food waste in the home.

Chiara Cecchini of the FFI and SKS founder Michael Wolf introduced The Wise Kitchen initiative at SKS 2019 last month. (If you’re interested, make sure to get on our email list here.) After the unveiling, Cecchini sat down with Stacie Thompson of Ovie, Dr. Dochul Choi of Samsung and Isabella Lane of Smarter to take an in-depth look at the behemoth that is food waste and discuss how different companies are fighting it throughout the food ecosystem.

If you hate food waste (don’t we all?), you should really take some time to watch the whole panel below. Here are a few quick takeaways:

Home food waste has a simple cause
Of course, people aren’t wasting food at home intentionally. They love food and saving money. Why, then, do people end up throwing away almost half of the food they purchase? According to Thompson, the reason is simple: “We just forget about it.” That’s exactly what Ovie, which tracks your food and reminds you how fresh it is, is trying to fight.

Food waste won’t be solved by one company
It’s all well and good to have startups coming up with new strategies to cut down on food waste, like by tracking your leftovers and giving insight into what food is in your fridge. To make any sort of widespread change, large corporations also have to get on board. But as Lane pointed out, that can be a challenge — though one that they’re working to overcome at Smarter.

Home waste extends beyond just food
Dr. Choi made the point that waste in the home doesn’t just apply to food. It can also cover other resources like plastic, water, and even energy. Conserving these elements is also critical to making a more sustainable planet. After all, Dr. Choi pointed out that the food system is circular — fixing one waste stream will have a domino effect to help us fix others.

SKS 2019: Introducing The Wise Kitchen + Harvesting Tech and Innovation to Reduce Food Waste

SKS 2019: Here’s What Investors are Looking For in Food Tech

Here at The Spoon we often write about funding news for new food tech companies: how much they’re raising and what they’ll do with the money. But what about the investors who are allocating these funds? How do they decide which ventures are worth investment?

We gathered four VCs to talk about just that at SKS 2019. In the panel, Tom Allison of ZX Ventures, Nate Williams of UNION Labs, and Brian Frank of FTW Ventures spoke with Brita Rosenheim of Better Food Ventures about the dynamics of investing in the food tech space.

If you’re curious about what investors are looking for in this area or are a startup hungry for funding, you should definitely watch the full video below. Here’s a quick overview to whet your appetite:

The food tech space has lots of opportunity
Rosenheim summed things up pretty well when she said, “We’re really at the infancy of the food tech sector in terms of potential.” Frank, who is a longtime SKS attendee, echoed this thought as he reflected on the growth within the conference itself. SKS was originally focused on consumer tech but now has expanded to cover tech from restaurants to supply chains to waste management in addition to the consumer sphere. Nonetheless, “it’s under-invested and under-managed,” he said. In short, there’s plenty of opportunity.

Big Food is getting involved, too
Allison, who’s the Head of Investment Strategy and M&A at ZX Ventures, part of AB InBev, spoke about how Big Food is trying to formulate its investment strategy to mimic the efficiency and agility of smaller independent companies. One takeaway? Look at untapped resources within the company (e.g., spent grain) and figure out how to capitalize on it. (Protein!)

Hardware is, well, hard
Williams, the Entrepreneur in Residence for Union, a new spinout from Kleiner Perkins, dropped some truth bombs about the difficulty of investing in hardware. “[It’s] extremely hard to execute well,” he said. “The be honest, lean startup [mentality] is bulls—t when it comes to hardtech investing.” Especially compared with the relative ease of scaling software.

Check out the full video below to hear more about what opportunities these investors are looking for — and their current favorite food tech product.

SKS 2019: Investing In Food Tech: Hardware, CPG & Future Food

SKS 2019: Plant-Based Foods Aren’t Going Anywhere, But Taste is Key

Ask almost anyone in the food space about the biggest trends they’re seeing, and odds are they’ll mention one thing: plant-based. From meat to dairy to eggs, plant-based alternatives to traditional animal products are becoming more and more commonplace — and tasting better and better.

Considering the ubiquity of plant-based dining, we invited a few experts to come speak about the trend at SKS 2019 earlier this month. Author and scientist Dr. PK Newby, Bjorn Oste, co-founder of Oatly, and Daniel Scharff Director of Strategy & Analytics for JUST,  took the SKS 2019 stage to unpack the plant-based dining trend: who’s catalyzing it, what products they want, and why is it gaining so much popularity right now?

If you’re curious about why ‘plant-based’ has suddenly become the buzzword du jour, it’s worth watching the whole video below. Here are a few high-level takeaways from the conversation:

Health is a big driver
There are many reasons that people shift towards a plant-based or flexitarian diet: ethical concerns, environmental motivations, etc. But according to Scharff, health is another big driver. “The number one reason for dietary change isn’t weight loss,” he said. “It’s health.”

Dr. Newby echoed this idea, siting studies which showed that plant-based diets are key to longevity and chronic disease prevention — as well as the health of our planet. Since millennials are motivated by health and sustainability, she said, they’re a primary driver for the adoption of plant-based food.

Mission matters
It may seem like new companies (of Big Food corporations) are popping up every day promising a unique twist on plant-based foods. But according to Oste, companies can’t just slap the term “plant-based” on their products and expect to see a loyal customer base spring up overnight. “Consumers care about companies on a mission that are authentic, transparent, and value-driven,” he said. In short: You can’t just talk the talk. You have to walk the walk, too.

Taste is king
All of our panelists agreed that, while mission and health are key, taste is still king. “Taste will always be first,” said Dr. Newby. “It’s the primary driver.” The others? Cost, followed by convenience. But the overall conclusion was no matter how sustainable, healthy, or affordable a plant-based product is, if it doesn’t taste amazing — it doesn’t have a chance.

Scarff went one step further. He said that animal product alternatives don’t only have to taste great, but also has to look, cook, and eat like the original product. “It has to replicate the experience that they’re used to,” he said, referencing consumers. That’s one of the reasons that JUST is so adamant that they sell their plant-based egg next to actual egg cartons in the grocery store.

Dr. Newby finished her talk with a bold claim. “The future is absolutely meatless,” she said. It’s too early to say if her prediction is correct, but there’s one thing we can be sure of: the plant-based revolution is here now, and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

If you want to hear the full conversation, check out the video below.

SKS 2019: The Plant-based Revolution

SKS 2019: For the Future of Kitchen Design, Think Hydroponic Grow Cabinets and Robot Furniture

When you think about it, the basic design of a kitchen hasn’t changed much in the past 50 years. Most of them have a fridge, a sink, cabinets, a stove, an oven, and counters. Sure, there’s been innovation around smart appliances, but the layout of the kitchen itself has essentially remained the same.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. At SKS 2019, Veronica Schreibeis Smith of Vera Iconica Architecture and Suleiman Alhadidi of the MIT Media Lab spoke about how the kitchen is begging for a major design renovation to embrace evolving consumer needs.

If you’re at all interested in design, you should watch the whole video below. As a little teaser, here are some of the biggest takeaways from the discussion.

Kitchens can help you eat healthier
To make a kitchen more futuristic, we don’t necessarily need to transform everything into a robot. According to Schreibeis Smith, simple design solutions are all we really need to help people have more ease — and mindfulness — in the kitchen. That could take the form of climate-controlled cabinets to help preserve nutrients in food, or even hydroponic grow systems built into the kitchen itself.

For small kitchens, automation is key
We might not be headed towards a Jetson-like robotic kitchen anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean that automation won’t play a part in the kitchen of the future. Alhadidi showed off his work at the MIT Media Lab, which is trying to create design solutions for millennials living in small urban spaces and need all of their rooms to be multi-functional. Hint: the term “robotic furniture” comes up at least once.

If you want to learn more about how smart design can transform not only how we cook, but the kitchen itself, be sure to check out the whole video below.

SKS 2019: Designing for the Next 50 Years: Rethinking Kitchen Design

Amazon’s Ben McInnis on How Voice Control in the Kitchen Can Make Your Bacon Better

Ever since companies first started coming out with voice assistants, we’ve speculated over what their role will look like in the kitchen. Guided cooking? Grocery shopping? Or just simply setting a timer when your hands are dirty?

That’s one of the questions we’ll dive into with speaker Ben McInnis, Senior Manager of Amazon’s Alexa Connect Kit, at the Smart Kitchen Summit {SKS} in Seattle next month. To get a sneak preview of what’s to come, we chatted over email with McInnis about Amazon’s roadmap for voice in the kitchen and how Alexa can make your bacon taste exactly the way you like it.

Check out the Q&A below and don’t forget to snag your tickets to SKS — they’re going fast!

Note: This Q&A has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Tell us about the Alexa Connect Kit.
Alexa Connect Kit is a new way for device makers to create Alexa-compatible smart devices more easily and quickly than traditional smart device development. Through this program, device makers integrate an Amazon-managed hardware module and the provided software development kit into their product. This module, which is also a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chip, securely connects to Alexa and other Amazon services like Dash Replenishment.

All devices built with the Alexa Connect Kit also feature Amazon’s Wi-Fi simple setup technology, which makes it easier for customers to set up devices in fewer steps. Device makers that using the Alexa Connect Kit don’t need to maintain a cloud service, create an app, write an Alexa Skill, or invest in things like a device setup experience. We also offer the Alexa Connect Kit for a single, per-device fee. So, unlike with more traditional models of device development, device makers have certainty about their costs, no matter how much customers use their product.

The Alexa microwave is already available. What other kitchen appliances do you think would take well to pairing with voice assistants?
The best thing about working with so many device makers and developers is that they’re always thinking of creative new products. Our partners Hamilton Beach, P&G, Spectrum Brands, and others have already announced devices built with the Alexa Connect Kit, and I expect that almost all the devices we commonly use will be connected eventually.

Voice control is a big part of what’s driving the growth in smart kitchen device popularity, but simple control is really just the beginning. Devices are integrating with Amazon Dash Replenishment Service to enable automatic reordering of consumables and developers are now able to add new recipes and presets to their devices entirely from the cloud.

Amazon’s Super Bowl ad last year listed out “failed” Alexa integrated products (toothbrush, dog collar, etc). How do you decide which products will actually be improved with voice control?
Obviously, we’re poking fun at ourselves a bit but the meta point is very true. We’re convicted about the idea that an ambient intelligence with a voice interface can add enormous utility for customers by making devices and services easier to use. That utility takes many forms and varies by device type and the customer’s context, but our default is that whenever we can make something more convenient or valuable for customers by adding voice control, it’s worth investigating.

How do you think that voice technology will change the way we buy and cook food?
Customers already use Alexa to order food and; with Dash Replenishment-enabled devices, this is sometimes automated, too. Similarly, there are many Alexa-compatible cooking devices in customers’ homes already and, mostly, people use Alexa to control those devices.

For example, you might ask Alexa to set your Instant Pot to a given program, to check on the status of something cooking in your June Oven, or to reheat a cup of coffee in your AmazonBasics Microwave. Going forward, you’ll see more devices that take advantage of their connection to Alexa to do things like add new recipes, fine-tune the performance of a preset with data about your specific preferences, or work across many connected devices to execute a complex dish.

It’s useful to ask your oven to preheat to cook some bacon. But having it know that you like bacon extra crispy is even better.

Keep an eye out for more speaker Q&A’s as we ramp up to our fifth year of SKS on October 7-8 in Seattle! We hope to see you there.

Ecovative’s Mushroom Foam Could Solve Alternative Meat’s Texture Problem

When you bite into a juicy piece of steak — or any meat — a big part of the tasting experience is texture. It’s one of meat’s most defining characteristics, which also makes it really, really hard to accurately imitate. Alterna-meat companies are trying, but all too often their efforts fall short and we’re left with gummy vegan sausages or tough “chik’n” strips.

The secret to texture might lie in mushrooms. Or, more specifically, what lies beneath mushrooms. Ecovative, a biotech company based in upstate New York, is using mushroom roots (AKA mycelium) to give meat alternatives a better, meatier texture.

The company first developed a mycelium platform 12 years ago to use as sustainable packaging material. Then, a few years ago, they started developing a marshmallow-like mycelium foam, called “Atlast,” which could be used as scaffolding for tissue engineering. Ecovative co-founder and CEO Eben Bayer told me over the phone that they can grow the mycelium into a shape that emulates meat fibers, then infuse it with plant-based fats, flavors, and seasonings. In short: they can use it as a scaffold to grow meat.

This sort of scaffolding technology is really needed right now. Texture is a huge barrier to widespread acceptance for meat alternatives, both cell-based and plant-based. On the whole, cellular agriculture companies have figured out how to replicate animal cells. But as of now they can basically only copy and mush cells together, so they’re limited to making meats that don’t require much structure, like ground beef. Similarly, plant-based meat is struggling to replicate the exact texture of meat, cheese, and fish.

Ecovative isn’t the only company working on this problem. Redefine Meat is using 3D printing to try to make plants emulate the texture of beef. Researchers at Penn State are using LEGO pieces to spin edible scaffolds made of cornstarch, and others are experimenting with spinach leaves to help grow tissue.

But Ecovative’s platform has a couple of advantages. Mycelium is super easy and fast to grow: Bayer said it only takes nine days to grow a sizeable sheet of the mushroom foam. It’s also very cheap to make and extremely versatile. Scientists can either grow the foam into an intended shape — like, say, a pork chop — or cut and shape it after the sheet is ready.

Bayer told me that Ecovative will sell its mycelium foam to other businesses. He wouldn’t give specifics on pricing or when exactly they would head to market, but told me that the company will have “stuff to taste by this year.”

Sure, right now we’ve got vegan burgers that have a texture pretty close to the real thing. But what about bacon, or beef tenderloin, or steak? Until there are indistinguishable plant-based (or, down the road, cell-based) options for all cuts of meat, not just burgers, it’ll be hard to get carnivores on board with meat alternatives. Hopefully Ecovative’s mycelium can help crack the texture code.