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Food Tech News: Vegan Waygu Beef, Coca-Cola Transitions To New rPET Bottles

If you haven’t heard, The Spoon is hosting the Food Tech Job Fair. If you feel like you need to get up to date on news and information in the world of food tech before attending, the Food Tech News round-up is a great place to start. This week we have news on vegan wagyu beef, Coca-Cola’s transition to rPET bottles, a new whole cut plant-based chicken product, and an engagement program for snack startups.

Plant-based waygu beef to be trialed throughout US

Canadian-based Top Tier Foods, a manufacturer of plant-based sushi items, announced that it will be trialing vegan waygu throughout the US. The company has partnered with Advanced Fresh Concepts for the rollout, which owns over 4,000 sushi locations in the US. The vegan waygu will be trialed at only certain locations owned by Advanced Fresh Concepts (locations were not disclosed), as well as inside of Rouse supermarkets located in Louisiana. The wagyu will be soy protein-based, and seasoned in a teriyaki marinade.

LIVEKINDLY Collective partners with Rival Foods to create whole cuts of plant-based chicken

LIVEKINDLY Collective, a collection of plant-based start-ups, and Rival Foods, a plant-based meat alternative producer, announced at the beginning of this week that they will partner to create plant-based chicken. Rival Foods has the technology and capabilities to produce whole cuts of different meat analogues, so the new product will be a whole cut of plant-based chicken. It was undisclosed what the plant-based chicken will be made from, or when it will be available.

Samples of the new rPET bottles

Coca-Cola and brands begin transition to r-PET bottles

Coca-Cola announced this week that it will begin the transition to using rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) bottles starting in February. Initially, 13.2 oz Coca-Cola and Sprite bottles will be available in California, Florida, and the Northeastern US. Coca-Cola sent me samples of three bottles with the new rPET packaging, and I honestly could say I would not have been able to tell the difference between the rPET packaging and virgin plastic. The corporation aims to make 50% of its packaging from recycled materials by 2030.

Photo from Unsplash

Mondelez launches program to support snack start-ups

Mondelez’s International innovation and venture lab, called SnackFutures, just launched an engagement program for early-stage snack start-ups. The program is called CoLab, and it will support snack start-up brands targeting the well-being sector. Up to ten snack food start-ups will be selected for the 12 week program. Start-ups accepted into the program will receive a $20,000 grant, and receive customized support and a curriculum. Applications are open now.

Food Tech News: The World’s Largest Piece of Cultured Meat, Coca-Cola Delivery Via Drone

Welcome to this week’s Food Tech News round-up! We found some interesting tidbits this week, including the world’s largest piece of cultured meat, Coca-Cola’s drone delivery, Carnival Cruise’s step towards sustainability, and funding for HIPPEAS chickpea snacks.

NovaMeat produces the world’s largest piece of cultured meat

3D meat printer NovaMeat announced that it had successfully created what it is calling the world’s largest piece of cultured meat, with a volume of 22500 mm3 (1.4 cubic inches). NovaMeat has so far created 3D-printed steak and pork made from plant-based proteins, but is now creating hybrid meat alternatives through the combination of plant-proteins and cells from cultivated meat. After announcing this accomplishment, the company shared it will hold an investment round in the next few months and aims to increase the production speed of its 3D-printed meat to 100Kg/hour.

Photo from Coca-Cola’s website

Coca-Cola delivers coffee flavored soda via drone

Coca-Cola partnered with Walmart and drone provider DroneUP to make aerial deliveries of its new beverage, a coffee-infused soda. The drone was launched from a Walmart in Coffee County, Georgia, and delivered to a select few consumers located within a mile of the Walmart. The coffee soda is infused with Brazilian coffee, and comes in three flavors, caramel, dark blend, and vanilla – with a sugar-free option in the vanilla and dark blend flavors. The 12oz cans are shelf-stable and offer 69mg of caffeine. The soda was trialed successfully in Japan in 2018, and as of it January 25th, 2021, the Coca-Cola with Coffee beverage is now available in the US.

Photo of a digester from BioHiTech’s website

Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruise Lines aim to reduce food waste through BioHiTech’s food digesters

BioHiTech, which offers technology solutions and services to combat the environmental issues of landfill waste, will provide 14 cruise ships from Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruise Lines with its Revolution Series food digesters for food waste onboard. The digesters process food waste through odorless, aerobiotic digestion and convert the waste into a liquid that can be drained into the cruise ship’s wastewater line. This prevents food waste from reaching the landfill and saves the cruise line costs associated with waste management. The order from BioHiTech totals approximately $2 million USD and will be completed in Q2 of 2021.

Photo from HIPPEAS’ Instagram

HIPPEAS raises $50M for chickpea snacks

Whole Foods predicted that chickpea would trend as an ingredient in 2021, and they certainly were correct. Chickpeas are being used in everything from alternative eggs to snack foods, and HIPPEAS Organic Chickpea Snacks announced that it has raised $50 million in funding this week from The Craftory Limited. The company will use these funds to increase production, expand distribution, and add to its positive impact projects. All of the company’s products are organic, vegan, gluten-free, and products include flavored chickpea puffs and chickpea tortilla chips. I can personally attest that HIPPEAS products are delicious, and it is too easy to crush an entire bag of the vegan white cheddar chickpea puffs.

Coca-Cola Unveils a Prototype for Paper Bottles

Beverage giant Coca-Cola recently unveiled a prototype for its first-ever paper bottle, the first step in the company’s goal to create a bottle that can be recycled like any other type of paper product (h/t Food Navigator).

This first-generation prototype, for which Coca-Cola partnered with paper bottle company Paboco, still contains some plastic. Coca-Cola explained in a blog post that the prototype is made up of a paper shell with a plastic closure and plastic liner. Though the liner and closure are made from “100% recycled plastic that can be recycled again after use,” the company says its next step is to create a bottle that does not need the plastic liner.

The world’s plastic problem is now considered one of the biggest environmental threats out there, with an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the oceans alone. Big Food (and Bev) is under pressure to come up with more sustainable packaging options for their products.

Even so, any bottle containing a CPG beverage has to adhere to certain standards around safety and storage capabilities of packaging, hence the reason Coca-Cola can’t immediately switch to using just any paper bottle. The company says it is currently “putting the bottle through comprehensive testing in the lab to see how it performs in the refrigerator, how strong it is, and how well it protects the drink inside.”

The paper bottles won’t be available on grocery store shelves any time soon, but Coca-Cola’s prototype is another step in that direction. It follows efforts from Coke competitor PepsiCo and spirits brand Diageo, both companies that plan to release paper bottles in 2021.

 

The Food Tech Show: Lab-Grown Meat vs. The Internet

Happy Friday!

Heading out early for the final weekend before election day? Listen to The Food Tech Show podcast on your way!

In this week’s editor roundtable episode of The Food Tech Show, we talk about whether lab-grown meat can scale like the Internet, Ordermark’s massive new funding round earmarked to help them build out their ghost kitchen and virtual restaurant strategy, Coca Cola’s acquisition of a coffee robot startup, and whether or not the term “veggie burger” has a future in Europe.

As always, you can find The Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just play directly below.

Coca-Cola Adapts Digital Marketing to Our New Pandemic Normal

In the abstract, it’s easy to know that the pandemic is affecting everything. But it’s when you get down to the nitty-gritty practical level that you fully understand just how COVID really is impacting everything. Like, for instance, how important pictures are when people are buying your products online.

Marketing Interactive has a story up about moves Coca-Cola is making to adjust its marketing efforts in the wake of coronavirus. From that story:

The company will enhance its brand presence on the “virtual aisle”, investing in high-quality content such as photos, videos and product descriptions, to ensure its brands look as good online as they do in store.

Coca-Cola is also working with retailers to increase the visibility and attractiveness of their products on screens, ramping up SEO, and working with restaurants to make sure its drinks are featured on menus.

It’s no surprise that Coca-Cola would be making these moves. Online grocery shopping has had record adoption and sales since March, thanks to the pandemic, reaching $7.2 billion in June. While restaurants yo-yo between being open to in-person dining and closed as the virus waxes and wanes, one thing for certain is the move to more contacless experiences. These new contactless measures will include digital payments and menus becoming standard.

Of course, Coke’s moves are also coming on the heels of a 28 percent drop in sales for the company as high-volume customers like restaurants, ballparks and movie theaters all shut down because of the virus.

While Marketing Interactive focused on Coke, it’s safe to assume that every CPG brand is making similar moves. If the only way consumers can interact with your brand is through a screen, then companies better make sure that that imagery is optimized for multiple types of screens and that those images look good.

In the 80s, Coca-Cola’s ad slogan was “Have a Coke and a smile.” Smiles are a definitely harder to come by nowadays, but with its new marketing efforts, Coca-Cola is making sure you still get your Coke.

Coca-Cola Launches Subscription Service That Gives a First Taste of New Beverages

Coca-Cola has figured out a way to get feedback on the more than 20 new drinks it plans to launch next year — and charge people for the privilege.

The company yesterday launched the Coca-Cola Insiders Club, which for $10 per month or $50 up front (with one month free), grants subscribers six monthly shipments of “three category-spanning beverages — from AHA flavored sparkling water to Coke Energy — plus a few surprises and swag,” according to a press release. Sounds appealing, right? Well, the 1,000 subscriptions on tap sold out in three hours, but Coca-Cola invites you to join its waitlist, which more than 8,000 people have already done.

While the company said it was inspired by the success of the ecommerce subscription market and the online excitement around Coke Cinnamon, it also seems to point out that the program is a great way to build buzz. “Coca-Cola North America is treating the program as a pilot as a proof point of the company’s entrepreneurial, test-and-learn culture,” the release says. “The team will monitor sales, feedback and social media buzz and consider expanding beyond the six-month trial.”

It’s a smart bet. If the company launches a product that Insiders Club members love enough to post about, it will create pre-launch buzz at a great discount. But on the other hand, if the Insiders bash a product, it will surely create curiosity. Research cited in Harvard Business Review showed that negative reviews of an obscure product actually led to increased sales.

If Coca-Cola, which calls itself a “total beverage company,” decides to further pursue a subscription service, the economics may be in its favor. As long as the shipping costs aren’t too great, $10 for three beverages could bring in some profits. And, if you’re like me, you may be more likely to subscribe to a service that lets you try new drinks rather than buy them a la carte in the store, if they even get to stores, that is.

If Insiders Club does prove to be a success, it could become like the Apple Arcade or Netflix of beverages, as long as Coca-Cola keeps rolling out variations of its products that keep people curious.

Food Tech News: Shake Shack Goes Mobile, McDonald’s Israel Adopts Tech to Help the Blind

After traveling these past few weeks to CES and the Fancy Food Show, we’re excited to kick back and do precisely nothing this weekend. Hopefully you have a similar amount of plans. But before you get to finally reading that New Yorker stack on your coffee table, take a quick read through our weekly food tech news roundup. This week we’ve got stories on everything from dairy-free yogurt to booze-free cocktails — enjoy!

McDonald’s Israel uses sensors to help blind customers
This week McDonald’s Israel announced that it would install a voice navigation app in all its stores in order to assist blind customers and those suffering from dementia. In-store Sensors from Israeli company RightHear will interact with customer’s phones, which will read out custom directional voice instructions. This move will make McDonald’s Israel the first restaurant chain in the world to offer full access to visually impared customers. It’s kind of shocking that it’s taken so long for this to happen, but hopefully if the sensor program has success at McDonald’s Israel it will spread to the rest of the chain’s global locations — and to other fast-food restaurants, too.

Photo: Shake Shack.

Shake Shack announces plans to launch mobile food truck
Shake Shack is going mobile. This week Randy Garutti, CEO of the wildly popular fast-casual chain, announced that Shake Shack would be launching a food truck concept in early February. The first two trucks will be in New Jersey and Atlanta, but move around throughout their respective regions. According to Skift Table, Shake Shack’s leadership team plans to mainly use the trucks for community events, private parties, and local festivals.

Photo: YoFix

Israeli company YoFix launches dairy-free/soy-free yogurt
Last week we wrote about how Chobani was getting into the plant-based dairy game — it seems they’re not the only ones. This week YoFix Probiotics, winner of PepsiCo’s European Nutrition Greenhouse Programme 2018, announced a line of vegan, soy-free yogurts made from a blend of oats, legumes and seeds. The three flavors will have the “same or better” nutritional value as regular yogurt but will have no dairy, soy, added sugars or preservatives.

Photo: Coca-Cola Company

Coca-Cola debuts non-alcoholic “cocktails”
If you’re doing Dry January (and hats off to you), good news: there’s a new mocktail option for you. This week Coca-Cola introduced Bar None, its new non-alcoholic cocktail concept, in various retailers in Atlanta. The booze-free bottled drinks come in four cocktail-inspired flavors, like Sangria and Ginger Mule. According to Food Dive, this marks the first time a Big Food/Drink company has launched a line of non-alcoholic beverages — we’ll see if their bet pays off.

Did we miss anything? Leave us a comment or tweet us @TheSpoonTech! 

Maker of Dirty Lemon Gets $15M Investment Led by Coca-Cola

Iris Nova, the company behind Dirty Lemon water, announced today that it has received a $15 million seed round led by soft drink giant Coca-Cola, as well as a host of celebrities including Kate Hudson, Sophia Bush, Alex Rodriguez and Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber’s manager).

Dirty Lemon made a splash (sorry) in the industry with its SMS-based direct sales model that allows customers to order the bougie water via text message. According to the funding press announcement, Iris Nova has sold over 2 million bottles of Dirty Lemon since 2015 and processed 90% of orders entirely via text message.

Pay by text for Dirty Lemon water

In addition to slinging Dirty Lemon drinks with unconventional flavors like Tumeric, Charcoal, and Collagen (though no more CBD), Iris Nova also launched Drug Store, a cashierless retail store in New York city where people pay via text message on the honor system.

Sales of traditional sodas are declining, and this investment caps off a year that saw Coke diversifying beyond its carbonated cola roots. Earlier this week, Coca-Cola led a $10 million series A round in restaurant POS software company Omnivore. In August, it spent $5.1 billion to acquire Costa Coffee, one of Europe’s biggest coffee chains. And back in September it was even rumored that Coca-Cola was in talks with Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis to create beverages.

So Coke’s investment in Iris Nova makes sense. It broadens the portfolio of brands Coke is involved with, and now an old dog like Coke can learn a bunch of new tricks from an upstart like Iris Nova. Not only from a tech standpoint, but also in creating direct relationships with consumers, new sales channels and branding to maybe make grabbing a Coke and a smile hip again.

Report: Grab a Can(nabis) of Coke?

Coca-Cola could be prepping a move into the cannabis drink market, according to a report out this morning from Bloomberg. The business site writes that the soda giant stalwart is in discussions with Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis to create beverages.

The talks are around CBD (cannabidiol)-infused drinks, which do not have the psychoactive THC that produces the high from pot. CBD reportedly helps with easing pain, inflammation and anxiety, among other ailments, and is quickly becoming the hip ingredient with which to imbue bougie beverages.

A spokesperson for Coca-Cola told Bloomberg that it was “closely watching the growth of non-psychoactive CBD as an ingredient in functional wellness beverages around the world,” but the company hadn’t made any decisions at this time.

It would make sense for Coca-Cola to be actively exploring the CBD market. First, soda sales are declining as consumers look to less sugar-packed, healthier alternatives like sparkling waters. Coca-Cola’s move to diversify into a CBD category would follow Pepsi’s recent $3.2 billion acquisition of SodaStream last month.

While beer giants like Molson Coors, Corona, and Heineken have already made moves into the cannabis-infused beer space, there is still room for a soda company to get in and basically create and dominate a whole new category. With Coca-Cola’s size, CBD soft drinks could hit the market at scale pretty quickly.

Scaling, however, may not be the biggest issue for any cannabis-derived sodas as marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. There is a patchwork of state laws when it comes to legalization on a more local level. So there will be a lot to navigate as the market matures.

But cannabis isn’t the only area where Coke is diversifying. Last month the company bought the British coffee shop chain Costa Coffee for $5.1 billion, adding hot beverages to its brand portfolio.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see Coca-Cola move into the canna-biz, as it were; we’ll just have to see exactly where and how it chooses to roll out such a product. Soon enough, “grab a Coke and a smile” could have a whole new meaning.

Coca Cola 'Have A Coke and a Smile' 1970's TV Commercial

Coca-Cola Should Stay Out of the Home Device Business

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?

I almost feel like a sports radio talk DJ, because I’m about to give a hot take on this question: Coke should not buy or invest in any hardware company that allows users to make their own Coca-Cola beverages at home. Instead, Coke should focus on getting their existing products into the hands of people in the fastest way possible.

Coke actually dipped its toe in the home hardware market in 2016 with the Keurig Kold, a countertop pod-based device that would let you make your own cold beverages at home. Coke referred to its partnership on the device as a “game changer,” but Keuring killed off the Kold just ten months after its launch.

While there were a lot of reasons the Kold failed: it was expensive, required a lot of space, and took a minute and a half to make a soda. A second-gen version of the Kold (or similar device) could address those issues, but what it can’t address is the consistency and convenience of popping open a can and chugging.

When you’re thirsty and craving a particular drink, you want that drink. Not some approximation thereof. You know when you buy a can of Coke that it will taste exactly like a Coke. There is a giant infrastructure in place to make sure each drink tastes the same, every time. Not so when you make a drink at home. Your flavor amounts could be off, the carbonation levels could be different, and the minerals in your tap water could impact the taste. Homemade sodas can approximate your favorite drink, but they won’t be the exact drink you want.

Then there is the convenience aspect. Coke products are available just about everywhere you go. And it’s super easy to stock up and keep a bunch of them ready to go in your fridge. Thirsty? Boom. Grab one and start drinking. There is no waiting for a machine to carbonate your water or add flavor or any of that. Plus, there’s no machine to maintenance or keep clean.

And though I’m referring to Coca-Cola drinks, this advice applies to all beverages. The growth and ubiquity of seltzers on store shelves will still make the experience of drinking from a packaged can easier and better than making something at home.

With this in mind, instead of investing in any type of hardware that attempts to recreate the Coke experience at home, Coke should invest in methods that get their existing drinks to people faster and more conveniently. Perhaps put money in robot companies like Nuro, which is working with Kroger on self-driving delivery vehicles that could theoretically bring cases of Coke to your door any time of day or night. Or get into the high-tech fridge game a la Byte Foods to provide drinks conveniently in the office. Or heck, get a drone to deliver a Coke based on a person’s mood.

The point is, Coke should stick to doing what it does best: making Coke drinks and (for better or worse) making me want Coke drinks.

Coca-Cola Jumps On Meal Kit Bandwagon With Chef’d Beverage Pairing

Amazon entered the meal kit delivery game and Blue Apron’s stock doesn’t look great, but that hasn’t stopped other competitors from continuing to diversify their offerings and partner with big names. The newest brand to jump into the fray is Coca-Cola, partnering with self-described “online gourmet meal kit provider” Chef’d to send consumers meal kits that include pairings of Coke or another Coca-Cola owned product with the meal.

According to an interview with Beverage Daily, Coca-Cola has dipped its toes into the dinner space before but the partnership with Chef’d is the first official commercial activity. The meal kits, called “Daily Meal Inspirations” include meals like Beef Short Ribs paired with a bottle of Coke to roasted chicken with Dasani sparkling water. The meals range from $27-$42 for two people (not the cheapest meal kit offering out there) and can be ordered on the Chef’d site.

Given a number of meal kit companies trying to capture consumer mindshare, it’s not surprising to see brands like Coca-Cola try to capitalize. But this partnership isn’t the most robust in terms of delivering something truly unique – and do consumers want a can of soda sent with their meal for a premium price? Maybe. It seems like Coke and Chef’d are trying to recreate the convenience of a restaurant experience – a meal and a drink – but instead of being delivered, fully prepared and cooked, by a waiter, it’s being shipped in a box in ingredient form to your front door.

Chef’d’s big claim to meal kit fame is their lack of a subscription model, allowing consumers to choose from over 300 online recipes and have them shipped to their doorstep as soon as the next day. The meals come portioned for two or four people and the company has offerings from gluten-free to vegan.

They do offer a meal plan – aka a subscription service – for customers who want a regular box delivered, but the on-demand style gives people who don’t want the commitment but do like the convenience or variety a meal kit service offers. So the new Coke meals will be available to consumers without a subscription attached, which may be one of the reasons the brand chose Chef’d as its first meal kit partner.

Chef’d has attracted other name brands in Big Food, including receiving a recent Series B investment round from Campbell’s for $10 million. Their total funding raised to date is just over $27 million.