Every year, TIME puts together a list of 100 inventions that change the way we live for the better. The publication judges contenders, who were nominated by TIME’s editors and correspondents, based on creativity, originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.
The list spans multiple categories, such as accessibility, artificial intelligence, consumer electronics, fitness, medical care, transportation, and of course, food and drink. This year the list featured a whole bunch of food tech, including many companies The Spoon has previously covered like SAVRPak, MeliBio, InnerPlant, and Upside Foods.
Here are just a few that made the list:
Kuleana
This San-Francisco-based food tech start-up has developed a “sushi-grade” plant-based tuna made from ingredients like algae, koji, radish, bamboo, and potato. Kuleana‘s tuna deep red color mimics ahi tuna, and it also contains nutrients like B-12, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids. Like regular tuna, alternative tuna filet can be eaten in poke bowls, sushi, and ceviche. The start-ups next planned product is plant-based salmon.
SAVRPak
The goal of SAVRPak is to eliminate food waste, and keep delivery food warm and not soggy. In October of this year, the company unveiled a prototype of its delivery packaging aimed at keeping food at 140o or above for more than 20 minutes. The start-up has also developed small packs that can be placed inside to-go food boxes that absorb moisture to keep food fresh and crisp.
Sfoglini Cascatelli
This invention is relatively low-tech, but as one of the three best inventions in the “food and drink” category, it’s worth a mention. Dan Pashman, foodie and the host of The Sporkful podcast, could not find a pasta shape that held the ideal amount of pasta sauce, stayed on the fork, and was satisfying to sink your teeth into. He, therefore, decided to invent, the Cascatelli pasta, which is a short, ruffled noodle that has a half tube shape. The pasta is manufactured by pasta company Sfoglini, and it costs $19.96 for 4 lbs.
MeliBio
Using synthetic biology and precision fermentation, MeliBio has developed plant-based honey that has the same taste, texture, and mouthfeel as honey made from bees. Earlier this year in March, the start-up raised a pre-seed round totaling $850,000. To hear more about the company, watch The Spoon’s interview with the founder Darko Mandich.
Upside Foods
Upside Foods announced in May of this year that its first product will be cultured chicken, which is still pending regulatory approval. Since then, the start-up unveiled its state-of-the-art facilities (totaling 53,000 square feet) in Emeryville, California where it will be capable of producing up to 50,000 pounds of cultivated chicken every year. Check out a glimpse inside the new facilities here.
InnerPlant Innersoy Living Sensor
InnerPlant edits the DNA of plants to enable them to glow a certain color when the plant is stressed from lack of water or under attack from pests or fungal infection. The start-up has so far worked with tomato and Arabidopsis plants, and InnerSoy is the plant it is currently working on commercializing. InnerPlant recently gave The Spoon an exclusive viewing of its glowing living sensor plants, and you can watch the video here.
