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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

meal replacement

Soylent Adds Snack Replacement Beverage to its Lineup

Rosa Foods, the company behind meal-replacement-in-a-bottle, Soylent, yesterday announced the launch of Soylent Bridge, a new, lighter liquid designed to replace your snacking on solids.

The 11 oz. Soylent Bridge clocks in at 180 calories with 15 grams of plant-based protein and comes in chocolate flavor. The shelf-stable Bridge will last a year unopened and costs $26 for a 12 pack. The regular Soylent drink is 14 oz., has 400 calories and costs $39 for a 12-pack.

According to the marketing materials, Bridge is meant for in-between meal times (read: snacking). As someone who sometimes works in his kitchen and isn’t above grabbing (too many) handfuls of chips or yogurt covered almonds, it’s easy to see how a single serving of Bridge could help one keep better track of their caloric intake. It just needs to be tasty and filling so you don’t add more snacks on top of it.

It’s no coincidence that the new Bridge comes at the start of a new year, when people resolve to cut back on calories (this reporter included). But it also opens up a new market for the company, allowing it to go after people who still like chewing their regular meals.

This product line diversification will also help against meal replacement rivals like Ample, which raised $2 million last year, and Feed, a French startup that raised $17.4 million last year. While both of those fundraises pale in comparison to Soylent’s $72.4 million previous raises, Ample and Feed offer more variety in their products. Ample sells both Vegan and Ketogenic formulas of its meal replacements, while Feed has expanded into bars and food spreads.

Perhaps sensing the need to diversify its lineup, Soylent launched its own Innovation Lab last September. The Soylent Innovation Lab invited “up-and-coming food tech and other innovative companies who share our goals, vision, and values to join us in changing the way the world consumes food- for the better.” Though, we haven’t heard anything about companies accepted into the lab since it was announced.

Now that it’s here the only question left is: Will the new Soylent Bridge be a hit with new you that the new year will bring?

French Meal-In-A-Bottle Startup Feed Snags $17.4M, Looks Beyond Europe

Today, French startup Feed raised €15 million ($17.4 million USD) from investors Alven, Otium Brands, and Financière Saint James. This recent raise brings their total funding to €18.5 million ($2.1 million).

Feed makes powdered drinks and bars for meal replacements in the vein of Soylent. All of Feed’s products are gluten-free, lactose-free, vegan, non-GMO, and made in France, and they contain enough fats, fiber, proteins, and other nutrients to act as a standalone meal. The company plans to use its new funds to add 25 to 30 more team members and expand their international reach into the U.S., according to La Tribune. 

Founded in January of 2017, Feed originally made only powdered drinks intended to supplement or replace meals, and recently added meal-in-one bars to their lineup. A single-serving meal replacement drink from Feed retails for €2.40 ($2.78), which is on par with Soylent’s pricing. Feed currently sells their products in French supermarkets and online, and delivers to over 30 countries.

One of the more interesting aspects of Feed is that it has several savory shaken drink options — in tomato olive, mushroom, carrot and pumpkin, and garden vegetable flavors — which I haven’t seen before from any other meal supplement company. While it may seem off-putting to drink a salty blended shake, I imagine that these flavors would be a welcome shake-up (pun intended) to the typical vanilla/chocolate/coffee.

According to Research and Markets, the global meal replacement market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.83 percent from 2017-2021. And there’s no shortage of options on the market: Soylent just announced that it will retail in more than 1,850 Kroger stores (apparently recovering from last year’s obstacles of recalls, leadership changes, and getting banned in Canada). Bear Squeeze raised over $200,000 on IndieGoGo earlier this year for their meal-in-one health shakes (though as far as I can tell they have yet to ship), and Ample Foods closed a $2 million funding round a few months ago.

And that’s just in the U.S. In Europe, both Amsterdam-based Jimmy Joy and Huel in the U.K. make powdered meal replacements aimed at the busy, health-conscious consumer. Feed’s hefty fundraise signifies not only that these type of drinkable supplements aren’t going anywhere, but that there’s room for expansion — both geographically, and in the product lineup.