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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Podcast

The Food Tech Show: Cultured Meat’s Big Month

This week the Spoon editorial team got together to talk about the latest food tech news, including whether or not cultured meat would venture into, well, humans.

We all got grossed out (well, most of us) and decided a Mike Burger is a bad idea. But we did agree the food industry will have to address some of the more ethical questions around cultured meat as the ease and cost to replicate cells comes down over time.

Other (not so gross) stories we discuss on the pod also include:

As always, you can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) or just click play below.

The Food Tech Show: What Would a Biden Presidency Look Like for Food Tech?

It’s another Food Tech Show podcast!

The Spoon editorial team got together this week to discuss our favorite stories of the week, including:

  • McDonald’s announced their new plant-based burger, the McPlant, and everyone was confused
  • The Golden Arches also talked about how technology will change the McDonald’s experience in coming years, especially when it comes to drive-thru
  • Boston robot restaurant startup Spyce Kitchen debuted their 2.0 concept and it’s pretty darn different than the first generation. Also different: no dine-in eating.
  • What a Biden presidency could look like when it comes to food tech?

As always, you can find the Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other places you get can podcasts.

You can also hit play below or download the episode direct to your device.

The Food Tech Show: Did The Automat Ever Really Go Away?

In this week’s episode of The Food Tech Show, we talk about those new contactless systems and compare them to a technology from long ago: the automat.

Yep, that old-school idea born in New York City a century ago is back (or maybe it never left?), showing up everywhere from restaurants to condos.

Jenn Marston waxes nostalgic about the automat and other concepts that seem to be getting a second look as the food system looks to reinvent itself in the wake of COVID-19.

We also talk about these stories in today’s podcast:

As always, you can listen to this week’s podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts. You can also download the episode direct to your device or just click play below.

The Food Tech Show: Talking Food Tech & Racial Injustice With Journey Foods’ Riana Lynn

I sat down this week with Riana Lynn, the CEO of Journey Foods, to talk about her journey as a black female food tech entrepreneur.

From her time in the Obama White House, to working for former McDonalds CEO Don Thompson at venture firm Cleveland Avenue, to her latest startup that uses AI to help CPG companies make healthier and more sustainable food products, Riana’s had a fascinating ride over the past decade. But, as she told me in our conversation, the two consistent and recurring themes throughout her career have been food and technology.

We talk about her journey through these worlds as well as:

  • How food tech and food innovation could address some of the systemic problems in the food system that disproportionately impact people of color.
  • How many of today’s current food trends like plant-based food have long histories in black culture.
  • How technologies like blockchain could be well-suited to modernize antiquated systems designed to help those in food insecure situations get better access to food assistance.
  • What she thinks the long term impact could be from the conversation we are having about systemic racism.
  • Some ways in which she thinks the world of food tech and venture capital could be more welcoming to people of color.

Some of you may have read Riana’s guest post last weekend at The Spoon. She and her team are churning out some really compelling and thoughtful content over at the Journey Foods’ blog, so I suggest you check it out.

As always, you can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or just click play below.

The Food Tech Show Podcast: Will You Be Dining With a Mannequin?

Most of us are eager to start dining in again at restaurants, but are we ready?

We discuss the huge spectrum of responses we got when we asked our readers if they’re ready to start dining in restaurants again on this week’s Food Tech Show, as well as some of the innovative ways restaurants are dealing with dining in the era of COVID.

One restaurant is putting mannequins at tables as a way to fill in the gaps between socially distanced diners. Another restaurant in Amsterdam is seating diners in glass houses.

Other topics discussed on this week’s show include a small bowl-food-for-one cooking system looking to make its way into college dorms and small apartments, and a leap forward in cross-industry collaboration for food traceability.

Just click play below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Food Tech Show: A Moment of Silence for PicoBrew Episode

This week, the Spoon editorial team got together around the virtual table and talked about some of the top stories of the past week, including:

As always, you can find The Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you find podcasts. You can also download it direct or just click play below.

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The Food Tech Show: The People Are Growing Yeast and Plants at Home Episode

It’s a very specific cultural moment when a Twitter thread about deriving yeast at home from the skin of fruits goes viral, but here we are.

The Spoon editorial team got together this week to discuss said Twitter thread from a Ginkgo yeast geneticist Sudeep Agarwala. We also chatted about a few other stories, including:

As always, you can find the Food Tech Show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

You can also download this episode to your device or just click play below.

If you’d like to join the Spoon editorial team next week when they record the podcast, our next live podcast recording on Crowdcast is next Tuesday at 10 AM PST. You can sign up here.

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The Food Tech Show: We’re All Eating Comfort Food Now

How has life in quarantine changed the way you eat?

Here at the Spoon, we’re all eating comfort food now. Most of us (i.e., not Catherine) are consuming more processed food. Based on what we’re hearing, we’re not alone.

The Spoon editor team got together this week to discuss our dietary shifts and other stories, including:

Did you know you can watch us record our podcasts live? Follow us on Crowdcast and you’ll get notified next week when we record the show.

As always, you can listen to the Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts. You can also download it direct to your device or just click play below.

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Food Tech Show: The ‘Looking for Bright Spots in a Dark Time’ Episode

Needless to say, when you’re talking and writing about coronavirus all the time, you can get a little down.

So on this week’s podcast, we thought we’d focus on some bright spots, highlighting stories of people and companies who are innovating to help others or are just well-positioned to succeed in an otherwise down time.

Finally, a reminder we’re hosting a virtual COVID-19 strategy summit for food and restaurant people on Monday and we’ll be talking to smart people with good ideas for dealing the crisis.

As always, you can listen to the Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download it direct to your device or just click play below.

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The Food Tech Show: Instacarting Parents & Baking Bread Might be Our New Normal

As the pandemic rolls on and we stay at home while social distancing, many of us are exploring new ways of doing things.

For some this may mean Instacarting one’s parents. For others, it may mean making sourdough bread and showing off your efforts on Instagram.

The Spoon crew all dialed in from their remote locations to discuss how our behavior has changed as well as the continuing fallout of COVID-19 on restaurants. We also discuss the surge in hiring in the grocery sector as people shift their behavior to online shopping and whether or not COVID-19 could mean a comeback for meal kits.

As always, you can listen to the Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts. You can also download it direct to your device or just click play below.

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The Food Tech Show: Spoon Editor Lockdown Edition

With the exception of Jenn Marston, all the Spoon editors are located in the Seattle area, where there’s been a lockdown order on pretty much every type of social gathering place and restaurant because of COVID-19.

And while we don’t have mandatory shelter-in-place orders, our state governor has strongly suggested we all do so (with good reason!).

Needless to say, with our editor team all sheltering in place (including Jenn in Tennessee), we couldn’t help but talk about the rapidly unfolding changes coronavirus is bringing not only to our own lives, but the impact on the world or food, restaurants and more.

Like most of you, our world’s have been turned upside down, both in terms of our own jobs and our personal lives. We are continuing to cover this rapidly changing situation and want to hear from you. If you have a food or foodtech related story about how COVID is changing the world order, send us an email at tips@thespoon.tech.

Before I go, keep an eye out for another podcast tomorrow where I talk with the always-innovative chef Eric Rivera on how he is adapting his restaurant business to our new shared reality.

As always, you can listen to the Food Tech Show on Apple podcasts, Spotify or download direct to your device. You can also just click play below. Thanks for listening.

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The Food Tech Show: Are We Ready to Eat Bugs?

The Spoon team got together talk about the most interesting food and kitchen tech stories of the week, including:

As always, you can listen to the Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, download direct to your device or just click play below.

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