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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

food tech

A New Report Details Promise (and Challenges) of Canada’s Food & Ag Tech Ecosystem

The Canadian food and agtech ecosystem is experiencing significant growth, according to a new report published today by the Canadian Food Innovation Network.

The report, which dives deep into specific sectors, funding, sector sizing, key challenges and opportunities, says the Canadian agrifoodtech ecosystem lags behind global leaders in both funding and company concentration. According to the report, USD $1.6 billion has been invested in the sector since 2018, with plant-based proteins emerging as Canada’s largest food tech domain, valued at USD $1.7 billion in 2023. However, compared to its global peers, which tend to allocate just 17% of total agrifoodtech investments into agtech, Canada is a bit over-indexed in agtech with 44% of investments compared to 56% invested in food tech (56%).

Despite a total investment in food tech that is smaller relative to its global peers, the report says Canada is establishing itself as a hub for plant-based proteins, biotech-enabled functional foods, and upcycled ingredients:

“The Plant-Based sector is the most significant, comprising 26% of the Canadian food tech ecosystem (investment), compared to 14% globally. This is followed by Functional Foods & Drinks, representing 12% of companies, and Biotech/ Synthetization—primarily focused on specialty ingredients —with 7% of the Canadian food tech ecosystem. All three domains are also amongst the top five most represented globally.“

According to the report, the Canadian food and ag tech ecosystem faces key challenges relative to the US and other markets, the biggest of which is a lack of private capital. Only 40% of food tech investment rounds are backed by venture capital, compared to 60% in the UK and US. This means a heavy reliance on public grants, which comprise nearly 30% of total funding. This is much higher than in the UK (5%) and US (8%). Other challenges include limited scaling resources due to the country’s large geography and lower overall population density, a fragmented regulatory environment and lack of a national food tech strategy.

Despite these challenges, Canadian Food Innovation Network CEO Dana McCauley is optimistic about the sector’s future.

“These challenges are daunting: labour shortages, supply chain vulnerabilities, climate change, and slow rates of innovation threaten the resilience and sustainability of our food system. Yet, Canada’s foodtech ecosystem is rising to the occasion. By leveraging its unique strengths in plant-based proteins, biotech-enabled functional foods, upcycled ingredients, and beyond, the sector is driving transformative innovations that enhance sustainability, boost economic productivity, and create jobs across the country.”

If you’d like to read the full report, you can find it on the CFIN website.

CES 2025 Food Tech Preview

Welcome to The Spoon’s CES 2025 Food Tech Exhibitor Preview!

We’ve scoured through the exhibitor guide and press releases to find some of the products that will be on display at CES 2025 that may interest you. We’ve categorized the different products so you can easily find what interests you—from food robots like Apecoo’s automated waffle and flatbread-making machines to smart ovens and kitchen appliances. This year’s beverage tech lineup includes kombucha makers, home coffee robots, and more. Big names like Kirin are also making an appearance with innovative (and slightly quirky) ideas like their salt-detecting spoon. Unsurprisingly, AI is being incorporated into everything, from the latest smart ovens to nutrition coaches.

Be sure to check out our CES Food Tech walk-around guide for a clickable and sortable list of all the food tech products on display at CES! And if you’re in Vegas, The Spoon is putting on a happy hour for smart home and smart kitchen industry folks. Please drop by!

Now let’s get to the products…

Food Robots

Apecoo Robotic Waffle Maker

Apecoo, based in Silicon Valley, will show of its Roti/Tortilla Robot Baker at CES 2025. This appliance automates the process of making various flatbreads, including roti, chapati, tortilla, tawa, and dosa. It measures and mixes flour, oil, and water, kneads the mixture into dough balls, and then flattens and cooks them to the desired consistency. The device features noise reduction technology for quiet operation, infrared shortage detection for smart monitoring, and an “Auto Alert & Stop” function for enhanced safety.

The company also makes a robotic waffle maker, which has sensors to detect the doneness of the waffle, and cooks the robot from start to finish.

FrazyBot

The FrazyBot is a countertop home beverage robot that makes specialty drinks ranging from cocktails like spicy margaritas to boba tea and coffee drinks. The robot, first introduced at last year’s CES, is available for preorder for $399. FrazyBot is modular and comes with a base module that has a touch panel and water reservoir. Users order their drink boxes from the website and once-inserted, the Frazybot will mix them. The company behind them, Frazy, is known for its coffee and beverage concentrates it ships to consumers via a DTC model and this appliance looks like a way for them possibly create another line of business for their beverage mixes. The biggest downside, in my opinion, is that the robot makes single-use drinks from each package – which seems like a big waste of packaging and cost for a home robot.

Artly Coffee Robots

Amazing Robotic A.I. Drinks and Coffee at Artly Coffee in Downtown Seattle, WA

Artly makes AI-powered barista bots that use deep learning and computer vision. The company says its robots are trained by award-winning professionals to perform complex tasks, including precise latte art. The company already has its robot barists operating in multiple locations across the U.S. and Canada and says its robots have served over half a million cups of specialty coffee, contributing to a significant revenue increase from $100,000 in 2021 to $1.8 million in 2023.

Health & Nutrition Tech

The Kirin Salt Spoon

We first saw Kirin making the rounds with its weird but intriguing Electric Salt Spoon in early 2024, and it looks like they’ll be bringing it to Vegas for CES. The device amplifies food’s saltiness by applying an electric current to the tongue. According to the product’s co-developer, the product works by using the current to draw more sodium into contact with the tongue, which in turn enhances the perceived saltiness of the food.

Netri’s Organ-on-Chip Platform Will Meaure for Food Toxicity Analysis

NETRI’s technology leverages its NeuroFluidics Care platform, which integrates advanced neuroscience and bioengineering to assess the toxic effects of compounds, including those used in the food industry. NETRI uses “organ-on-a-chip” systems, small devices engineered to mimic the structure and function of human organs, and these chips replicate aspects of the nervous system, enabling researchers to observe how compounds interact with neural tissues. The platform creates functional neural networks that are exposed to food-related compounds. By simulating human neural responses, it provides insights into the potential effects of these compounds on human health.

OrthoFoodie

The OrthoFoodie platform is a personalized nutrition and health optimization tool that integrates multiple features to deliver tailored dietary insights. According to the company’s website, users can log their meals or select from a database of foods and recipes. The platform analyzes the nutritional content of these inputs, providing detailed feedback on how they align with individual health goals. Based on user-specific data such as age, activity level, health objectives, and dietary preferences, OrthoFoodie generates recommendations to improve energy, immunity, and cognitive function.

Jelly Drops

Jelly Drops are sugar-free water candy that boosts independent hydration, support health and aid brain function. Made with 95% water, plus added electrolytes and vitamins. Originally created to assist individuals with dementia who often face challenges in maintaining adequate fluid intake, these treats have gained popularity among a broader audience seeking to boost their hydration.

Home Beverage Tech

The Kombu

KOMBU The Fermenstation

While kombucha is a little less trendy than just a couple years ago, those still on board the kombucha train can look to make it at home with the KOMBU Fermenstation countertop kombucha maker. The Fermenstation features a dual-compartment system: a 3.5-liter front glass jar for primary fermentation and a rear section holding four flavoring and secondary fermentation bottles. Each compartment is equipped with temperature-controlled heating pads to maintain optimal fermentation conditions. Users can monitor and control the brewing process via a mobile app, which allows for setting timers and adjusting temperatures remotely. This appliance is appealing mostly because it would allow would-be home kombucha brewers to sidestep the traditional method that requires keeping big piece of mold in a jar called a ‘mother’ alive.

Medipresso Smart Tea Maker

[MEDIPRESSO] IoT-Based Tea & Coffee Dual-Nozzle Capsule Machine

Medipresso’s Medino is a connected tea and coffee capsule machine focused on healthy beverage experiences. The machine, which is compatible with Nespresso capsules, uses dual nozzles to extra both tea and coffee. The device uses an app called Medina which the company says uses AI to make healthy tea recommendations.

Vinxper Electric Wine Decanter

The Vinxper Expert is a 4th-generation electric wine aerator which patented technology that allows precise adjustment of decanting times from 0 to 240 minutes, effectively replacing traditional glass decanters. Designed to enhance the flavor of young wines aged 3 to 7 years, it addresses common issues found in existing electric aerators, such as battery leakage and unstable aeration, by incorporating Type-C charging and a water-resistant design.

Grad Wine Cooler

GRAD, established in 2015 and based in Denmark, makes the Grad No.1, is a 100% portable and rechargeable wine cooler that maintains precise temperature control for any wine. The Grad has a battery life of up to 15 hours and a full recharge time of 2.5 hours,

OviBar Water Bar

Ovi le bar à eau économique, pratique et écologique

The OviBar is yet another water dispensing system. Still, this one connects directly to your home’s water supply and provides instant access to purified water at hot, cold, or room temperature. It has a three-stage filtration system, which includes two filters and UV sterilization, which the company claims effectively removes impurities while preserving essential minerals. It has a dedicated baby bottle mode that delivers water at an optimal 37°C, making it quick and efficient for infant feeding preparations.

Coffee Tech

Flavor Craft AI

Flavor Craft AI: The Ultimate Custom Coffee Experience Created by AI

The Flavor Craft AI system is a home food coffee blending appliance that uses AI to create personalized coffee mixes based on five flavor preferences (acidity, bitterness, astringency, richness and coffee strength.

Outin Portable Espresso Machine

How To Make Espresso With The OutIn Nano Portable Espresso Machine (Ground Coffee)

Want your Joe on the go? The Outin Nano might be for you. The Outin Nano Portable Espresso Machine is a compact, self-heating espresso-making appliance that allows you to brew espresso in your car, while camping or wherever you want to go. It weighs approximately 670 grams and standing about 9 inches tall, and the company claims it can make a rich crema and robust espresso comparable to traditional machines. It has a rapid heating system that brings water to optimal brewing temperature in 200 seconds, and the 7500 mAh rechargeable battery supports up to five extractions with cold water or over 200 with preheated water on a single charge.

REAL9 Fit Stepper Lever Home Coffee Robot

REAL9 FIT: Next-Generation Sustainable Espresso Machine

The REAL9 Fit home espresso maker from Zeroth Law utilizes a stepper motor instead of a boiler to extract espresso, which the company claims results in 97% less energy consumption compared to traditional machines. Its precise pressure control minimizes unwanted chemical reactions, ensuring non-rancid, full-flavored coffee. With a compact design, intuitive interface, and shareable extraction profiles, the REAL9 FIT empowers users to create barista-level coffee effortlessly, making it a versatile and eco-conscious choice for both professionals and enthusiasts.

AstroBrew

AstroBrew is an innovative countertop appliance that revolutionizes cold brew coffee preparation by reducing the traditional 12-24 hour steeping process to just minutes. Astro Brew says it uses patent-pending thermodynamic semiconductor technology, which combines pressure, turbulence, and recirculation to extract coffee flavors efficiently, resulting in a smooth, less acidic brew. The company says it can brew up to 34 ounces of cold brew coffee and keep it fresh for up to 30 days without refrigeration.

Beer Tech

Beer-o-Meter Portable Beer Testing Lab

We bring the LAB to you with Beer-o-Meter

The Beer-o-Meter is a portable lab testing tool for brewers. Compact and portable, this cube-shaped measures key brewing metrics like pH and ABV with no chemicals required. The company says the device has already undergone pilot testing with Dutch breweries, provided feedback that has been integrated into its ongoing development. Initially tailored for the craft beer market, the Beer-o-Meter leverages bioassay technology to ensure precise and reliable results, and the company plans to expand its applications into the point-of-care market.

Laxppy Automated Beer Dispenser

According to the company, the Laxppy Automatic Beer Dispenser is an automated beer dispenser for food service environments. It features two automatic outlets capable of dispensing two glasses of beer in just 12 seconds. Additionally, a manual outlet is available for more traditional pouring methods. The dispenser accommodates beer glass sizes ranging from 300cc to 500cc, making it versatile for various serving preferences. A 7.1-inch touch display provides an intuitive interface for easy operation and monitoring.

Smart Ovens

Agari Kitchen

Agari is developing a cooking robot designed which is says uses ” 3D scanning, remote temperature sensing, and precision algorithms. While more specific details about its features and capabilities are not yet publicly available, the company is preparing for an upcoming launch and encourages interested individuals to subscribe for updates.

DaanTech’s Fantastic Oven

Daan Tech is showcasing its Fantastic Oven at CES, which it first debuted at last year’s CES. The oven, which also goes by Joe (following the same naming convention as it had with its Bob dishwasher), is available for pre-sale now and will be available first in Europe. The oven features a microwave, steam, air fryer, convection and grill/toaster capabilities.

Chef AI

Chef AI, which debuted its oven at CES 2024, will be showing off its intelligent cookware system that utilizes thermal, weight, and dimensional data to monitor and control the cooking process. This advanced technology ensures precise cooking without the need for constant monitoring or external probes and has the capability to cook over 100 different foods.

Smart Kitchen

Spicerr Smart Spice Dispenser

If you’re looking for something a little different in smart kitchen this year at CES, check out the Spicerr smart spice dispenser that optimizes food flavoring and nutrient intake. The connected device uses interchangeable spice capsules and an app to provide precise seasoning tailored to the user’s taste preferences. The company says it has 100 high-quality spices, herbs, and extracts available in sealed capsules. The dispenser’s touchscreen interface allows for manual or automated dispensing, while the accompanying app uses AI to offer personalized recipes, flavor suggestions, and nutritional tracking.

Lissome R1 Tiny Dishwasher

LISSOME R1 Dishwasher: Clean, Dry , and Disinfect in One! 🌟

The Lissome R1 is a compact dishwasher designed for small apartments or homes where traditional dishwashers are impractical. The R1 is 11 inches wide, and uses ‘Sweeping Jet Technology’ with two bottom-rotating and two patented vertical spray arms, the R1 uses high-speed jets at 45,000 Pa to thoroughly clean dishes in just 15 minutes.

Versaware

A Visit With Versaware at CES 2023

We first saw VersaWare at CES in 2023, and they are back this year with their AI-powered smart cooking assistant designed to provide nutritional insights and personalized meal planning. With voice-activated commands, it offers features such as Nutrition Awareness, allowing users to monitor their intake of calories, carbohydrates, and vitamins. The Meal Building tool helps users craft recipes tailored to their dietary preferences, providing nutritional information for each ingredient. Recipe Discovery suggests dishes based on available ingredients, while Pantry Management keeps track of a person’s food inventory, alerting users to low-stock items and monitors expiration dates.

LG

LG will unveil the 36-inch Smart InstaView French Door Refrigerator, which as a fully transparent T-OLED display embedded in the upper right door, serving as both a touch interface and a Dual InstaView panel. This display allows users to view the fridge’s contents without opening the door and showcases hologram-like visuals. For some reason, the fridge provides a curated music playlist.

The company will also show off its ThinQ Food management system, powered by a built-in AI camera, which the company says will automatically identify stored items, suggest recipes based on ingredients and preferences, and track inventory and expiration dates.

Finally, LG will show off its new SIGNATURE microwave with entertainment and smart home integration. Equipped with three built-in cameras, it enables real-time cooking monitoring, time-lapse creation, and tracking of meals’ heating progress. Paired with the induction range powered by Gourmet AI, the microwave identifies ingredients and suggests recipes. The microwave has a 27-inch Full-HD touchscreen with InstaView, built-in speakers, and Wi-Fi connectivity, and LG says it can double as a hub for managing smart home devices through the LG ThinQ Smart Home Dashboard, supporting LG AI appliances and Matter/Thread-compatible devices.

Rejuvenate Fog-Powered Smart Garden

No, the Rejuvenate by Plantaform this isn’t a steam punk garden, but instead a smart garden that uses something called fogponics—a method of delivering nutrients to plant roots via nutrient-rich fog—to grow a variety of herbs, vegetables, flowers, and plants year-round. Designed for ease of use, it accommodates 15 plant pods and requires refilling only every 2-3 weeks, thanks to its efficient water usage. The system is managed through the Plantaform App, which allows users to monitor plant health, adjust light schedules, and receive care guidance.

Restaurant and Food Retail

PickPad

We’ve seen many smart checkout systems in recent years at CES, but Pickpad is a little different in that it is tailored for restaurants as a smart order pickup system. It enables restaurants to put orders-to-go on a smart pad. The modular system utilizes sensors and machine learning to integrate into existing food service environments and their point-of-sale systems without altering current processes. It automatically double-checks order accuracy, updates order statuses in real time, collects comprehensive data points, and personalizes the customer experience by displaying customer names when orders are ready.

The CES 2025 Food Tech Walk-Around Guide

Welcome to the CES 2025 Food Tech Walk-Around Guide!

If you’re at CES (or even if you’re not) and want to see what cool new food tech products will be on display this week, this is your go-to guide. You can also check out our CES Food Tech Preview, which takes a look at some of the companies we’re excited to see this week in Vegas.

Not only have we scoured the CES exhibitor guide, company websites, and all the press releases that have hit our inbox, but we’re also walking the show floor here in Vegas to bring you all the food tech news coming out of Vegas this week.

You can use the handy table below to read a description of what each is showing off at CES, as well as find a link that shows a map with the location of each company’s booth. The embedded airtable guide is also sortable, and you can pop out each company to get more information about them.

We’ll be keeping this list updated. If you don’t see your company on here (and you have a product to show), drop us a line.

‘All The Rules Are Changing’: Why AI is Accelerating Change to Every Part of the Food Business (and Beyond)

This week, I attended the Fancy Food Show in New York City. It’s long been one of my favorite food conferences, mostly because I just love walking around and sampling all the great food. I mean, who wouldn’t?

While the fantastic food samples on the show floor are reason enough for me to get on a plane to NYC, the real reason I was there was to give a keynote talk on how AI is changing the food business.

Granted, the crowd at Fancy Food isn’t your typical Silicon Valley audience, the types that get excited about technology for its own sake. Instead, these are usually successful small to medium-sized businesses making anywhere from $1 million to $250 million annually by selling your favorite hot sauce or healthier crackers.

In other words, the good stuff.

Since these are food brands first and not technology companies, I kept my talk straightforward. I discussed how AI has long been used in the food business, how new forms of AI (particularly generative AI) are advancing rapidly, and how, over the next decade, every rule governing their business—from sales and supply chain to customer acquisition and product development—will change dramatically.

If you just rolled your eyes, I understand; I’ve long been skeptical of hyperbolic warnings about ‘disruption,’ and by now, most of us are tired of hearing how AI is a big deal. But that didn’t stop me because, despite all the talk, I still think most people underestimate the significant difference AI will make in our daily lives in the next decade. In other words, most of us are unprepared for how dramatically the rules governing business and everyday professional life will change.

This belief was reinforced last week when I caught up with Samantha Rose, a long-time consumer-product entrepreneur. She transitioned from being an editor at a Yale magazine and an award-winning poet to building a highly successful housewares startup, which she sold in 2021 to Pattern Brands. Since then, she started a third-party logistics and business services company and is now raising funds for a new venture that buys distressed consumer product brands to turn them around. And, somewhere along the way, she was featured in a Chase card commercial.

In short, Sam has mastered the modern rules of today’s business. Yet, when I asked her about AI, she said, “I wish I could take a year off to study and become an expert on AI because I feel like all the rules are changing.”

I thought if someone as savvy as Sam feels the need to go back to school on AI, what chance do the rest of us have?

After my talk, I led a panel on AI, where we delved deeper into how businesses may change and how small food business entrepreneurs should prepare.

One theme that emerged from the session is that growing food brands need to pay attention to how consumer buying behavior will be radically impacted by AI. Imagine a future where we have our own AI copilots telling us what to eat, where to get the best deals, and more. In a world where everyone is guided by an AI or multiple AIs, how will that change consumer behavior when it comes to buying food?

This is already starting to happen and will undoubtedly be widely adopted in a decade.

And then there’s the purposeful creation of AI-derived information sent to consumers with the intent of changing their buying behavior. We’re seeing it in restaurants as AI reviews flood review sites, and they’re already good enough that consumers can’t tell the difference.

As a publisher, I can’t help but think about how Google deemphasizing website search results and pushing their own AI-generated answers will impact not only my business but also the type of information consumers consume to steer their behavior.

Bottom line: Every direction we look, every industry and its associated value chains are changing faster than ever before. The rules are changing. Unfortunately, most of us can’t take the time to study and will all have to learn on the fly.

I’ll share the suggestions I made for these businesses at the Fancy Food Show in a follow-up post.

The CES 2024 Food Tech Exhibit Walk-Around Guide

Welcome to the CES 2024 Food Tech Walk-Around Guide!

If you’re at CES (or even if you’re not) and want to check out all the cool new food tech products on display this week, this is your go-to guide.

Not only have we scoured the CES exhibitor guide, company websites, and all the press releases that have hit our inbox, but we’re also walking the show floor here in Vegas to bring you all the food tech news coming out of Vegas this week.

You can use the handy table below to read a description of what each is showing off at CES, as well as find a link that shows a map with the location of each company’s booth. The embedded airtable guide is also sortable, and you can pop out each company to get more information about them.

We’ll be keeping this list updated. If you don’t see your company on here (and you have a product to show), drop us a line.

Smart Kitchen Summit Returns to Seattle in 2024

The Smart Kitchen Summit, the pioneering executive summit focused on the digital transformation of the consumer meal journey, is excited to announce its return in 2024. In 2024, SKS will return to its birthplace, Seattle, Washington, scheduled for June 4-5th.

“I’m thrilled that SKS is making its return to Seattle next year, where our journey began,” said Michael Wolf, SKS founder and Spoon publisher. “While we had over ten thousand of the SKS community join us for virtual events during the pandemic, there’s nothing like seeing, touching, and tasting innovation. I look forward to connecting with those helping rethink how we do things in the world of food and cooking in person.”

Themes For 2024

SKS 2024 will focus on some of the most important themes around the innovation-driven transformation of how we shop, cook, consume, and convene around food. Some of the key themes and questions that will be explored during the two full days at SKS include:

AI’s Impact on Food: Exploring how AI is transforming every part of the food value chain, including how consumers find, purchase, and prepare food. How can food companies, appliance brands, retailers, and more harness the power of this incredible technology?

Food Waste and Sustainability: How can innovation-powered changes can we make to reduce food waste along the consumer meal journey?

Food and Nutrition Personalization: The technology and tools exist to create personalized food and nutrition plans that lead to better health outcomes. How can the food industry adapt in a world in which GLP-1-based drugs are creating a murky outlook for traditional food brands?

Automation & Cooking: Automation is becoming critical in the commercial kitchen. How will it fit in the consumer kitchen and our food lives?

On-Demand, Decentralized Food Manufacturing: The packaged-goods food ecosystem is wasteful. Can new forms of on-demand, decentralized food production technologies like 3D printing reduce the packaging and waste of traditional CPG models, and how will these systems scale in commercial and consumer settings?

Food Discovery & Meal Planning: We’re more likely nowadays to find a new recipe on TikTok than in a cookbook. As food retailers & CPGs lock into these new discovery channels to enable purchase journeys, will the consumer of the future join them?

Kitchen Electrification: Induction cooking systems are both more efficient and better for the environment, but consumers are hesitant to adopt them. When will the electrification of the consumer kitchen happen, if ever?

Startup Showcase

In addition to two full days of TED-style presentations, panels, workshops, and networking, SKS is bringing back our pioneering Startup Showcase. Launched in 2015, the SKS Startup Showcase has been instrumental in connecting startups with investors, corporate partners, and even opportunities like appearing on Shark Tank. Startups who are building the next great technology that they believe will change how we shop, cook, store, or consume food in the home are encouraged to apply today.

Location Details

SKS 2024 will be held at the beautiful Block41 event center in the heart of Seattle. Block41 has two full floors of event and exhibition space, two full kitchens, and an outdoor space for our celebration and happy hour on June 4th.

Join Us

Mark your calendars and save the date for June 4-5th in Seattle. If you are interested in speaking at SKS, submit a speaker application today. If you’d like to bring your company’s product to Seattle and share it with the SKS and Spoon community, please fill out our sponsor form. And if you’d like to purchase a ticket, you can get our Super Early Bird pricing between now and February 29th, 2024.

We look forward to welcoming you in 2024!

Pitchbook: Food Tech VC Deals Inch Up After Receding For the Past Two Years

Like many segments across the venture investment landscape, the food tech sector has seen a significant pullback in investment over the past couple of years. However, according to a new report from Pitchbook, there are early signs that investors who have kept on the sidelines may slowly be pushing their chips back on the table.

According to Pitchbook’s Q2 2023 food tech investment segment analysis, total food tech deals for Q2 increased over the previous quarter by 13.3% to 268 total deals, up from 197 deals in the first quarter of 2023. Total deal value was down just a smidge, dropping to $2.2 billion in Q2 2023 from $2.3 billion in the first quarter.

The Pitchbook report states that the uptick in total deals in Q2 could be an early sign of a potential return of investors to the sector. According to the report, there are indicators that investors have “significant dry powder reserves and may be slowly returning from the sidelines to resume deploying capital.”

Looking at how the Pitchbook analysis breaks down the food tech sector by segment, the biggest overall sector in Q2 was food e-commerce, which accounted for over $1 billion in Q2. According to Pitchbook, food tech e-commerce deal values were driven by late-stage investment in companies like Getir, which nabbed a $475 deal in 1H 2023. Other big deals of note in the first half included a $230 million deal in meal replacement startup Yfood (a deal which had Nestle acquiring a majority ownership stake in the company) and a $172M series C investment in alt protein startup Meati.

Speaking of alt protein, the Pitchbook analysis is somewhat bullish on the sector, predicting that the global alt protein market will grow from $76 billion in 2023 to $423 billion in 2033, a compound annual growth rate of 19%.

If you want to read the Pitchbook report, you can download a copy here.

Scentian Bio Raises $2.1M for Tech is Says Can Replicate Insect Smell Receptors

Scentian Bio, a biosensor startup that claims to have blended nature and technology by leveraging the olfactory capabilities of insects to develop a powerful new sensory tool, announced a $2.1 million seed funding today according to a release sent to The Spoon. The company’s new investors, which include Finistere Ventures and Toyota Ventures, will join the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, bringing their total backing up to $4.4 million.

Scentian says their technology relies on virtualizing insect olfactory receptors (iOR), using AI to process and interpret signals from its biosensors to replicate an insect’s neuronal network to interpret smells. According to Scentian, their sensors are a thousand times more sensitive than a dog’s nose and have dozens of unique receptors that effectively recognize millions of virtual organic compounds or VOCs.

The company says they’ve been running a trial with a large unnamed food brand, and based on its early success in this trial, the company plans to focus on quality control for the food industry initially. This company’s first digital biosensor, which is expected to launch commercially at the end of 2024, will provide quality control of key food ingredients’ smell and taste attributes. The company will focus on essential oils and expand later to other ingredients.

The pitch is compelling, but the company doesn’t explain precisely how their technology replicates insect smell detection. It says they combine “insect smell receptors” with sensing surfaces that create “the most sensitive digital fingerprint for smell.” It sounds good, but I have to wonder if it’s just a colorful way to describe a really powerful electronic nose.

ScentianBio - Unlocking the Language of Life

Eating Disorder Org’s AI Blunder is a Cautionary Tale About Embracing Tech for Fundamentally Human Roles

One of the ongoing debates in tech circles and beyond is how fast AI will replace humans in certain lines of work. One role where we’ve already seen organizations embrace the technology is in customer support, deploying AI-powered customer interfaces to act as the first line of contact to handle inbound queries and provide critical information to customers.

The only problem? Sometimes the information they provide is wrong and potentially harmful to an organization’s customers. To illustrate this, we need to look no further than this week’s news about efforts by the National Eating Disorder Association to use AI-powered chatbots to replace human workers for the organization’s call helpline. The group announced a chatbot named Tessa earlier this month after the helpline workers decided to unionize and, just a couple of weeks later, announced they would shut the chatbot down.

The quick about-face resulted from the chatbot giving out information that, according to NEDA, “was harmful and unrelated to the program.” This included giving weight loss advice to a body-positive activist named Sharon Maxwell, who has a history of eating disorders. Maxwell documented the interaction in which the bot told her to weigh herself daily and track her calories. In doing so, the bot went off-script since it was only supposed to walk users through the organization’s eating disorder prevention program and refer them to other resources.

While one has to question the decision-making of an organization that thought it could replace professionals trained to help those with sensitive health and mental wellness challenges, the example of NEDA is a cautionary tale for any organization eager to replace humans with AI. In the world of food and nutrition, AI can be a valuable tool to provide information to customers. However, the potential cost savings and efficiency the technology provides must be balanced against the need for a nuanced human understanding of the sensitive issues and the potential damage bad information could cause.

NEDA saw AI as a quick fix to what it saw as a nuisance in the form of real human workers and their pesky desire to organize a union to force change in the workplace. But unfortunately, in swapping out humans for a computer simulation of humans, the organization lost sight of the fact that serving their community requires a fundamentally human form of expression in empathy, something AI is famously bad at.

All forms of customer interaction are not created equal. An AI that asks if you want a drink with your burger at the drive-thru is probably going to be suitable in most scenarios, but even in those scenarios, it’s perhaps best to tightly guardrail the AI’s knowledge set and build in offramps to the system where customers can seamlessly be handed over to an actual human in case they have a specialized question or if there’s any potential for doing more harm than good during the interaction.

Dispatches from Israel Food Tech Ecosystem: Anat Natan, CEO and Cofounder of Anina

I talked to Anat Natan, the co-founder and CEO of Anina. Anina is an Israeli startup that takes imperfect food and transforms it into ready-made meals in pods. Food waste has significant economic and environmental implications, and it is estimated that the greenhouse gas emissions from food contribute to 7% of the overall greenhouse gasses emitted globally. We talked about the technology that powers Anina, operating in markets outside of Israel, and what she believes sets Israeli founders apart. 

J: Talk to me about the technology behind Anina. 

A: We create these laminates, these vegetable sheets, and we try to incorporate as much food waste as possible. The laminate is strong but flexible. We try to take the ugly produce, and we try to incorporate all this food waste in our production process because we care about all the factors of the produce outside of how it looks. A third of the produce in the US goes to waste due to aesthetic reasons. I think there’s a catch-22. As consumers, we want to be more and more sustainable, consume more sustainable brands, and support sustainable production. But on the other hand, we become, as consumers, more concerned about what’s perfect. 

After we create these laminates, we mold them, we fill them, and we close them. Our technology is protected IP, and this IP contains the process from fresh produce to the pod, including the laminate. We’re registering it in the US, the EU, Israel, and Singapore. 

J: Did you choose those markets because those will be your first entry points? 

A: Our go-to market is divided into two approaches. With the US, our brand will have partners to get to the market efficiently and reach customers in the right and creative way. With the rest of the world, we are going to use a B2B approach, which is a joint venture. We bring to the table what we know how to do, which is the production process and R&D. And everybody does what they know how to do best. The partners know the market, the consumers, and the supply chain. We start by creating pilots, and we’re going to conduct pilots in Israel, Spain, Andorra, and Singapore to understand the right way to approach the market. And after that, we will create a long-term collaboration with them. 

J: What type of consumer testing have you done so far? 

A: So much. We have conducted external research in Israel, Spain, in Italy (with Barilla) and very in-depth design thinking research. In the US, we have done a market analysis that organizes qualitative, quantitative, demographics, and surveys. Every time we ask the question, do you understand what it is? Do you know how to use it? We give the product to people to try at home and then answer surveys. Anina was established in June 2020, and I’ve been conducting research since August 2020 because I believe that innovation needs to go hand in hand with understanding how to approach the consumer. Obviously, they cannot imagine what they don’t have in front of them. But you have to evaluate what they think to make sure that you don’t bring an alien to them eventually. 

J: You mentioned a lot of different markets in the US, Europe, Israel, and Singapore. Have you noticed differences in the customers in each place? Maybe customers have different preferences, or it has to be given to them in a certain way? 

A: Yes and no at the same time. Our consumers are millennials and Gen-Z and they care about what they eat and care about investing in themselves. And then, when you look at it, the first difference between the countries is the culinary element. We have five different recipes. One of them has beetroot, spinach, and quinoa, and in Singapore, they told us how nobody eats beetroot. And then we spoke to a Russian lady. And she said, ‘that’s my favorite.’ You can talk about pasta. The Italians don’t want pasta in their meals because they know they do it better, but the rest of the world desires pasta.

The understanding of the culinary element is a very local element: What type of ingredients? What type of produce to use? What’s interesting? What’s weird? What’s familiar? So first, the culinary element. And yet, I will tell you that the differences we have expected to be bigger, but it appears that there are more similarities than what we have expected. When we showed them our recipes, there were only adjustments, mainly in the seasoning, not in the whole concept of the recipe. And I was actually curious about it, and I think there’s more similarity in that generation rather than Gen X because of social media. They’re more exposed to the same culinary element. And yet, there are differences.

The second one is about instructions on how to cook. For example, do you give a range of timing of cooking? Do you prefer words or icons? There’s a lot to how you communicate information. But what’s very amazing is that it doesn’t matter if it’s the US, the land of convenience. If it’s Singapore, which I think is the gate to innovation for tech in the Far East. Or if it’s Spain or Israel or Italy, which are very traditional countries when it comes to cooking. The acceptance of the product is unheard of, and everybody appreciates a good home-cooked mouthfeel experience with convenience.

J: So it’s not just about the product but about the experience and how the user sees it, what kind of instructions and images are used? 

A: The most important thing is the mouthfeel and the taste and flavor experience. We know how to control when and how the pod will break down during the cooking process since not all the ingredients get the same amount of time to cook. The pod from the outside is cooked the whole time, while the filling inside is cooked only part of the time.

What is the result? It’s multi-texture because when you cook different things at different times, it’s not that everything is soft. And then people do not understand that. But they say ‘Wow, it tastes like home cooking, it tastes like each ingredient got a different treatment of cooking.’ And this doesn’t exist in the food industry. 

J: Is this a prototype, or is this what you sell? 

A: This is what we sell now in Israel. We have already planned to do a joint venture with Strauss which is the second-biggest food company in Israel. 

J: Where can people buy this? 

A: Mainly online. 

J: I want to ask about is scaling. You have a very unique technology with the food as a laminate, and I imagine this packaging is also custom. How do you tackle the challenge of scaling up? 

A: We are supported by engineers. We have an advisory board that comes to support us so that we scale up in an efficient way. We already have the capacity to produce a few thousand units a month, and there’s a full plan for mass production. We have to do it as fast as possible to get to the most efficient objectives. 

J: What does the timeline look like for entering other countries? 

A: This year, we’re already doing the pilots in the countries I’ve told you about. 

J: How did this idea start? 

A: I met my other two co-founders, Meydan Levy and Esti Brantz. They are industrial designers from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem.  They invented the product. They wanted to overcome the challenge of food waste and ugly produce, and they saw it as a phenomenon that only increases with time. With their knowledge, ability, and their artistic way of looking outside of the box, they brought a lot of techniques from other industries to produce all this starting with the laminate and eventually building the pod.

They came to the Kitchen Hub, which is where I met them. The Kitchen Hub creates new teams of founders, allocating technologies, products, innovation, and ideas, and then bringing the right CEO who invents the business.

J: I saw Anina last year in New York at the NY-Israel Foodtech Bridge conference. From your perspective, what was your experience of that conference? 

A:  I met a lot of interesting people that we are even today still thinking of how we can collaborate within the US market. I think the exposure to the US market was very interesting.

J: How would you say Israeli startup founders are different? 

A: There’s a thing in Israel about getting to the bottom line: it looks like being rude. And a lot of Israelis, if you live here, it feels like it’s rude, but we cut to the chase. You can be aggressive in your movement and still be a friend when you finish the meeting, and that’s something that doesn’t exist in the world. I think there are a lot of benefits to that.

Joy Chen is a contributor at the Spoon and has been writing about robotics and alternative proteins for the past year and a half. Although originally from the United States, she is currently studying at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Dispatches From the Israel Food Tech Ecosystem

When I first attended the Greencircle NY-Israel food tech conference in New York City last year, I never imagined that I would be living in Israel just a year later, exploring the food tech ecosystem for myself. I relocated to Tel Aviv in mid-January for an exchange program and have since been discovering the richness of Israel’s culture, language, cities, people, and places. While the high-tech innovation was a significant draw, my primary goal was to immerse myself in the culture and history of Israel as a whole. In the short time I’ve been here, I learned that the country’s foundation lies in its entrepreneurial mindset.

As I met more local Israelis, I was struck by the sheer number of people working in the high-tech industry. It makes sense considering Israel’s startup history dates back to the country’s founding. As a young nation facing existential threats, Israel’s defense system has always had to adapt to new scenarios, avoiding heavy reliance on conventional methods. There is a strong culture of questioning everything, evident in both political protests and companies that foster a climate of critical thinking. This environment encourages innovation not only for entrepreneurs but also for intrapreneurs, who develop new ideas and frameworks within existing organizations.

Food tech and ag tech are thriving industries in Israel, driven by the nation’s limited natural resources, water shortages, and a broader global climate crisis. According to the Good Food Institute Israel, alternative protein startups in the country raised $454 million in 2022, making up 30% of climate tech investments. Moreover, Israel ranked second globally, only behind the US, in alternative protein investments. The Israel Innovation Authority, an independent publicly-funded agency, is a significant driver of the country’s food tech advancements, offering a variety of practical tools and funding platforms to meet the needs of local and international innovation ecosystems.

Leading universities such as Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Technion University in Haifa, and Tel Aviv University also contribute to food tech innovation through academic research. However, beyond government funding and academic research, I am particularly interested in the intangible aspects of Israel’s culture that foster a high concentration of founders and an environment conducive to risk-taking. 

Roee Nir, the co-founder of Forsea, a cultivated fish company making an eel product, told me what sets Israeli founders apart is, “We are Israelis, and we are very communicative within ourselves. We like to meet, we like to share ideas, and we love that this is a very central industry that is erupting from Israel.”

Similarly, Anat Natan, the co-founder of Anina Culinary Art, credits the Israeli mindset of daring, inventive, and non-traditional thinking.  When asked where this mindset comes from, she told me “If you look back, the Jewish needed to survive. Even though we’re very advanced as a country in a lot of aspects, we’re a startup nation. We’re only 75 years old. We’re still establishing (ourselves), and when you’re building something, you have to do more than when you maintain something. We’re still in the building phase of the Israeli country.” 

In this series, I will continue to explore that startup mindset and developments in Israel’s food tech industry through interviews with founders and investors. I will delve into how startups are established, the groundbreaking innovations taking place, and the implications for Israel’s agricultural sector, environment, economy, and even its conflict with Palestine, because no analysis of food technology in Israel would be incomplete without considering the complex political environment. The food chain is an intricate web that intersects all aspects of society, which is especially true in a region as diverse and multifaceted as the Middle East.

Stay tuned for my first interview tomorrow!

Joy Chen is a contributor at the Spoon and has been writing about robotics and alternative proteins for the past year and a half. Although originally from the United States, she is currently studying at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Podcast: How the DeSci Movement Will Change The World of Food

Do you know what DeSci is?

Don’t feel bad if you don’t, especially if, like me, food is your primary focus.

A16Z’s publication Future describes DeSci as a movement in which “a growing number of scientists and entrepreneurs are leveraging blockchain tools, including smart contracts and tokens, in an attempt to improve modern science. Collectively, their work has become known as the decentralized science movement, or DeSci.”

Dr. Jocelynn Pearl

If you haven’t heard of DeSci by now, the reason is that while the trend’s caught the attention of the biotech and research funding worlds, it hasn’t entirely made its way into the future food conversation just yet. 

But it’s only a matter of time, so I figure there’s no better time to learn than now. To help us do that, I invited Dr. Jocelynn Pearl, a biotech scientist, entrepreneur, podcaster, and DeSci expert, onto the podcast. 

In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Pearl and I discuss the following:

  • What is DeSci?
  • How DeSci is changing the insular and outdated world of research publishing
  • The benefits of using Web3 tools like DAOs, blockchain, and NFTs in science research
  • Why DeSci hasn’t yet reached the future food industry just yet and why that may soon change
  • What the future of science research may look like with these types of tools

If you’d like to hear more from Jocelynn, you can find her podcast, the Lady Scientist Podcast, and read some of her writing on her website.

As mentioned in the episode, we are having an event next week on the state of food robotics, and we’d love for you to join us. So get your free ticket here. 

You can listen to the podcast by clicking play below or at the usual podcast spaces such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify.