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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

kitchen

Electrolux Launches GRO, a Kitchen System Designed to Encourage More Sustainable Eating

Can a kitchen’s design help us eat more sustainable, plant-forward diets?

Swedish appliance manufacturer Electrolux thinks the answer is yes and, to that end, has launched an ambitious new kitchen system concept to help us get there.

Called GRO, the new system is comprised of a collection of interconnected modules that utilize sensors and AI to provide personalized eating and nutrition recommendations. According to the company, the system was designed around insights derived from behavioral science research and is intended to help encourage more sustainable eating behavior based on recommendations from the EAT-Lancet report for planetary health. The company will debut the new system at this week’s EuroCucina conference.

“How can a thoughtful kitchen slowly nudge you to more sustainable choices,” asks Tove Chevally, the head of Electrolux Innovation Hub, in an intro video to the GRO system. “To make the most of what you have, to buy smarter, and eat more diverse?

The GRO is a modular system that can be tailored around a user’s preferences. Some of the modules in the GRO system include:

  • The Plant Gallery: A glass-enclosed showcase for fruits and vegetables.
  • Pulse and Grain Library: A transparent storage system for beans and grains.
  • Fermentation Pantry: A temperature-controlled home fermentation cabinet.
  • Nordic Smoker: a countertop kitchen smoker.
  • Steam Oven and Grill Drawer: An appliance garage.

The system will also have a touchscreen with a digital system called the ‘GRO Coach’ to provide the user with personalized eating recommendations, goal-setting, dietary and cooking guidance, and progress measurement over time. The system will also provide visualization of the user’s eating habits and how those impact the planet. The system will also possibly understand a consumer’s food inventory, making recommendations based on what is already in the fridge.

Something I might expect from another Swedish company in IKEA, the GRO system is unlike anything I’ve seen from a home appliance maker. It’s less a new appliance or even a series of appliances, but instead a fairly detailed vision of the future of the home kitchen. And not just a vision around space design, but in many ways around how consumers should live and eat in the future.

All of which is, in some ways, a real credit to Electrolux. It’s not often a company makes such a declarative values statement when introducing a new product, especially a product like an appliance or kitchen cabinetry system. It’s also, in my opinion, a vision that will probably play better in Europe than other regions, given the typical European’s (and especially northern European) higher level of awareness and concern about climate change.

At this point, Electrolux has not announced when the GRO system will be available to consumers. My guess is it may take a little time to roll out, given that it’s a brand new concept and might need to leverage home builder channels pretty extensively (it’s a complete kitchen system, after all, not just a single appliance upgrade).

No matter when it comes out, I’m interested in seeing how the industry and the consumer react to Electrolux’s future kitchen vision.

You can see a concept video of the GRO below:

Rotimatic Maker Zimplistic Acquired by Light Ray Holdings

Zimplistic, the company behind the Rotimatic, has been acquired by Light Ray Holdings. The acquisition actually happened back in October 2020, but the company officially talked with The Spoon about it recently. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Zimplistic had raised $48.5 million in funding.

In a phone interview at the end of March, Zimplistic Co-Founder and CEO (and inventor of the Rotimatic), Pranoti Nagarkar Israni told me that the company, founded in 2008, was not profitable. “To make the business profitable it needs a lot of cash,” Israni said, adding that investors felt Light Ray was the right deal.

According to The Business Times, Light Ray Holdings is “a special-purpose vehicle incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.” Israni said that Zimplistic had explored possible investments from strategic partners, but said, in the end, Light Ray is “aligned with our vision.” Both Israni, and her husband and Co-Founder, Rishi Israni will remain with Zimplistic in their roles as CEO and CTO, respectively.

To date, Zimplistic has been one of the more successful connected home appliances we’ve covered at The Spoon. More than 70,000 Rotimatics have been sold across 20 countries (45,000 units in the U.S.). More than 111 million rotis have been made with Rotimatics, and Israni said that owners use the Rotimatic and average of 4 -5 times a week. The device, however, is still unavailable in India.

The long-anticipated version 2.0 of the Rotimatic was delayed by COVID. Israni said that there isn’t a set timeline for its release, but it should be available by the end of this year or beginning of next.

Israni said that the company is also moving beyond straight hardware sales and into consumable subscription business. In addition to the machine, Zimplistic will be selling enhancements like beetroot powder and vitamins that can be added to recipes to increase a recipes nutritional value. Israni said these enhancements should be available this summer.

Do We Really Need Robots in Our Kitchens for Convenience?

If there is any universal idea in this world, it’s that we’re all looking to get back a little time. Countless startups are built around this notion and our meal time is one area that is especially ready for, pardon the phrase, “disruption” in the name of convenience.

But what shape should that convenience take? It’s a question that came to mind when looking at the coverage of this year’s CES. In particular, some of the announcements that came out around kitchen robots.

Before we get too far, we should get our terms straight. For the purposes of this post, I’m referring to automated systems that use articulating arms to perform a variety of tasks as robots. So while a dishwasher may be considered by some to be a robot, for this story, I’m considering it an appliance.

Back to the ‘bots.

I was unable to attend CES this year, and as such, I missed a bunch of robot stuff. LG showed off a mock restaurant with a robot cooking food and making pourover coffee. Samsung demoed a concept robot that was billed as an “extra set of hands” in the kitchen that could grab items, pour oil and even wield a knife. IRobot, maker of the Roomba vacuum announced it too was developing robotic arms to load dishes or carry food to the table. And of course, who could forget the robot that makes raclette melted cheese.

There are other companies out there looking to do much the same with robot arms. Sony has showed off its multitasking kitchen robot vision of the future before, and Moley has been touting this type of technology for years now.

Again, I wasn’t at CES, so I did not see these robots in action, but my inital response to robot arms swerving around a kitchen is why? Are these robotic ambitions the best way to gain greater convenience in the kitchen, or do they just make things more complicated?

Let’s acknowledge that there are definite use cases for robotic arms to help those with disabilities or who are otherwise movement impaired. The University of Washington is working on a voice-controlled robot that can feed people who need such assistance. And researching how robots interact with odd-shaped and often fragile objects like food can help the robotics industry overall. That’s one of the reasons Sony teamed up with Carnegie Mellon to develop food robots, and why Nvidia built a full kitchen to train its robots.

But in our homes, and especially smaller apartments with even smaller kitchens, robot arms seem like more of a menace than a help, taking up space and potentially getting in the way. A case of futuristic form over function.

If people really want convenience in the kitchen, why not push those automated systems into existing appliances, move them further up the stack, or refine existing technologies to produce better meal results? Here’s what I mean:

If you can’t, don’t want to, or don’t have time to cook, you don’t necessarily need another set of mechanical hands in the kitchen. There are plenty of countertop appliances that will take over much of the work for you. The June Oven identifies and cooks food (quite well) automatically. Thermomix and the just-announced Julia will weigh, chop, knead, and guide you through cooking a meal for you so all you have to do is throw in the ingredients. Suvie is a cooking device that keeps your food cold until you program it to cook four different things at once so a complete meal is ready for your family when you get home.

If that’s still too much work for you, just have your meal delivered. Mobile ghost kitchens like those from Zume and Ono Food are moving virtual restaurants into your neighborhood, so delivery times will get faster resulting in fresher food. Robots from Starship are feeding hungry students and staff on college campuses, and Refraction’s REV-1 is braving the snow to bring people their lunch in Michigan.

Or perhaps greater “cooking” convenience should come from new presentations of food we already interact with. Frozen food is no longer a limp Salisbury steak on a tin pan with some peas and dried out rice. Zoni Foods makes frozen plant-based dishes and Meal Hero delivers frozen foods that can be mixed and matched to make a meal. Genie freeze dries individual ingredients and assembles them into an all-in-one container to be reconstituted with steam. Development of new food preservation techniques and devices to bring them back to life can make meals quick to “cook” without the need for robots.

I should also note that the robots we see on display at CES are nowhere near what kitchen robots could eventually become. Sony’s vision is a sleek countertop that features cooking and mixing surfaces. With more research and development, who knows that today’s robotic arms will eventually become and whether they would become less intrusive.

This whole discussion also relates to a story I wrote yesterday about ditching the word “robot” altogether when talking about food automation. The term robots is misleading and makes people think of an autonomous bipedal butler ready to execute our every request.

Who knows if that robo-butler will ever arrive, but for the foreseeable future, I’d love to see companies spend less time on robot limbs for the average home, and more time on innovation in the devices and workflows already embedded in our lives.


The Spoon 2019 Food & Kitchen Tech Gift Guide!

With our bellies full of delicious food and leftovers just waiting to be, well, gobbled, it’s time to turn our attention from gluttony to giving presents. And if you’ve got a foodie in your life, or a techie, or some kind of foodie techie, then we have compiled the perfect gift guide for you!

The Spoon staff has gone over all the gadgets, gizmos and other great stuff we’ve encountered throughout the year and assembled them into one handy-dandy list. Take a look and let us know what you think!

CATHERINE LAMB’S PICKS:

Silicone Straws
We all know that we shouldn’t be using single-use straws because they end up in landfills and oceans. But many reusable straws are large, tricky to clean, and too awkwardly shaped to carry around with us to the office or our favorite lunch spot. That’s why these colorful silicone straws from Food52 are such a win. Not only do they look pretty; they’re also flexible so you can bend and store them in their accompanying carrying cases. Bonus: They come with a squeegee for easy cleaning. A four-pack is $25, so that shakes out to four holiday gifts for under 10 bucks each!

Photo: Willie’s Remedy.

Willie Nelson CBD Coffee
If you need a gift for someone who loves country music, coffee, and is a slightly adventurous (or just two of the three), a bag of beans from Willie’s Remedy may be just the ticket. The coffee from Willie Nelson’s company is infused with CBD, the trendy wellness ingredient that’s the non-hallucinogenic chemical compound in the cannabis plant. It’s meant to promote relaxation and focus, giving you that caffeine boost without the jitters. (Bonus: It’s tasty stuff.) Buyer Beware: While Willie’s Remedy coffee may ship openly around the U.S., CBD-infused food and beverage is technically not approved by the FDA.

Photo: Bright Cellars.

Bright Cellars
There are those people who are really hard to buy gifts for because they already have everything. But one thing that no one (alright, hardly anyone) has enough of is wine. Especially if it’s personalized to their tastes. Bright Cellars is a wine subscription service that uses a short quiz to curate monthly wine deliveries tailored specifically to the recipient’s preferences. It uses feedback to further personalize the wine selection — so it’s also a tool to teach you more about what wines tickle your fancy. Prices are flexible and start at $100.

JENN MARSTON’S PICKS:

GoSun Reusable Cutlery
I’d bet money that for most people who do the whole stocking stuffer thing (raises hand), only about 10 percent of the gifts involve items that are actually useful. But if you want to branch out from chocolate coins and lip balm this year, consider investing in a few pairs of GoSun’s portable utensil packs. The set of reusable cutlery comes with a stainless steel fork and spoon nestled in a metal case roughly the size of a credit card. Pieces are dishwater safe and, in theory at least, can help us curb the amount of disposable cutlery used at QSRs and fast-casual restaurants. The sets are available for $20 each, which is pricier than chocolate coins but exponentially more useful. The only drag is that they don’t actually ship until February 2020, so a photo of the product in someone’s stocking will have to do for the holidays.

Ember Mug 2
Ember released the second-generation version its temperature-controlled mug in October of this year, which makes it an obvious candidate for our 2019 guide. Dubbed the Ember Mug 2, the ceramic “smart” mug keeps your coffee or tea heated to an exact temperature for hours by talking to your phone, which controls the temperature via an app. Yes, the new version is pricy: $99.95 for the 10 oz. mug, $129.95 for the 14 oz. version, and $179.95 for a travel mug. But if you have a loved one who particularly hates microwaving lukewarm dregs of coffee, the Ember Mug2’s longer battery life and touchscreen interface on the mug might just be worth the price hike.

Ponix System Herbert Farm
Got health-conscious family members on which you’re willing to splurge this holiday season? Consider buying them a vertical farm that hangs on the living room or kitchen wall. Ponix System’s Herbert farm uses LEDs and software to grow plants directly in water, with no need for soil. The unit can grow up to 15 plants at once, which is more than enough to provide fresh greens to a single household. The best part of this product is that you can save additional space by mounting Herbert onto the wall. The system goes for €490.00 right now. If you’re outside of the EU, expect additional shipping fees that are determined on a case-by-case basis.

MIKE WOLF’S PICKS:

Image credit: Equal Parts

Equal Parts Cookware and Coaching
No matter how much you cook at home, it’s always good to have a friend you can rely on for cooking advice. If you (or someone in your life) haven’t found that person yet, you might consider a cookware set from Equal Parts. Each set of cookware from this new cookware brand targeted at millennials comes bundled with two months of coaching provided through text messaging, which allows the home cook to ask about anything from techniques to recipe recommendations. I’ve been trying out the coaching service in preparation for Thanksgiving and find my coach responsive and knowledgeable. The cookware+coaching bundles start at $65 and go up to $500 and can be found on the Equal Parts website.

Terra Kaffe TK-01 Grind and Brew Coffee Machine
If you or a loved one has been looking for the closest thing to a coffee robot for the home, the Terra Kaffe TK-01 might just be it. This grind and brew coffee machine allows you to make pretty much any coffee drink under the sun with a few touches of the button. With the ability to optimize your favorite drink and save a specific formulation using the user friendly touch screen, the TK-01 could be the perfect gift for the coffee snob who thinks (s)he has everything. And because it grinds from whole beans stored inside an internal reservoir, it’s more environmentally friendly than that old Keurig, and could be a good gift for someone looking to put pod-based coffee behind them. Priced at $775, you can pick up a TK-01 for $675 using the discount code BF2019 for a limited time.

Sparkel
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, unless of course it’s adding bubbles to a beverage. That’s my and my family’s attitude at least since we’ve been testing out the Sparkel home carbonation machine and add fizz to everything from sweet tea to cold brew coffee to golden milk. The Sparkel, which is available in a starter pack for $99 (or $119 for a Smeg-ish color like pink or light blue), is a good gift option for anyone in your family who loves to try out new types of beverages or just consumes tons of sparkling water.

CHRIS ALBRECHT’S PICKS:

Cinder
A sous vide cooked steak is delicious, but it can be a hassle. You have to bring the water to temp, then seal up your meat in plastic (yuck), heat it in the bath for a long time, and then after all that you have to get a pan or grill ripping hot so you can sear it. Ugh. Who wants to deal with all that? The Cinder grill is like a George Foreman grill on steroids that does all of the above in one device. It offers precision sous vide style cooking with no water bath, no plastic bags, and you can sear it on the same device — and the results are delicious. At $429, the Cinder is a lot more expensive than a sous vide wand, but the time you’ll save will make up for it.

Freshly Meal Plan
I tested a lot of prepared meal delivery services this year and while Freshly wasn’t the cheapest, it was the tastiest. Freshly offers a wide range of meals like Sicilian Style Chicken Parm, Sausage Baked Penne, and Coconut Green Curry Chicken. They arrive already made and packaged up so all you have to do is pop them in the microwave, plate and enjoy! Perfect for busy folks and families looking for a little variety in the weekly dinners. You can gift four meals for $50.

Magically delicious

Magic Spoon
Sugary breakfast cereals are delicious, but also… packed with sugar, which is a no-no. Enter Magic Spoon, the “healthy” sweet breakfast that is reminiscent of your childhood but accommodates your adult lifestyle. It’s gluten-free, keto-friendly, packed with protein and most importantly, SUPER TASTY. So you can eat like a kid without any adult guilt. It does, however, come with an adult price, costing $40 for a four-pack, but having gone through four boxes myself, it’s worth trying at least once.

Those are our picks! What do you want for the holidays? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Shoppable Recipe and Kitchen Appliance Startup Mealthy Hits $1.07M Crowdfunding Cap

Today Austin, TX-based kitchen appliance company Mealthy raised the maximum amount allowed by the SEC for equity crowdfunding: $1.07 million. They raised the funds from 4,440 investors on crowdfunding platform Republic and reached the cap with 61 hours of the campaign remaining.

Founded in 2017, Mealthy is trying to provide a full-stack solution to making cooking simpler. It sells kitchen appliances, such as a Mealthy Multipot electric pressure cooker and Mealthy Crisplid, a standalone lid which turns a variety of pressure cookers into air fryers. The company also has an online tool, available via the Mealthy app or mealthy.com, to help users select Mealthy-created recipes, plan their meal, and shop for ingredients through InstaCart or Amazon Fresh. It also includes step-by-step videos to guide users through the cooking process.

Basically, Mealthy is a shoppable recipe platform that also sells kitchen appliances. It’s not exactly offering anything revolutionary. There are more shoppable recipe sites than you can shake a stick at: Myxx, Whisk, and Fexy Media, just to name a few.

Nonetheless, Mealthy’s fundraise was big enough to make us take note, especially considering the company started out with a crowdfunding target of $25,000.

Mealthy’s expectations-busting fundraise emphasizes that consumer desire for convenience in the kitchen isn’t going anywhere. It’s the same demand that skyrocketed the InstantPot to viral fame — and the InstantPot consumer seems to be exactly who Mealthy is targeting.

Mealthy’s flagship product, the multi-pot, is slightly more expensive than the InstantPot (Mealthy costs $99.95 for a 6-quart pot, whereas InstantPot is roughly $75). However, language on the company’s crowdfunding site indicates that Mealthy’s hook is that it’s easier to use than the InstantPot, and also offers a more robust selection of Mealthy product-compatible recipes.

According to a press release, Mealthy will be sold in over 10 countries by the end of August including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and India. The company will use its latest cash influx to develop new products and build brand awareness.

When it comes to crowdfunded hardware startups, it’s always a bit of a toss-up whether or not the company actually ends up shipping the product on time — if at all. However, Mealthy already sells and ships its Multipot on Amazon, which means it has a better chance of following through on its projected product timelines than most. Next up, they’re planning to launch a blender, a tea kettle, an air fryer, and will also enter the cookware category with a line of frying pans.

From the Newsletter: The Kitchen is Dead? Robot Baristas! Meal Kits and Medicine!

People love our newsletter, so every Friday we’ll be sharing it on the site. If you want to get the Weekly Spoon in your inbox, just subscribe here. 

Good morning and happy Friday! Chris Albrecht, Managing Editor of The Spoon here. You may have noticed we added a second newsletter to the week. In addition to Mike Wolf’s analysis, you’ll be hearing from myself and my colleague Catherine Lamb on a regular basis because food tech is thriving and we don’t want you to miss any important news.

And with food tech alive and kicking, what better way to kick off my first newsletter than with a Monty Python “I’m not dead yet!” reference?

Not just for the nerds among us, the Holy Grail joke is apt given what we’ve been hearing about the future of the kitchen. Is it on it’s deathbed, slain by a deadly cocktail of easy food delivery and those menacing millennials? A UBS report literally titled “Is the Kitchen Dead?” last month painted that pretty grim picture.

But not, so fast! This week, the NPD Group released a rebuttal of sorts basically asking people to chill out, saying the kitchen isn’t dead, but it will evolve to accommodate the changes delivery will bring.

So what’s the answer? Is the kitchen dead, dying, on life support? It’s a question I dive into in a longer post on the site that also gets into the coming wave of convenience driven appliances like Tovala and Suvie.

What do you think? Leave a comment on the story and add to the discussion. And, if you’ll pardon a little log-rollling, do one better and attend our Smart Kitchen Summit: North America in October to hear the industry’s smartest executives outline their thoughts on the future of the kitchen.

Now to switch from Monty Python to Spinal Tap: But enough of my yakkin’, whaddya say, let’s boogie.

Here’s the rest of this week’s food tech news.

Robo-baristas are here. No, this isn’t some dystopian vision of the future, the coffee robots are already among us, and they are pretty rad. Briggo announced that its Coffee Haus kiosk will start slinging craft coffees at the Austin Airport next Tuesday. This comes just a few weeks after Cafe X put its first barista-in-a-box on San Francisco sidewalks.

Both Briggo and Cafe X are going after high-traffic areas where people don’t necessarily want to sit down and luxuriate with their Americano. These robots are meant to operate at high-volume without taking breaks and, importantly, while making a delicious cup of coffee.

That first cup of coffee is certainly life-giving to many bleary-eyed folks early in the morning, but as Jenn Marston notes, meal kits are getting downright medicinal. As she points out, companies like Be Well Eats and Platejoy are using doctors and dieticians to craft meals that boost nutrition and even feature plans specifically for diabetes and menopause. Even better, Spoon readers have been contributing to the conversation by pointing out other options in our comments section.

But let’s not have my inaugural email be all questions of dying and medicine. For something more out of left field, Catherine Lamb uncovered TimberFish’s IndieGoGo campaign to raise trout on brewery waste and wood chips. It’s a fun read.

And finally, The Smart Kitchen Summit is returning to Japan next month. The lineup of speakers includes Winnie Leung of Bits x Bites, a Chinese food tech accelerator; Kevin Yu, the CEO of smart cooking startup SideChef; and SKS favorite Jon Jenkins of Hestan Cue. Spots are limited, so get yours soon.

Thanks for reading. Be well!

-Chris

P.S. As I mentioned before, our flagship Smart Kitchen Summit event coming up in October, so if you haven’t already purchased your ticket, do it today by using discount code NEWSLETTER for 25% off the full ticket price (use this link which has the discount already applied).

P.S. Want to get our stories before everyone else? Join our food tech Slack already!

In the 07/13/2018 edition:

Smart Kitchen Summit Returns to Japan This August

By Catherine Lamb on Jul 13, 2018 07:00 am
Last year, we took the Smart Kitchen Summit abroad for the first time — to none other than Tokyo, Japan! In SKS founder Michael Wolf’s words: “As we have grown SKS, I also realized early on that each region’s story is different, impacted by a unique mix of culture, business dynamics, and consumer tastes.

Research Confirms: The Kitchen is Dying. Unless it’s not.

By Chris Albrecht on Jul 13, 2018 06:00 am
The Spoon was borne out of The Smart Kitchen Summit, our annual conference about the future of the kitchen. But analysts seem unclear as to what exactly the future of the kitchen is. Are millennials and delivery killing off the kitchen? Or is the kitchen staying put and evolving into something different?

Albertsons Launches Virtual Market for Its O Organics Brand

By Jennifer Marston on Jul 12, 2018 07:00 pm
Today, mega grocery chain Albertsons announced the launch of O Organics Market, a virtual store powered by Instacart and specializing in organic and natural grocery items. The store is currently available to customers in San Francisco and Washington D.C. via the usual Instacart interface.

TimberFish Launches IndieGoGo to Raise Trout on Brewery Waste and Wood Chips

By Catherine Lamb on Jul 12, 2018 01:00 pm
It’s no secret that wild-caught seafood is fraught, what with its declining supply and associations with inhumane labor practices. Many tout farmed fish as a more ethical and sustainable (not to mention cheaper) way to satisfy our seafood cravings, which is why aquaculture is the fastest growing food-producing sector.

Our Robot Coffee Future is Nigh: Briggo Barista Taking Off at Austin Airport

By Chris Albrecht on Jul 12, 2018 11:13 am
Austin, TX will get a little more hip (as if that were possible) next week as Briggo’s robotic Coffee Haus will land at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on July 17th.

Video: Convenience Is the Future of Food Retail

By Catherine Lamb on Jul 11, 2018 05:00 pm
After Christian Lane‘s first business, which he built at the age of 19, folded, he got the idea to launch a new endeavor in the smart kitchen field. Which, as he’ll tell you, was not always easy going.

Cricket-starter: Seek Food Crowdfunds Bug-based Baking Flour

By Chris Albrecht on Jul 11, 2018 03:02 pm
We don’t mean to bug you, but we thought you might like to know that Seek Food launched a Kickstarter campaign today for its cricket baking flour and accompanying cookbook. Adventurous eaters can choose from four bug-based powders: All-Purpose, Paleo, Gluten-Free and 100 percent pure cricket.

It’s Sorta Silly How Much I Heart My Stainless Steel Straws

By Chris Albrecht on Jul 11, 2018 11:01 am
OK. Look. When you are a blogger covering any beat 24/7, there comes a time when your brain needs to stop providing analysis and context to news events and just write about something small and yet totally satisfyingly cool.

Olio, Luckin Coffee and Eat All Raise New Funding

By Chris Albrecht on Jul 11, 2018 08:59 am
Food tech startups continue to raise money around the world, and the first half of this week has already seen a bunch of funding news: Olio, a UK-based food waste startup, raised a $6 million Series A round led by Octopus Ventures.

Are Meal Kits a New Form of Medicine?

By Jennifer Marston on Jul 10, 2018 05:00 pm
A reported 30.3 million Americans had diabetes in 2015, according to the most recent numbers. Obesity, high blood pressure, lots of sodium and sugar, and, of course, a lack of fruits and vegetables are all culprits in the growing number of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

Research Confirms: The Kitchen is Dying. Unless it’s not.

The Spoon was borne out of The Smart Kitchen Summit, our annual conference about the future of the kitchen. But analysts seem unclear as to what exactly the future of the kitchen is. Are millennials and delivery killing off the kitchen? Or is the kitchen staying put and evolving into something different?

These questions kicked off in earnest last month when investment firm UBS came out with a report titled “Is the Kitchen Dead?”, which posited that by the year 2030, delivery could replace most meals cooked at home. The people burying the knife in the back of the kitchen? Millennials (obvi). Well, not just millennials. Robots, delivery apps and virtual kitchens would all play their part in killing off the kitchen.

And if you look around today, it’s not hard to reach that same conclusion. Services like UberEats are growing rapidly. And startups like Kitchen United are launching commercial kitchens so restaurants can meet the demand for delivery.

Bolstering these trends are generational shifts. Millennials spend less on groceries and more on eating out, and they can’t identify a garlic press or roast a chicken. So, once again, millennials are ruining everything.

Or are they? Especially when it comes to the kitchen?

Our own research conducted by The Spoon last year showed that 47 percent of millennials cook at home 5 or more times per week. And a new Datassential report shows that millennials over index when it comes to the types of cooking tools used (juicers, sous vide wands, Instant Pots, etc.). So millennials use the kitchen, they just do so differently than other generations.

And thinking differently about the kitchen is what new research from the NPD Groups suggests we do (hat tip to Food Dive). David Portalatin, Vice President, Industry Advisor at NPD published a blog post yesterday titled “The American Kitchen is Alive and Thriving.” In it, Portalatin says that while restaurant spending was up in the year ending May 2018, actual visits to restaurants (which includes delivery) was flat over the same time period. He also says that restaurant meal prices are going up faster than the cost of a home cooked meal.

Portalatin goes on to write:

“In our daily research of U.S. consumers’ eating behaviors, we consistently show that four out of five meals are prepared at home, and although the relationship of in-home prepared meals versus those sourced away-from-home has been stable for a few years, we still prepare more meals at home than we did a decade ago.”

Portalatin predicts that what will happen is we will blend meals we make at home with ready-to-eat items we buy from outside the home. It’s easy to see how something like grocery-store bought meal kits fits nicely into this scenario. You’re basically buying all the ingredients to make a meal at home, just without so much of the work.

Already, grocery retailers are setting themselves up for such a blended future. Kroger purchased meal kit company Home Chef, and Albertsons owns Plated, while Walmart and Amazon (via Whole Foods) offer their own branded meal kits. This isn’t to say that meal kits will dominate every dinner, but they offer a flexible and convenient option for consumers looking to eat a complete meal at home without having to do a ton of work.

You can even see this on the hardware side as appliances like the June oven, or Tovala or the forthcoming Suvie or Brava ovens look to take over most of the work in making a meal. Right now those devices are expensive, but they will get cheaper, which will cause their own evolutionary pushes in the kitchen.

So in the end, is the kitchen dead, dying, atrophying, or is it just fine, thank you very much? The answer none and all of the above. The kitchen as older generations have known it is dying, but that’s not just because of delivery, it’s also because we have a wave of newer, safer, and more robust cooking tools like Instant Pots and Tovalas that are changing how we cook.

Will it die off completely? Unlikely. Where would people stand during a cocktail party? I kid, but more seriously, until you can teleport 3D printed foods directly into your home, there will always be hungry people in houses looking for reach-in-the-pantry-or-microwave levels of instant gratification. Not to mention people who just plain like to cook.

But the role of the kitchen is something we consider every day here at The Spoon. In fact we are planning the full rundown for our upcoming Smart Kitchen Summit: North America in October. You should get your tickets to see what experts from across the food tech industry will have to say on the subject.

Zach Ware Steps Up as New CEO of Pilotworks

Today The Spoon discovered that Pilotworks co-founder Nick Devane has left his role as CEO of the company and transitioned into a strategic role. Former COO Zach Ware has taken over position of CEO.

The startup, headquartered in Brooklyn, offers rent-by-the-hour kitchen space for budding food entrepreneurs, and also gives its members access to mentorship opportunities and networking events. It has facilities in Brooklyn, Chicago, Portland (ME), Newark, Dallas, and Providence. Last December, the company received $13 million in expansion capital.

Devane previously told Jennifer Marston of the Spoon that he considered Pilotworks “the AWS [Amazon Web Services] of food” because of their pay-as-you-go approach to all-included kitchen rental.

Ware comes to Pilotworks after working at the Republic of Tea, Zappos, and investment fund VTF Capital. Devane reportedly asked Ware to join Pilotworks as COO in February after Ware spent a week consulting on the company. Devane had served as CEO since co-founding the company in 2016, and will now transition to “a new role focusing on long-term creative and strategic initiatives,” according to a statement we requested from Pilotworks.

 

Full statement here:

“As Pilotworks continues to grow and expand our commercial kitchens and services for food entrepreneurs and business of any size, we’re pleased to announce Zach Ware as CEO. Mr. Ware brings an extensive record of operations with previous leadership roles at The Republic of Tea, Zappos, and as Pilotworks’ COO. Nick Devane who has served as Pilotworks CEO since co-founding the company will transition to a new role focusing on long-term creative and strategic initiatives.”

We’ll be hosting a free food tech meetup at Pilotworks Providence on July 17th! The event will be focused on sustainable seafood; if you’re in the Providence/Boston area, we’d love to see you there.

Always Wanted to Try a Blowtorch? With Cheffer, You Can Rent One

If you love gadgets as much as we do at the Spoon, your kitchen counter space is at a premium. Sure, you may want to try that blowtorch or sous vide circulator, but a cooking gadget addiction can end up costing you a lot in terms of space and money.

Boston-based startup Cheffer is here to solve that problem. Started in December 2017, they let you rent kitchen gadgets for a small fee, much like Rent the Runway lets you rent high-end clothing for a fraction of the price.

Interested folk can peruse Cheffer’s online catalog of kitchen appliances, which runs the gamut from versatile equipment staples, like KitchenAids or Vitamixes, to more niche gadgets, like pizza stones or home beer brewing kits. Each tool on the list has been vetted by their in-house chef, so users know they’re getting the best possible brand and version. Once they make their selection, Cheffer will deliver the appliance — as long as they’re within 20 miles of the Boston area. For a small fee, users can request a chef to come into their home to help set up the gadget and give a lesson on how it works.

Cheffer’s online catalog.

After their rental period is finished, someone from Cheffer will come pick up the appliance and take it back to their warehouse for a thorough cleaning before it can be rented again. If customers fall in love and decide that they want to keep their gadget, they can purchase it from Cheffer for a prorated fee, depending on how much they paid to rent it. 

Most rental periods are three days and users pay a rental fee which varies depending on the gadget. For example, a KitchenAid would cost $15 per day, while a pizza stone would only be $7 per day. 

Cheffer has ambitions to be a lot more than just a simple kitchen appliance rental service, however. “We try to focus on the experience of cooking rather than just renting,” said founder Lina Mamut.

A big part of that is Cheffer’s recipe component. The startup has a professional chef on staff to develop recipes that go along with each appliance. Immediately after customers book a gadget rental through the Cheffer catalog, they’ll get an email in their inbox with recipe suggestions based on their cooking skill level and dietary registrations — two fields they fill out during registration. So, for example, if you’re a novice cook that just became a vegan and you’re renting a sous vide circulator, Cheffer would send you relatively simple vegan recipes to make with that tool. As of now, they have a database of over 500 recipes. 

Strawberry Dacquoise made with a Cheffer-rented KitchenAid.

Mamut told us that they’re also planning on developing an app that will focus more on cooking than appliance rental. It will most likely include tutorials instructing users how to best cook with their rented gadgets. Eventually, they hope to build in a recipe progression which will build in difficulty, teaching people basic cooking skills.

Mamut, who used to work at a tech startup in NYC that focused on AI and automation, is even playing around with the idea of a holographic chef that would walk users through recipes. (If you were at the Smart Kitchen Summit last year, this concept might sound familiar.)

She’s working on an algorithm to help streamline Cheffer’s operations. She’s currently gathering information on what times of day people rent gadgets, in which neighborhoods, and what kinds of dishes they’re cooking with them. Once they have enough, they’ll be able to better predict what type of recipes to develop, as well as which appliances to purchase for which markets.

It’s too soon to say for sure if Cheffer can achieve these lofty ambitions, but they’ve certainly come about at the right time. More millennials are cooking at home than any other generation. At the same time, as we discussed at our Future of Recipes food tech meetup, convenience is key. Cheffer’s concept is an easy, low-risk way for people to get a little more adventurous in the kitchen, without having to do anything more difficult than peruse an online catalog.

While some gadgets aren’t that pricey to straight-up buy (a small blowtorch will run you about $20 on Amazon), Cheffer is a good way to test out if you actually want to add it to your cooking arsenal before you commit. It’s also a helpful service for those with low kitchen confidence; by providing customized recipe suggestions and the option of having a chef demo each product, Cheffer doesn’t just drop off a gadget and leave you to it. Which also means it might not be the most helpful service for experienced home cooks who know which kitchen tools they want and how to use them.

Cheffer is bootstrapped and currently has 6 people on staff, including delivery drivers. They’re in the process of launching a prototype in Boston, but they’re planning to expand to NYC and other cities on the Eastern Seaboard by the end of 2018. I for one can’t wait until they make it to Seattle so I can finally indulge my inner kitchen gadget dilettante without breaking the bank.

Kickstarter Entrepreneurs Ride the Popularity Wave of Probiotic Foods

Probiotics are a budding segment of the food part of the crowdsourcing world. While most new efforts are focused on pickles, fermented sodas and kombucha, a team of Slovenian Kickstarter veterans are showcasing the wonders of probiotic cheese.

Kefirko Cheese Maker comes on the heels of the successful 2015 launch of Kefirko, a device that makes homemade kefir. Kefir is a fermented milk drink made with special grains that act as a fermenter/starter. The process can be laborious done in a traditional manner. The kefir is extracted from the grains by hanging a cheesecloth-like bag over a shallow bowl, allowing the liquid to separate from the starter. In recent years, this fermented beverage, which originated in the Caucasus Mountains, has grown in popularity with a renewed focus on healthy eating and the role of probiotics.

The team of Marko Borko and Andrej Glažar, with backgrounds in engineering and design, have extended the value of their kefir maker with their new probiotic cheese maker. The new appliance makes probiotic cheese from the kefir created by the Kefiroko or any other store-bought or homemade kefir. Beyond probiotic cheese, consumers can use the cheese maker to create mozzarella, mascarpone other non-probiotic varieties using milk that has been which has to be curdled with rennet or lemon juice.

There is no waste in the process which starts with pouring the kefir into the cheese maker and allowing it to strain into the attached glass bowl. The company says the whey liquid that results from the kefir-to-cheese process I is very rich with proteins, primarily of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin, bovine serum albumin and immunoglobine. It also contains vitamins and minerals and a very low level of fat. When whey is derived from kefir, it does not contain lactose, because it is already gone (99 %) during fermentation of kefir.

The length of the fermentation process determines the type of resulting cheese. The company says that fermenting overnight will result in a creamy style cheese while allowing the fermentation to go for one to two days will yield a semi hard cheese. When the cheese reaches the desired taste and consistency, users can flavor it with herbs, spices, oils or roasted vegetables.

The Kefirko Cheese Maker comes with a recipe book which also offers alternative uses for the device which includes tips on how to use the appliance to make tea, iced coffee and even almond milk. The company says it does not know whether the cheese maker will work to create nut-based cheeses, made with pureed soaked and peeled nuts instead of kefir.

As of June 9th, the Slovenian company has exceeded its “all or nothing” goal of $15,000. Some 1,740 backers have contributed more than $91,000. The company’s stretch goals include a larger jar and a spring-loaded lid to enhance the fermentation. At the same time, Borko, Glažar, and their team are introducing a new and improved version of their original kefir maker. According to their Kickstarter site, the new model has an easier-to-grip lid and improved airflow. They also added a Scrapper – a tool for mixing kefir grains during straining to make sure they easily separate from kefir drink. Also, by covering the hole on the Kefirko lid with the Scrapper the straining of kefir also becomes more practical and fast. Depending on pledge amounts backers can get the cheese maker, the newer kefir maker or both products. Delivery of the cheese maker and Kefirko 2 is Dec. 2017.

Make sure to check out the Smart Kitchen Summit, the only event about the future of food, cooking and the kitchen. Also, make sure to subscribe to get The Spoon in your inbox. 

Cooking Is The Number One Cause of Home Fires; Innohome Wants To Change That

If a house catches fire, there’s a good chance the culprit is a cooking device.

In fact, according to the National Fire Protection Association, nearly half of all home structure fires – 46% – are started by some type of cooking equipment, and while more people die from fires started from cigarettes (stop smoking in bed, people), nearly one in five fire related deaths and over 4 in 10 fire injuries are the result of cooking fires.

Leading Causes of Home Fires 2010-2014. Source: NFPA

While these alarming numbers makes sense since cooking requires heat, the reality is most of these fires are preventable. According to the NFPA, the biggest cause of cooking fires is unattended cooking, which makes me wonder why don’t we create technology that helps us prevent fires from starting in the first place.  And while smoke alarms are good reactive measures to help us know something has gone wrong, wouldn’t it be better to create preventative measures that stop the cooking process at the first sign of trouble?

That’s what a new handful startups such as Innohome, iGuardFire and Inirv (a Smart Kitchen Summit Startup Showcase finalist) are hoping to do with a new generation of devices that help prevent fires in the kitchen. These devices sense potential cooking fires and act to shut off cooking equipment and sounding alarms before a fire starts.

Innohome, a Finnish company, has been working on kitchen-centric fire prevention devices for years now, and the company has over two hundred thousand total prevention devices installed in its home country of Finland. The company’s latest product is called the StoveGuard, which uses an overhead heat sensor as well as device installed at the source of power for a stove or range which will automatically cut power if a problem is detected. One of the company’s main customer targets is senior citizens, who are at increased danger of cooking fires as they age.

I connected recently with Eero Vartiainen, Innohome’s Senior VP, North America, to talk about the kitchen fire prevention market and their products.

Wolf: Who is the target audience for kitchen fire protection in the kitchen?

Vartiainen: Although Innohome’s StoveGuard works in any residential kitchen, the target audiences are the people who are most at risk: elderly people, who might have hard time remembering all the tasks that they are performing, and college students/young adults/teenagers due to them possibly cooking for the first time in their lives.

Wolf: Why does the kitchen or stove need its own fire alert system?

Vartiainen: Fire safety in the kitchen is not something that we think all the time as we associate our kitchen to be the heart of the home, the safe place. Therefore, we don’t often think about all the combustible items that are around our cooking devices or the dangers that cooking represents. According to NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) 62% of all cooking fires were caused by ranges or cooktops.

In addition, the stove top cooking presents another set of problems as we are often very busy when we cook: the children are running around, the dog is counter surfing, the TV is demanding our attention and the phone takes us away from the cooking range. A pan with hot oil can combust quickly and unexpectedly often causing massive damage to the kitchen and the surrounding areas. Innohome’s StoveGuard is designed to protect against all these distractions where our attention might not be focused on the cooktop. The aim is to not only limit fires in the kitchen, but also reduce the amount of nuisance/false alarms by providing a device that doesn’t limit your cooking experience yet it protects you against all possible hazards.

Wolf: How do you see the technology working with the broader smart home in the future?

Vartiainen: The smart home technology has taken off in the past couple of years, and we are seeing more and more companies making their devices able to adapt into different ecosystems. Products like Amazon Echo and Google Home are giving every consumer an option to add other products, thus, making our homes more accessible through voice-controlled or other connected technology. Fire prevention systems, such as Innohome’s StoveGuard, will integrate with these platforms and will allow customers to get real-time updates on the status of their cooking equipment. The ability to offer instant feedback will be important for the end-user as they will be able to monitor not only their cooking event, but also have a sense of any potential hazardous situations that might develop if the range has been left unattended.

Wolf: Where did Innohome get the idea for its StoveGuard products?

Vartiainen: Our founder, Matti Myllymaki, has years of extensive experience in designing and patenting all kinds of innovative products. The idea for the StoveGuard came from his fascination with cooking and from the fact he did not see any devices that could accurately monitor the different temperature changes on the stovetop and prevent potential fires. After years of research and development, Innohome launched in 2005 with the goal of providing innovative kitchen fire safety for everyone. The StoveGuard has been installed in over 220,000 kitchens across the world.

Wolf: How is European market different from US?

Vartiainen: European market presents a unique set of challenges for any company wishing to do business there. Although the European Union provides a set of guides and regulations, the different cultures and mind-sets in fire prevention varies greatly from country to country. Some countries are very diligent in ensuring that their citizens are protected by placing mandatory regulations on cooking equipment, whereas other cultures might not place a large emphasis on certain types of protections.

The United States tends to be much more unified. The codes and regulations are usually followed by every State and you don’t see as many differences across the state lines. Also, the European standards are geared towards all wired-in range solutions whereas the U.S. mainly uses four or three prong plugged-in ranges. The plugged-in solution allows for an easier installation and can be performed even by the homeowner.

For many years the fire-protection services have focused on fire suppression yet the overall fire statistics have not gone down. The past couple of years there has been a shift in thinking, however, and more education is being directed towards fire prevention. The NFPA is actively seeking innovative products to reduce the number of house fires, and this is where all the new Smart Home solutions, such as Innohome’s StoveGuard, offers the customers an opportunity to enhance their safety in their homes.

Want to meet the leaders defining the future of food, cooking and the kitchen? Get your tickets for the Smart Kitchen Summit today.