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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Amazon

What will Amazon’s New HQ Locations Mean for Food Tech?

After months of municipal pageants, rampant speculation and rumors, Amazon has finally and officially picked Arlington, Virginia and New York City to house the company’s two new headquarters. Amazon also said it will also be building out a new Operations Center of Excellence in Nashville, TN.

There will be plenty of breathless coverage over the news: why those cities were chosen and what it means for housing prices in each location. But for our purposes here at The Spoon, let’s focus on what the new locations could mean for food tech.

The benefits to Amazon of putting down roots in Northern Virginia are fairly obvious, as it gives Amazon a pretty massive presence right next to Washington D.C., where it will presumably flex its political muscle. Amazon will now be providing a ton of jobs in three different states (55,000 in total), giving it the attention of six different senators and a number of Congresspeople who will want to keep Amazon (with all those jobs) happy.

This will certainly help when it comes to rules and regulations around food tech. Think: autonomous delivery vehicles, yet-to-be-determined drone regulations, or rules around SNAP benefits. Any lobbying will of course benefit Amazon specifically, but could also push clarity around these emerging issues for all the players in these spaces.

Being that close to D.C. also puts them in the same geographical ring, as it were, should President Trump continue to antagonize Amazon CEO (and owner of The Washington Post) Jeff Bezos over things like postal rates. It’s easier to put up a fight when you aren’t across an entire country.

New York City, on the other hand, gives Amazon an amazingly dense urban landscape in which to experiment with all kinds of different technologies and programs (and gets lots and lots of user data). Because there are so many people in a small area, it’s an ideal place to perfect robot (or drone) delivery of groceries, courtesy of Whole Foods. There are a wealth of restaurants to expand and improve meal delivery. Amazon is already opening up one of its Amazon Go stores in New York, and the grab-and-go, convenience aspect of that chain is perfect for a bustling, busy city like New York.

Amazon hasn’t even moved into those new locations yet, so this is all speculation. Having lived in the Seattle area off and on since the late 90s, I’ve seen firsthand how Amazon changes a city. With Amazon at the peak of its powers now, we’ll have to see how these new locations are transformed, how those transformations reverberate throughout the country and what it means for how we eat.

Sam’s Club to Open Cashierless Concept Store Next Week

Walmart-owned Sam’s Club will open up a new store in Dallas next week that will feature a high-tech take on grocery shopping with cashierless checkout, in-store search and augmented reality. The move will also escalate Walmart’s innovation battle with rival Amazon and its cashierless Go stores.

Dubbed Sam’s Club Now, the new store concept will feature the company’s Scan & Go payment technology. Members who shop at Sam’s Club Now will now be required to use the Scan & Go app to scan and pay for items and serve as the foundation for other features such as:

  • Smart shopping lists. Using machine learning and purchase data, Sam’s Club Now will automatically generate a shopping list for users and automatically update it as items are purchased.
  • In-store navigation. Search for an item and the app will navigate you to its location in the store. Eventually, the app will create an optimal route for shoppers based on their smart shopping list.
  • Augmented Reality. This doesn’t seem to be fully baked yet, but from the company’s corporate blog post: “We’ll bring items to life in the club by sharing new ways to use them, and we’ll work to integrate stories that highlight cool features, including how items are sourced. We also have plans to use augmented reality to transform members’ digital carts into pirate ships. Or maybe you’d prefer a rocket? More on that soon!”

The use of Scan & Go will also mean a new role for us humans. Sam’s Club is creating a new position called the Member Host, which the company wants you to think of like a “concierge of the club.” Instead of just ringing customers up, they will help guide and inform shoppers. This is actually a common theme among companies implementing automation. From Cafe X’s robot barista to Walmart’s shelfbot, the repetitive tasks are taken over by apps or robots and humans are kept around to provide service, expertise and perform higher level tasks.

The launch of this newfangled Sam’s Club Now is a shot across the bow of Amazon, which has been rolling out its Amazon Go stores at a rapid clip, recently, opening up three locations in Seattle, two in Chicago and one in San Francisco (with more to come).

Sam’s Club Now and Amazon Go aren’t exactly analogous to one another. Go stores don’t require any manual scanning, instead relying on banks of cameras and sensors to know what you purchased. And the two stores are going after different markets. Sam’s Club Now takes up 32,000 square feet and is more of a full grocery shopping experience as opposed to smaller, more convenience-like Go stores, which typically hover at around ~2,000 square feet and are meant for grabbing things quickly.

However, they are both pushing a technology-driven change in the way we shop for our food. Between the advancements these two giants are making, as well as the work of startups like Trigo Vision and AIpoly, among others, 2019 is shaping up to be a watershed year for the cashierless retail revolution.

June Oven Update Integrates Whole Foods, New UI with Expanded Instructions

June announced today that its eponymous smart oven will now automatically cook certain foods from Whole Foods in a move that evolves the appliance into more of an all around smart cooking platform.

Available today via an over-the-air-update, all June Ovens will now sport a Whole Foods icon on the touchscreen menu. At first there will be thirty available pre-set Cook Programs that will automatically cook various Whole Foods products including items from its 365 Everday line of frozen foods as well as some prepared fresh food like salmon with lemon thyme rub. In a phone interview, June Co-Founder and CEO, Matt Van Horn said that the June cameras will recognize some items, but if it doesn’t, users can navigate to the item via the June Whole Foods app.

Amazon’s Alexa Fund invested in June at the start of this year, and facilitated the meeting between the oven maker and Amazon subsidiary Whole Foods.

The partnership is actually quite interesting for a couple of reasons. First, through Whole Foods, June has created a food supply chain pipeline without having to build one. Other countertop appliances like the Tovala, Suvie and Brava are marrying their devices with food subscriptions. Yes, you don’t have to use their meals, but they are part of the value proposition. Consumer choice then, becomes more constrained, and those hardware companies then have to manage an entirely different line of business.

Through Whole Foods, June doesn’t need to worry about a food supply chain and can focus on its product only. June users have access to an entire grocery store (for the most part) for loads of flexibility for food that can be cooked with just a few screen taps. Because the June is connected, it will constantly be updated with new products making what you buy from Whole Foods easy to cook.

But for the June hardware itself, the addition of Whole Foods as an icon built into the June makes the oven more like an iPhone. More like a platform. It’s easy to see how June’s touchscreen will make room for additional partners over time.

Whole Foods isn’t the only new feature that’s part of the June software update. The company is also releasing a new UI that includes additional cooking information. My big complaint about the June was the dearth of instructions, which left me guessing sometimes about next steps (like how long to rest a steak). We got a sneak peek at the new June UI earlier this summer, and the update is now live.

Amazon Boosts Minimum Wage to $15, Will it Have a Halo Effect on its Grocery Business?

Amazon announced today that it is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all of its full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees, including workers at Whole Foods. In all, Amazon’s pay raise impacts 250,000 full-time and 100,000 seasonal employees. The pay increase takes effect on November 1.

The move comes at a time when Amazon is facing increased pressure over pay disparity at the company. Senator Bernie Sanders even introduced the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies (or “Stop B.E.Z.O.S.” bill), that would have added a tax on large companies equal to the value of the public benefits their employees receive.

Amazon is also facing mounting pressure internally from Whole Foods employees who are not happy with the changes its new owner brought to the grocery chain. Workers there are trying to unionize amid complaints of reduced headcount and increased work with inadequate pay.

In addition to being a good thing for a company that has been valued at $1 trillion dollars to do, and a way to potentially get the government off its back, Amazon’s move — and all the subsequent news coverage — could also provide a nice halo effect when it comes to the company’s public perception.

Amazon is locked in a multi-front battle to be your grocer of choice against the likes of Target and Walmart. As CNBC notes, Target has announced plans to raise its employees’ wages to $15 an hour by 2020, and Walmart only plans to raise its minimum wage to $11 per hour.

Immediately leapfrogging the competition gives it a hiring advantage (the company plans to open up 3,000 Go stores across the country by 2021), but it could also ease any guilty consciences people might have with buying groceries at Amazon, whether from Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh. If people know the company is paying a higher wage, it untangles, at least a little bit, some of the ethical quandaries shoppers might have.

Would you Buy an Amazon House?

As I look around my house and see the number of Echo devices plugged in, look at the empty cardboard boxes piled up in my garage and finish watching season one of Forever on Prime Video, it doesn’t feel like much of a stretch to see how dependent I am on Amazon. At this point, maybe I should just say well, I’ve gone this far, it’s probably easier to just buy an Amazon house.

The idea of living in an Amazon house just got a little less crazy. Amazon announced today that its Alexa Fund has invested in Plant Prefab, a company that makes prefabricated houses. According to the Plant Prefab website, the company is:

“…the first home factory in the nation dedicated to sustainable construction, materials, processes, and operations. We believe homes can and should be built in ways that minimize their negative impact on energy, water, resources — and the health of the people who live in our homes and who build them.”

The CEO of Plant Prefab told Fast Company in an email:

“We will work with Amazon to integrate Alexa and other smart home technology they have into our standard home platforms… We’ll be working with them to create better integrated Alexa and other smart home technology solutions to help improve the quality of life and utility of people who live in the homes we build.”

Hooking up with a prefab home manufacturer does provide Amazon with an additional sales channel, and the company has been making moves to embed itself more deeply into the bones of our houses. Amazon purchased connected camera company Blink last December and followed that up with the purchase smart doorbell maker Ring in March. The company launched Key delivery, which uses a combination of smart locks and connected cameras to allow in-home delivery of packages while you’re out.

If that weren’t enough, at last week’s media event, Amazon unveiled its own brand of microwave, as well as new Echo devices which include a new Guard mode to listen for the sound of broken glass or a smoke alarm. It also announced a $25 smart plug to turn any appliance into a connected device. And if that weren’t enough, Amazon launched Connect Kit, which makes it easier for companies to create smart home devices.

But Plant Prefab doesn’t operate at the scale Amazon normally operates. It seems like there is, like always, a data side to this deal. Getting in with builders allows Amazon to understand on a neighborhood level where these types of new homes are being built, and small things like what different building codes are in various municipalities, and how new building materials perform. It could also give the company architectural know how to better integrate things like secure delivery boxes, or temperature controlled ones that require electricity for food delivery, directly into homes.

Or perhaps, Bezos can take this prefab building knowledge and put it to use as part of his recent philanthropy to help fight homelessness.

Whatever the reason, it’s clear Amazon isn’t just interested in our house, it wants to re-create our world. Smart technology will become a standard part of modern houses, whether that’s having the smarts built in or creating the space and modularity for easy wiring and installation of future technology.

The other question is, how will big will Amazon’s influence get in the home building space and how will that impact other players and professionals in the home electronics installation space, like those in CEDIA.

Whether or not Amazon becomes dominant in this space, or becomes another Sears Kit House remains to be seen. But building smart homes from the ground up is sure to be a topic we continually revisit. In fact, we’ll be holding a conversation with Bruce Thompson, CEO of Urbaneer about “Designing the Kitchen Ecosystem of the Future” at our upcoming Smart Kitchen Summit in a couple weeks. Get your ticket today to be a part of the conversation.

Amazon’s Small $60 Microwave Could Actually be a Big Deal

As rumored, Amazon today announced its own brand of microwave with Alexa voice control built right in. The AmazonBasics Microwave will cost a measly $60 and shows how the company will use voice to better understand customers (and sell to them), as well as stave off smart assistant competitors from encroaching on the kitchen.

The microwave is on the small end, with 0.7 cubic foot cavity, has only 700 Watts of power, and features an Alexa logo button on the touchpad. I was a bit of a negative Nancy when I heard about an Alexa-powered microwave, but am ready to eat a bit of crow if this works as promised. From the press announcement:

With AmazonBasics Microwave, ask Alexa to reheat, defrost, or microwave for your desired cook time and power level. Plus, use a variety of quick-cook voice presets such as, “Alexa, microwave two potatoes” or “Alexa, reheat a cup of coffee” and the AmazonBasics Microwave takes care of the rest. Since Alexa is always getting smarter, new quick-cook voice presets will be added regularly.

What it also does is have users voluntarily tell Amazon what food they are microwaving, when they microwave and how often. As pre-sets are added, Amazon will have an even more granular understanding of what we are cooking, and will most likely notify users of specials and sales happening at Amazon Fresh or a Whole Foods nearby.

The Amazon microwave seems to stick it a little to the recently released GE Alexa Microwave with scan-to-cook technology. Depending on the pre-sets that are added, it removes the scan step (which requires using your phone) and makes cooking that much faster. It also allows for pre-set cooking of items that don’t have barcodes (see: potato).

The Amazon microwave also connects with a nearby Alexa for other voice commands. Press the Alexa button on the microwave and a paired Echo device wakes up to listen for a command like “two minutes and thirty seconds on medium” and the microwave will do just that (no need to say “Alexa” or “microwave”). While I haven’t seen it in action, this seems like more work than pressing 2, 3, 0, especially given the number of times Alexa mishears me.

There is also Dash Replenishment built into the Amazon Microwave that will re-order, ummmm, popcorn, when you… run out of popcorn. And that’s it for now. I guess. Huh. OK. To be fair, that re-order functionality will assuredly get more robust and add more microwaveable items to be replenished. But still, it seems like an add-on as we’ll already be telling the microwave what we are cooking. And if we order a four pack of Hot Pockets from Amazon, and we cook three of them, it will know I need more. Ideally.

As the company states in the press release, its new microwave is also a way for Amazon to show how other appliance makers can use the new Amazon Connect Kit to create smart devices. By getting appliance manufactures on to the Alexa platform, Amazon can better box out rival Google in the kitchen and slurp up all that data for itself.

In the end, the Amazon Microwave is a small device that actually could have big implications for the kitchen. We’ll get one in November and tell you how it works in real life.

Report: Amazon to Release an Alexa Microwave?

According to a CNBC report, Amazon plans on releasing at least eight new Alexa powered devices by the end of year, including a microwave oven.

If true, it would mark a turn in Amazon’s strategy and move the company further up the stack and into creating a more end-to-end hardware solution. In addition to embedding Alexa into everyone else’s appliance, it would start making its own.

CNBC writes that this would be Amazon’s first move into home appliances. While it would be the first one to actually hit the market if true, we know that Amazon has at least been thinking about its own smart refrigerator. So the company making its own microwave isn’t that much of a stretch.

Amazon has made similar vertically-stacked hardware plays over the past year with the acquisition of Blink’s connected cameras and Ring, which makes a smart doorbell.

Without any more information, it’s hard to tell whether an Alexa powered microwave would be a good thing for consumers. GE recently came out with an Alexa-enabled microwave that lets you control it with your voice. But microwaves are pretty surgical appliances. You set the time to cook, usually for short bursts numbering in seconds and minutes, and the device shuts itself off afterwards. I don’t see a lot of need to bark orders at it.

What an Alexa-powered microwave would do, however, is start to shut Google and its voice assistant out of your smart home equation. If Amazon can sell you a cheap enough microwave through its massive retail platform, it gains a foothold into your kitchen that Google can’t get to. And if the Alexa microwave has the same scan-to-cook technology as the GE microwave, Amazon would know what you’re cooking and when, and oh hey! Why don’t we have Whole Foods deliver that frozen meal to you as well. It’s not a big leap in logic to think if an Alexa microwave sold well, it could expand into more Alexa appliances that all talk to each other (and you) but not to Google — denying the search giant all that juicy user data.

In addition to the microwave, Amazon is supposedly working on an amplifier, a receiver, a subwoofer and an “in-car gadget.”

Weekly Spoon: Kitchen Projection Interfaces, Amazon Drone Patent & Innit Nabs Arçelik

This is the post version of our weekly newsletter. If you’d like to get the weekly Spoon in your inbox, you can subscribe here.

If you go to lots of trade shows like me, you know it takes time for innovation to make its way from the show floor into our living rooms.

We’ve all seen this with technologies like virtual reality and 3D food printing; only after years of development and iteration cycles do we get to the point where a product is ready for prime time.

And then there are technologies like projection interfaces that – up until now at least – seem like they’re stuck in development stasis. The idea of a projectable, anywhere surface interface has been discussed for close to a decade in the research and academic community and started showing up on trade show floors about five years ago. Despite this, the concept never seemed to go beyond an occasional product demo.

So last year I started to wonder why exactly the technology hadn’t reached consumers yet. After all, with the likes of Whirlpool, IKEA, and Bosch showing off jaw-dropping demos, it only made sense this technology would find its way to market at some point.

While there’s no clear answer, I narrowed it down to a couple of factors. First, the reality is the technology still needed some refinement to make it both consumer-ready and affordable. Second, appliance vendors often wait for big-tech to take the first leap, and from what I could tell none of the big-tech 5 (Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon) seemed particularly active with projection interfaces.

But now, it looks like one big company is committing to bringing a projection interface to market. BSH Appliances showed off a new product concept called PAI at IFA in Berlin this past week. PAI is a movable projector interface that is designed to go on a countertop in a kitchen.

I’m excited that BSH looks to be serious about bringing PAI to market. While some see voice as the dominant user interface of the future, abysmal usage rates of Alexa skills for commerce have shown us that voice in itself isn’t enough.  Consumers are visual, and most things we do in the kitchen are multimodal. Because of this, I believe the dynamic projection interface could a vibrant area in UI development over the next decade.

BSH Appliances wasn’t the only one to make news at IFA last week. Sharp showed up in Berlin with a fridge that featured a built-in vacuum sealer, prompting Chris Albrecht to wonder what exactly types of features he would want in his next fridge.

Smart kitchen platform startup Innit had a strong showing at IFA, popping up in a number appliance OEM booths, including that of a new partner in Arçelik.  The Turkish appliance conglomerate behind the Beko and Grundig brands showed off an Innit integration to power guided cooking as part of its HomeWhiz smart home platform.

It wasn’t all IFA this week. This week the Spoon scooped yet another Amazon patent in which the Seattle tech giant shows an innovative new method for delivery drones to generate power while in transit by harnessing both wind and kinetic energy.
After the news of a $30 million funding round for Farmer’s Fridge, I’m looking forward to a panel at Smart Kitchen Summit on the future of lunch. We’ll be discussing how new technologies, business models and delivery formats are all colliding to change what we eat every day, including at work.  You can read Chris’s piece on Farmer’s Fridge, a startup we’ve been covering for the past year.

Speaking of Smart Kitchen Summit, we’re less than five weeks away from our flagship show exploring the future of food and cooking. We have an amazing program planned, and not only will we have executives from big appliance brands like Whirlpool, GE and more, but we’ll also have startups from the smart kitchen, food robotics, restaurant tech, retail and more to discuss and showcase how each of these industries are changing to disrupt the consumer meal journey.  Make sure to get your tickets now and use the discount code NEWSLETTER (You can also use this link which has the code already applied).

That’s it for now. Have a great rest of the week.

Mike

P.S. Make sure to tune into this weekend’s episode of the Smart Kitchen Show podcast, where I have a great conversation with the CEO of the startup behind what is arguably the most successful consumer food robot ever made. You won’t want to miss it!

In the 09/06/2018 edition:

Ordermark Raises $9.5 Million for its Online Order Management Tools

By Chris Albrecht on Sep 06, 2018 10:23 am
Ordermark, a startup that helps restaurants unify and organize online orders, today announced that it has closed a $9.5 million Series A led by Nosara Capital. This brings the total amount raised by the company to $12.6 million.

Nima Peanut Sensor Now Available, Gluten Sensor Selling at Select CVS Stores

By Chris Albrecht on Sep 06, 2018 06:00 am
It’s back-to-school time, which means my son is once again eating lunches in a cafeteria. I doubt his school is unique, but it actually has separate tables for kids who bring in peanut butter sandwiches.

With its own Grocery Delivery Service, Walmart Grabs More Data

By Chris Albrecht on Sep 05, 2018 04:00 pm
Walmart is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to getting you your groceries. As of today, that includes testing out its own delivery service (h/t Food Dive). The retailing giant announced a pilot program for its new last-mile delivery service, dubbed Spark Delivery, which will deliver groceries directly to customers’ front door.

For Goodr’s Jasmine Crowe, Blockchain Is a Key Piece to the Food Waste Puzzle

By Catherine Lamb on Sep 05, 2018 02:00 pm
Food waste is generating quite a lot of interest as of late; but one buzzword that might give “food waste” a run for its money is blockchain.

Innit Adds Arçelik To Growing List of Appliance Partners

By Michael Wolf on Sep 05, 2018 12:00 pm
The smart kitchen was everywhere this year at IFA, Europe’s big appliance and tech expo, and one company that seemed to be on everyone’s dance card was Innit.

Farmer’s Fridge Stocks up with $30M

By Chris Albrecht on Sep 05, 2018 10:54 am
Farmer’s Fridge, the company which makes vending machines that dispense healthy meals such as salads and protein bowls, today announced that it has raised a new $30 million round of funding led by Innovation Endeavors. This brings the total amount raised by the company to $40 million.

Seltzer? Sous Vide? Smart Apps? What Cool Things do you Want in a Fridge?

By Chris Albrecht on Sep 05, 2018 07:33 am
For those old enough to remember, there is an episode from season two of The Simpsons where Homer designs a car for the average American. The result, as you can imagine was a hodge-podge monstrosity that featured bubble domes, three horns, shag carpeting and cost $82,000.

Bear Flag Robotics Raises $3.5 Million for Autonomous Tractor Tech

By Chris Albrecht on Sep 04, 2018 10:00 am
The common refrain from robotics companies is that they help with manual, repetitive tasks. And when you run a farm, there are plenty of manual, repetitive tasks, and Bear Flag Robotics raised $3.5 million seed funding right before the holiday weekend to help agricultural workers out with them.

Amazon Patent Points to In-Flight Recharging For Delivery Drones

By Michael Wolf on Sep 04, 2018 06:54 am
Ever since Jeff Bezos teased the idea of drone deliveries on 60 Minutes in 2013, the tech world has been abuzz with the idea. At the time Bezos said that the reality of drone deliveries wasn’t there yet, but he thought it just might be in 4-5 years.

FoodPlus Sells Surplus Food (in Slovenia) so it Doesn’t go to Waste

By Catherine Lamb on Sep 04, 2018 06:00 am
Based in Slovenia, FoodPlus began in 2015 when co-founder Dalibor Matijevic began searching for a way to cut down on food waste by redistributing surplus food. He developed a B2B platform for companies to buy and sell extra food at a super low cost — creating a new revenue stream and keeping food out of landfills.

Amazon Patent Points to In-Flight Recharging For Delivery Drones

Ever since Jeff Bezos teased the idea of drone deliveries on 60 Minutes in 2013, the tech world has been abuzz with the idea. At the time Bezos said that the reality of drone deliveries wasn’t there yet, but he thought it just might be in 4-5 years.

Based on when Bezos made that prediction, that’s about now, and from the looks of it Amazon’s been working hard on ideas to make drone delivered milk a reality.

One of the limiting factors for drone delivery has been battery life. High-quality drones usually can stay in the air for only 30 minutes, and the longer a drone has to recharge, the less packages a fleet can deliver.

Not surprisingly, Amazon has been thinking about this and one of the ideas they’ve come up to ensure you can get your drone-delivered milk is to create flying delivery-bots that recharge…while still in the air. The concept explained in their just-issued patent is similar to that of a wind turbine, but instead of giant propellers the drones will have on-board propellers that spin to generate energy. The patent also describes how the the propellers are adjustable to maximize energy generation and that energy would be created both by windflow and kinetic (in-motion) energy.

The above graphic shows the concept of how the drone will monitors flight paths to find higher-wind flight paths to ensure maximal energy generation. The drone will both change flight path and as well as adjust the energy-generating propellers to make sure they are generating both the most wind-generated and kinetic energy as possible.

The concept of energy generating drones isn’t entirely new. Researchers have been discussing the idea of using tethered drones to produce energy through the use of small mini-wind turbines on board for a couple years, but the concept have largely centered around how drones could basically act as a windmill replacement.  What’s novel about Amazon’s idea is that the energy generation concept appears to be focused on how to recharge the on-board battery to ensure longer flight time as well as higher overall in-air utilization.

No word on when we’ll see Amazon’s energy-generating drones, but if Bezos had his way, they might just be around the corner.

The Weekly Spoon: Where’s My SodaStream Fridge?

This is the post version of our weekly (twice-weekly, actually) newsletter. If you’d like to get the weekly Spoon in your inbox, you can subscribe here.

Every now and then a big company makes an acquisition that makes you wonder about the possibilities.

Pepsi scooping up SodaStream is one such deal.

The $3.2 billion purchase clocks in at 33 times forward earnings. The rich valuation is justified in part by SodaStream’s strong growth in the sparkling water market, but also because it puts Pepsi into a new category: home beverage creation.

“SodaStream is highly complementary and incremental to our business, adding to our growing water portfolio, while catalyzing our ability to offer personalized in-home beverage solutions around the world,” said Ramon Laguarta, CEO-Elect and President, PepsiCo, in the company’s press release.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Big Drink – including Pepsi – has looked at the in-home beverage market. They launched their Drinkfinity line earlier this year, and competitor Dr. Pepper has most likely at least considered the possibilities of a revamped Keurig Kold post-acquisition.

But at this point, it’s safe to say none of these efforts have been a runaway hit. Will a SodaStream armed with Pepsi’s resources change that? While Chris’s take is that it’s best for Big Drink to stay away from the home beverage machine business, my take it a little more sanguine. I think in-home creation dovetails well with two consumer megatrends that will only pick up more momentum:

-The soda business is shrinking fast, and low-calorie healthy alternatives will likely continue to be the fastest growing category in beverages

-Bottled drinks are bad for the environment, so a growing contingent of consumers will continue to look for more ecofriendly alternatives (like home beverages!).

While a countertop beverage machine may not be for everyone, who’s to say SodaStream couldn’t be built into my refrigerator some day? I just bought a new fridge and, I have to say, I would much rather have a tasty drink spigot on it than a touchscreen (and I’m probably not the only one).

Bottom line, whether built into a fridge or through a small machine on the countertop, I think the stars are lining up for continued growth for the in-home beverage market.

Now if they could make a home Kombucha as easy.

(Ed note: Reader Chris pointed out to me that in 2013 Samsung partnered with SodaStream to add a dispenser to a fridge, but the models have since been discontinued. With sparking water having a moment, I have to wonder if it’s time to revive this idea?)

Speaking of Interesting Drink Trends…

Have you ever had your name printed on a beverage?

We have:

While the idea of images printed on drink foam (whether its coffee, cocktails or beer) may seem like a novelty to some, I would argue drink “printing” could become commonplace in the next few years in restaurants and bars.  My guess is that not only would consumers pay a little extra for a drink printed “selfie”, but brands would jump at the opportunity to get the word out via drink-top messaging. Imagine the value of having your new vodka brand printed on all the drinks served in a bar on a given night.

You can read about the new Ripples cocktail printer announced today (and see a video of The Spoon logo printed on a drink) over at The Spoon.

Delivery Tech Is Hot

Grocery delivery and logistics continue to be one of the hottest spaces in food tech. This week we saw a massive $110 million investment in Boxed (which brings the total invested in the grocery logistics company to $243 million) and news of a successful trial of in-trunk delivery by Delivery.com/Phrame.  As someone who’s skeptical about letting a total stranger into my home, I’m intrigued by the idea of trunk delivery. Amazon apparently feels the same.

If you haven’t caught our the latest episode of The Smart Kitchen Show, I had a great time talking with VineSleuth’s Amy Gross about how AI can help consumers find the perfect wine.  Check it out at The Spoon or subscribe to the show on Apple podcasts.

And if you like my conversation with Amy, she’s just one of many great speakers coming to the Smart Kitchen Summit in just under seven weeks. Make sure to get your tickets today with the discount code NEWSLETTER for 25% off of tickets. 

In the 08/22/2018 edition:

Grocery Logistics is Hot as Boxed Nabs $110 Million Investment from Aeon Group

By Chris Albrecht on Aug 22, 2018 09:16 am
Boxed, an e-commerce company that sells bulk grocery items, yesterday announced a $110 million investment led by Aeon Group, one of the largest retailers in Japan. This minority stake brings the total amount raised by Boxed to $243.6 million and values the company at $600 million.

Ripple PM Prints a Selfie on your Cocktails

By Chris Albrecht on Aug 22, 2018 06:00 am
We are all used to the idea of Instagramming our cocktails, but the new Ripple Maker PM, made by Ripples, lets you place your Instagram-worthy photos directly on the foam of your favorite boozy beverage. To customize a cocktail, users upload selfies, logos, or other images to the WiFi-enabled appliance using a Facebook Messenger app.

Buttermilk Co’s Microwaveable Indian Meals Merge Authenticity and Convenience

By Catherine Lamb on Aug 21, 2018 01:15 pm
Founder Mitra Raman got the idea for Buttermilk Co. because of a craving for rasan: a tomato-y South Indian stew and her favorite food. Raman’s mother gave her the ingredients in a bag — all Raman had to do was add water and boil.

Hitachi to Use AI to Analyze Hospital Food Leftovers and Improve Patient Recovery

By Chris Albrecht on Aug 21, 2018 11:14 am
We often write about artificial intelligence (AI) being used on food before it gets to you: inspecting the supply chain, making sure your burgers are cooked, etc. But a new unit of Japanese company Hitachi is applying AI to food leftover on the plate after people are done with it.

Phrame and Delivery.com Partner for In-Trunk Delivery

By Chris Albrecht on Aug 21, 2018 08:16 am
Is your car trunk the new post office box? It could be if a new service from Phrame and Delivery.com catches on. The two companies announced today the conclusion of a successful pilot that saw deliveries made directly into car trunks in an attempt to provide a new method of convenience for grocery shoppers.

No More Lukewarm Coffee: How Heating Tech will Disrupt the Kitchen

By Catherine Lamb on Aug 20, 2018 02:27 pm
The ability to apply precision heat to food and drinks is a quick-evolving — and pretty darn exciting — area of the digital kitchen innovation. And no one is pushing more boundaries in this space than Clay Alexander. He’s the founder and CEO of Ember, a company which makes smart mugs which can exactly control and […]

Coca-Cola Should Stay Out of the Home Device Business

By Chris Albrecht on Aug 20, 2018 11:51 am
After I wrote up the news this morning about PepsiCo buying SodaStream for a bubbly $3.2 billion, a commenter got me thinking about what rival Coca-Cola’s next steps should be. Spoon reader “James” asked: So now that Pepsi has Sodastream and Dr. Pepper has Keurig, what consumer hardware company is Coke going to buy?

PepsiCo Buys SodaStream for $3.2 Billion

By Chris Albrecht on Aug 20, 2018 08:21 am
PepsiCo said today that it will buy SodaStream, makers of the countertop carbonation system, for $3.2 billion. The move not only pushes the sugary drink giant further into the healthy beverage market, but it also moves the company into more of a hardware space, which opens up new lines of recurring revenue.

Podcast: The AI Powered Sommelier With Amy Gross

By Michael Wolf on Aug 19, 2018 08:07 am
A decade ago, Amy Gross was enjoying a glass of wine with her husband when she noticed how the same wine tasted different to different people. From there she began to think about how technology could be used to make personalized wine recommendations, and it wasn’t long before IBM and others wanted to learn more […]

Food Tech News Roundup: Plant-Based Starbucks, Google’s Wearable Meal Plan, and Grocery Innovation

By Catherine Lamb on Aug 18, 2018 06:00 am
What a week for food tech fundraising! From DoorDash’s $250 million to a hefty raise for cellular aquaculture company BlueNalu to not one, not two, but three fundraising rounds for food waste startups, it’s been a doozy.

IBM Issued Patent For Drone-Delivered Coffee Based On Your Cognitive State

Having just arrived back from Japan a couple days ago, I grabbed an extra cup of coffee this morning to help me get over the fog of my jetlag. In the future, my extra boost of caffeine may come courtesy of a drone that knows — preemptively — when I’m feeling a little low-energy.

That’s because IBM was issued a patent last week for a system that would deliver coffee via drone based on a person’s current mood or cognitive state. The patent, called “Drone delivery of coffee based on a cognitive state of an individual”, utilizes sensor data and other indicators to know when a person is sleepy.

According to the patent, data  from wearables, cameras and analysis of past behavior could be used to determine “sleep cycle, bed time for the last N days, a joint measure of the characteristic for two people (e.g. husband and wife), and current blood pressure, or heart rate.” The patent also describes utilizing contextual information like a person’s calendar to determine whether they’re in need of additional alertness. Have a meeting that morning? Keep eye out for coffee drone!

The drone system described in the patent could also deliver coffee to an office or other room full of people and dynamically decide who is most in need of a little caffeine. From the patent: “…if it is known that a meeting participant is meeting with a senior supervisor, and the participant prefers coffee when under stress, the confidence level L can be increased” that someone may want a cup of coffee.

While this patent seems like a strange one for IBM, the company is notorious for its prolific patent filing and, not unlike others, sometimes creates interesting scenarios no one else has yet envisioned and file a patent for it. That said, the concept of preemptive delivery is one that seems to be gaining steam. The Spoon uncovered a patent issued to Amazon (another prolific accumulator of patents) in February for predictive restaurant ordering.

So are we headed for a world where products just show up before we even push a button or know ourselves we’re in need of a pick-me-up? Maybe — but I can see how some consumers would find this type of preemptive determination a bit too pushy, particularly if the system is expecting payment for these products.

On the other hand, utilizing data to understand where there is high demand for a product is something that companies like Zume are already doing today, and I can see how preemptive delivery to areas with groups of people where there might both an undisclosed and unsatiated demand makes sense.

Either way, I don’t expect to see coffee delivering drones showing up unannounced at my house for some time.

Now excuse me while I go put another pot of coffee on.

Amazon Prime Day Did Not Go Fine, eh?

Amazon Prime Day, the retail giant’s big, annual sales event, started off with a big snafu, as the site crashed minutes after launching.

As The Verge reported, people experienced Amazon outages differently. Some visitors got full-on error pages, while others could still access the individual item sites. When I tried, I could get to Amazon.com, but whenever I clicked on “Shop All Deals” or tried to Shop a particular category, I wound up in a loop asking me to click on “Shop All Deals” again. You can see a gif of my experience here:

via GIPHY

This is a big embarrassment for Amazon, who has built a business on helping other companies scale their infrastructure to meet heavy demand. But depending on how widepsread the outages are, it can impact the number of units vendors can sell through this special promotion.

Here at The Spoon, we care mostly about kitchen tech and early on, both the Anova and ChefSteps sous vide wands were discounted for Prime Day as well as the Instant Pot. Not only could the outage impact the number of units sold, but it could also have a potential ripple effect. Consumers who may not normally try out new kitchen tech might be enticed by a special Prime deal… but only if they can learn about it and reach it.

Of course, with sites like The Wirecutter providing direct access to sale item pages that seem to be working just fine, this blip could be nothing. We reached out to a smart kitchen vendor with an item on sale today to see if they experienced any impact and will update this story if we hear back.