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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

podcasts

Meet The Spoon Podcast Network

Here at The Spoon, we—like you—are big fans of podcasts.

What’s not to love? Whether we’re diving deep into a topic we’re passionate about, researching a story, or exploring new interests just beginning to take root, podcasts have become an indispensable resource for us. And we know many of our readers feel the same way.

Personally, I’ve been podcasting and using podcasts as part of my process of discovering and writing about food tech innovators for most of the past decade. As a journalist, podcasts play a crucial role in my reporting process. They’ve allowed me to open-source my discovery journey, bringing The Spoon community along as I learn from subject matter experts about how the world is changing and the industries they’ve mastered.

As both a consumer and a creator of media, I’ve found podcasts to be more essential than ever—especially in an era of AI-generated content. With so much AI-generated media flooding our feeds, it’s becoming harder to discern what’s authentic—whether in written, audio, or video form. That’s why embracing trusted, verifiable voices is more important than ever. Podcasts provide a space for genuine conversations with real people, and that’s something worth amplifying.

Podcasts were also at the forefront of the great decentralization of media. This technology, which started over two decades ago, gave independent voices a platform—no massive media infrastructure required. At The Spoon, we believe strongly in independent media, and we want to leverage our own platform to bring new voices to our community and beyond.

All of this brings us to an exciting announcement: We’re launching our own podcast network!

The idea for The Spoon Podcast Network (TSPN) came to life last year as we engaged with insightful voices across the food tech and future-of-food community. We realized there were so many stories to tell and perspectives to share. While we could certainly invite some of these great minds onto The Spoon Podcast, we started to wonder: What if we could do more? What if we could tap into these experts and leverage The Spoon (and our and their collective networks) to extend their insights, conversations, and discoveries to a broader audience?

In other words, could we open-source the explorations of smart people across food, nutrition, and modern life—so that more of us can learn, engage, and join the conversation?

So that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re launching a great slate of new podcast hosts, and we’re already in talks with more creators to grow the network. Here’s our debut lineup of new podcasts launching with our partners:

Food Truths

On Food Truths, Food scientist Eric Schulze—former head of Global Regulatory at UPSIDE Foods and a former FDA regulator—will bring on smart minds from the food world and beyond to bust myths, uncover surprising truths, and dive deep into the science of food. (Apple Podcasts, Spotify).

Watch What You Eat With Carolyn O’Neil

As CNN’s original health and nutrition contributor, Carolyn O’Neil has spent decades covering how technology and innovative changemakers are reshaping nutrition. On Watch What You Eat, she’ll explore the worlds of food, nutrition, and cuisine, tracking new trends and helping listeners embark on new culinary adventures.

My Food Job Rocks

We’re not just creating new shows—we’re also bringing on seasoned hosts with podcasts we’ve long admired. Adam Yee, one of the original food-industry and food-innovation podcasters, launched My Food Job Rocks nearly a decade ago. We’ve been fans of Adam’s insightful and fun conversations with industry leaders, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to the network as he re-launches his iconic show.

Maybe Food, Maybe Tech

In addition to relaunching My Food Job Rocks, Adam Yee is launching a brand-new show with co-host Kai-Hsin Wang. On Maybe Food, Maybe Tech, they’ll break down current events, explore innovative companies at the intersection of food and technology, and share personal insights on life and industry trends.

The Tomorrow Today Show

Mike Lee, author of MISE and a longtime food futurist, has a talent for deciphering early signals and identifying what’s around the corner. On The Tomorrow Today Show, he’ll tackle big questions about sustainability, technology, pleasure, and connection—viewed through the lens of food.

Women Innovators in Food and Farming

Award-winning journalist Amy Wu hosts Women Innovators in Food and Farming, where she interviews women entrepreneurs driving change in agri-food tech. From advancements in seed breeding and soil innovation to cutting-edge robotics and automation, Amy explores the stories and insights shaping the future of food and farming.

Everything But The Carbon Sink

Hosted by Eva Goulbourne—an experienced strategist in food systems transformation and climate philanthropy—Everything But the Carbon Sink examines how agriculture, food waste, and land use impact the climate crisis. Each episode highlights forward-thinking solutions, financing strategies, and the key players driving change at the intersection of food and climate.

Soul to Table

Join Chef Ryan Lacy on the Soul to Table podcast. he goes on a journey to explore our food systems from seed to table through the eyes of our guests, chefs, ranchers, food scientists, farmers & many more.

Spoon Full of AI

In this show, The Spoon’s own Carlos Rodela dives into the cutting-edge world of artificial intelligence. We go face-to-face with industry innovators who share firsthand how AI is transforming their industry and how they are meeting the challenge by utilizing AI in their business. In each episode, we’ll also explore the latest AI tools powering big change, complete with suggestions for leveraging them in your business.

The Reimagining Restaurants Podcast

In this podcast, I talk to entrepreneurs, chefs, and industry leaders who are redefining what it means to run a modern restaurant—leveraging robotics, AI, automation, and sustainable practices to enhance customer service, optimize operations, and drive profitability.

And, of course, we’ll continue to feature The Spoon Podcast, our flagship show covering innovators across the food system. Over the next couple of months, we’ll spotlight conversations on The Spoon Podcast with all of our new hosts so you can get to know them better and hear from them about why their podcasts are must-listens.

You can check out all of our shows on The Spoon Podcast Network page, where you’ll also find links to the podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and their RSS feeds. Please subscribe!

And if you’d like to support our podcasts and independent media through sponsorship, drop us a line—we’d love to have that conversation.

Finally, a big shoutout to our hosts who believed in this vision, and to The Spoon team, including Carlos Rodela (our producer) and Tiffany McClurg, our head of operations (and new warm-read specialist!).

We can’t wait to bring these conversations to you. Stay tuned!

When it Comes to Using AI To Shape New Culinary Creations, Ali Bouzari Thinks Food is Mostly ‘All Hands’

In the most recent episode of the Spoon Podcast, I caught up with food scientist Ali Bouzari to discuss his work and get his thoughts on new technologies that are helping to shape the future of food.

I first met Bouzari when he spoke at the Culinary Institute of America a few years ago about how robotics could impact food service and other sectors. At the time, he talked about Creator—a burger restaurant powered by robots—and suggested that food robots could sometimes do things that most food service employees could not replicate. He specifically referred to how Creator’s burger bot could create more intricate structures in the burger patty than possible to enhance mouthfeel.

When I asked him about this on the podcast, he suggested that while yes, there are things technology can do, he was worried about the recent obsession with AI and using it to craft recipes and new culinary creations. He drew a parallel between AI’s notorious difficulty in rendering realistic-looking human hands in artwork and the challenge of using AI in food production.

“You know that recurring motif where somebody will put a seemingly impressive piece of AI-generated imagery up and be like, ‘My God, look at Darth Vader doing this thing in Saturday Night Fever or something.’ And everybody always says, ‘Look at the hands, look at the fingers.’ And there’s always something wrong with the hands. There’s something that is difficult for AI to crack. What I would say it is most of food is hands. Food is basically all hands.”

Bouzari also shared how multiple clients had approached him after playing with generative AI tools to experiment with developing food products. “We have clients being like, ‘Hey, ChatGPT said we should put arrowroot flour in this cookie.’ I think that somebody is feeding all of the AI brains a lot of great information about arrowroot. Because three different people on three different projects have said that AI said, ‘Have you tried arrowroot?’ which is, in a lot of instances, kind of a useless ingredient.

But thinking about things like AI have caught his attention, Bouzari told me the biggest challenge that has his attention nowadays is the impact of climate change and how food brands are facing a reality that their products may not have a future if they continue to do things – and create food products – in the same way as they have in the past.

One example he gave is the global cacao shortage. “Chocolate is in trouble,” Bouzari said. He pointed to how disruptions in cacao production are driving up costs and threatening the availability of what is a beloved staple. This isn’t some distant, theoretical issue Bouzari told me. “It’s already happening.”

And it’s not just chocolate.

“Coffee’s next,” said Bouzari. “Coffee might do a thing where, like grapes, it just creeps higher and higher latitudes as things change.”

And because of this urgency food brands are now faced with that Bouzari gets a little annoyed with how food makers are sometimes distracted with shiny new toys while missing the big picture.

“My thinking with food is it’s a little bit extra irksome, the conversation around AI sometimes, where people say, ‘I’ve spent six months trying to get this generative AI to make me a new pasta recipe,’ when I don’t think we need that. And the water and energy cost of all of that computation is directly contributing to, I think, the actual biggest existential problem we have, which is climate change.”

We also talk about Bouzari’s experience on the Netflix Show Snack vs. Chef, his thoughts on alternative proteins and what gets him excited about the future.

You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or by clicking play below.

Podcast: The Story of Mill With Matt Rogers

If you follow the world of kitchen and consumer food tech startups, you know there hasn’t been much in the way of venture-funded startups targeting food waste in the home.

That changed last year when Mill lifted the veil on the company and its first product, the Mill Bin, a smart food recycler. The company’s unique approach included a subscription-based home food waste recycler and an accompanying service that would turn the food grounds into chicken feed. 

We decided to catch up with the company’s CEO, Matt Rogers, to hear about the journey to making Mill. During our conversation, we also talk about:

  • The early lessons in building a tech-powered food recycling appliance and service
  • Why Matt decided to target food waste after building a smart home company in Nest
  • The challenges in getting consumers to think about wasting less food
  • How better data can help us change consumer behavior 
  • The future of food waste reduction technology in the consumer kitchen

You can listen to the full episode below or find it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

You can also watch the video of our conversation on YouTube or below.

A Conversation With Matt Rogers from Mill

If you want to learn more about Mill, you can head to their website or join us at the Smart Kitchen Summit where we will be hearing from company cofounder Harry Tannenbaum. Use discount code podcast for 15% off tickets.

The Food Tech Show: Fake Nuggets & Real Goodbyes

It was a sad week at The Spoon as we said goodbye to Catherine Lamb.

Catherine is heading off to Chicago to get her MBA at Kellogg University. After that she’ll take over the world, or at least the world of food tech.

I met Catherine for the first time when she volunteered at the Smart Kitchen Summit in 2017. More than one person came up to me during the conference and told me I really needed to hire this person. I interviewed her a couple weeks later and did just that.

If you want to hear the audio version of me getting sappy, you’ll have to listen to the podcast. In addition to saying goodbye to Catherine, we also discuss the following stories:

To listen, just click play below, download the podcast direct to your device, or find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Food Tech Show: How Coronavirus is Accelerating Certain Food Tech Sectors

It’s a scary and confusing time, so I hope getting together with some familiar food tech friends will give you a 30 or so minute respite from the madness.

One warning in advance though: we do talk a little coronavirus, but we do look at the possible bright side for some of those sectors in the food tech space where the outbreak could accelerate adoption.

Other stories we discuss in today’s pod include:

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

Audio Player

The Food Tech Show: Editor Roundtable, Thanksgiving Edition

Like most Americans, the Spoon crew is busy preparing for Thanksgiving, but before we headed off our separate ways to overdose on home made cranberry sauce and tryptophan, we decided to get together to catch up on some of the news of the week.

Here’s the stories we discussed on this week’s show:

That’s it. Time to go make some Instant Pot cranberry sauce (here’s the recipe, btw).

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

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 directly to your device or just hit play below.

Audio Player

Podcast: The AI Powered Sommelier With Amy Gross

A decade ago, Amy Gross was enjoying a glass of wine with her husband when she noticed how the same wine tasted different to different people. From there she began to think about how technology could be used to make personalized wine recommendations, and it wasn’t long before IBM and others wanted to learn more about her tech-powered wine recommendation platform, VineSleuth.

In this podcast, Mike and Amy talk about mapping the flavors of wine using technology, how AI could start to provide really contextual and personalized recommendations for wine, and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below, download it here or subscribe in Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast player.

You can also see Amy Gross talk about the power of AI, data and more at Smart Kitchen Summit in less than two months. Get your tickets today with 25% discount code PODCAST.

Trader Joe’s Podcast is a Hit, Please Don’t Try to Copy It

People get pretty fanatical about Trader Joe’s, and evidently, that rabid fan base goes beyond their grocery baskets and into their ears — the Trader Joe’s podcast has become a hit. (Hat tip to Fast Company.)

As of this writing, Inside Trader Joe’s, which launched its first full episode on May 1, is ranked number 5 on the iTunes “Top Podcast” charts. For some context, that’s right below The New York Times’ The Daily podcast, which gets more than one million listeners a day.

Inside Trader Joe’s is a five-part audio series that delves into how TJ’s products come to be, how the company works, and some of the company history. Though they explicitly say they don’t want this show to be a commercial, it’s totally a commercial. And while I could only make it through half an episode, the production value is high, and I could understand why someone who loves shopping there might be interested to learn more about the store… kinda.

It’s easy to see why Trader Joe’s has dipped its toe into podcasting. According to numbers from Edison Research, an estimated 73 million Americans over the age of 12 report that they’ve listened to a podcast in the last month. Podcasts are a great way to connect with audiences in a one-on-one experience, and often, thanks to headphones, to the exclusion of everything else. People listen in their cars, while they’re working out or just put them on to have in the background at home.

It might not be for me, but I’m all for Trader Joe’s trying this experiment. My bigger problem is the inevitable copycats that will follow. Just as Serial spawned a host of other true crime podcasts, it’s inevitable that Trader Joe’s will strike envy in its competitors, and it won’t be long before we see The Safeway Show, or Kroger’s Korner.

So I’m writing this post to ask — no, to beg — eager marketers out there. Don’t. Just… don’t.

Trader Joe’s is sui generis, and it can’t be replicated with a new marketing channel. The store itself is quirky and its products are interesting, with random bells ringing and teddy bears hidden amongst the merchandise. And it already inspires legions of cult-like fans. Creating a fun podcast revealing some of its secrets is actually on-brand for the company.

Anyone else trying to copy the success of this podcast will just be trying too hard, and it will inevitably not work.

FUN FACT: Trader Joe’s is owned by the Albrecht family, to which, sadly, I have no relation.

Food for Your Ears: Podcasts Worth a Listen

I listen to food podcasts to help me fall asleep. That’s not a dig at their quality or content — quite the opposite. Food podcasts are typically a calm audio oasis at the end of a busy day in a chaotic world. Gentle discussions about recipes or food facts is a great way to drift off to sleep.

If you are looking for a little slumber-inducing relaxation of your own, or something to help make the weekend jog go faster, here are a few of food-related podcasts we enjoy here at The Spoon:

The Sporkful: From WNYC, the show proudly proclaims “It’s not for foodies, it’s for eaters,” and it’s true. Host Dan Pashman’s down to earth approach and curious mindset means you’ll always get a unique perspective on food and food culture. Good place to start: The Search for the Aleppo Sandwich.

The Splendid Table: It’s all in the title. This show is… splendid. Refined. Francis Lam recently took over hosting duties and helped make the show a “modern, multicultural weekly snapshot of the food world.” Good place to start: Eating in the Instagram Era.

Tech Bites: This show from hipster Brooklyn food-focused Heritage Radio Network covers all things food tech. Each week, Jennifer Leuzzi interviews founders on how they’re using tech to shake up the food system. Good place to start: 2018 Trends: Seaweed.

Milk Street Radio: Christopher Kimball’s new show is more global than his previous work on America’s Test Kitchen, but that just gives him a broader canvas from which to pull fascinating stories and interviews from interesting people. Good place to start: Nathan Myhrvold on Bread Science.

Healthy or Hoax: Is plant-based milk a fad or the real deal? Is your smoothie hiding things from you? New Zealand broadcaster Carol Hirschfeld ponders these questions and more on NZ Radio’s Healthy or Hoax podcast—a straightforward-yet-funny, evidence-based look at what’s behind all those food trends. Good place to start: Getting Milk Out of an Almond.

Of course, you can also listen to our podcasts for entertaining and insightful discussions about the future of food. Check out Mike Wolf’s recent chat with The Future Market’s Mike Lee about Reimagining The Grocery Store.

Do you have a favorite food podcast that you love to listen to? Leave a link in the comments below.

Special thanks to Catherine Lamb and Jenn Marston for contributing to this list.