Let’s not bury the lede here. After spending the past four years covering food tech startups, I’m leaving The Spoon to start my own (more on that in a minute).
This is a completely amicable split (you can tell because Spoon Founder Mike is letting me write this farewell post). I first got into food tech as the emcee of the very first Smart Kitchen Summit back in October of 2015. In 2017 Mike asked me to contribute editorially. I’m so glad I did.
The past four years haven’t just been fulfilling for me professionally, it’s also been a wild time to cover food tech! So much has happened over the past four years and The Spoon has covered it all:
- The rise of plant-based meat giants like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat
- The introduction of robotics to the restaurants courtesy of companies like Miso Robotics and Starship
- The cell-based meat industry gaining steam and momentum thanks to a number of innovative startups around the world
- Precision fermentation is poised to radically re-invent all types of food
- The explosion of food delivery services that changed the nature of restaurants
And so much more.
I am eternally grateful to Mike Wolf, Ashley Daigneault, Surj Patel, Jenn Marston and Catherine Lamb for making this a fantastic adventure.
So what’s next? Well, I’m still going to be writing about food tech. I’m launching my own online publication/paid newsletter that will focus on food robotics and automation. Basically anything that is automating the meal journey: drones, robots, cashierless checkout, etc. The new site is called OttOmate and it will officially launch on Sept 9th (you can get a sneak peek of it here).
Mike and I have talked and we will continue to collaborate going forward. We’re already putting together plans to bring back ArticulATE, our food robotics conference next year (fingers crossed it will be in person).
In the meantime, I’ll still be kicking around here for a couple of days to finish up some news stories that I’ve been working on.
Thank you, for reading and commenting and chatting with me at events over the past few years. It’s been a treat covering and getting to know folks in this industry. I’m excited for what’s next both for myself and for The Spoon. On that note, The Spoon is actively looking for a few good writers. If that’s you, send in your CV!
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