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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

SKS europe

Q&A with Thomas Cooper, Founder of Grocery Replenishment Startup Pantri

We’ve got a brand new Q&A in our series to introduce this year’s talented crop of startup showcase finalists for Smart Kitchen Summit Europe. Next up is Thomas Cooper, founder of Pantri. They’ve developed a platform that connects your smart kitchen appliances to online retailers to optimize grocery replenishment. (So you’ll never run out of olive oil or paper towels ever again.)

Head to the SKS Europe blog to learn more about how Pantri is working to solve the trickiest problems in the grocery replenishment space, their DIY Amazon Dash-like button, and their plan to avoid startup death traps.

And if you want to meet the Pantri team in person and see their tech in action, register for Smart Kitchen Summit Europe in Dublin on June 11-12th!

Q&A with Jeroen Spitaels, Cofounder of Mealhero

Last week we announced the 8 finalists who will participate in SKS Europe’s Startup Showcase. Next month they’ll head to Dublin to pitch our panel of judges on how their company will change the future of food and cooking.

We’re launching a series of Q&A’s so you can get to know these founders a little bit better. First up: Jeroen Spitaels. He’s the cofounder of Mealhero, a Belgian startup which combines a frozen meal kit service with a connected countertop steamer. Head to the SKS Europe blog to read our Q&A with Spitaels and learn what inspired him to start Mealhero, the power of a good vacation, and why he wants a smart tech chef in every home.

If you haven’t already, register to join us for SKS Europe this June 11-12 in Dublin! You’ll get to meet these ambitious founders, rub shoulders with kitchen innovators, and hang out in the Guinness Brewhouse.

Just Announced: SKS Europe Startup Showcase Finalists

After some excellent applications and much deliberation, we’ve selected 8 food tech startups to pitch at our SKS Europe Startup Showcase! They’re a diverse and fascinating group, covering everything from guided cooking to taste-pairing to water purification.

Get to know the candidates below and make sure to get your tickets to SKS Europe on June 11-12 to see them pitch, watch their demos, and learn about how their products will impact the future of food. We’ll see you in Dublin!

SKS Europe Startup Showcase

mealhero
This Belgian startup, which we wrote about on the Spoon last year, is a frozen meal kit service with an accompanying cooking device. After selecting a recipe on the mealhero app, users receive a box of fresh-frozen ingredients which they can cook in the connected countertop steamer. The app helps them assemble the prepared components into a final dish.

 

Pantri
Startup Pantri’s grocery usage-tracking service connects to smart devices in your kitchen to enable users to see when they’re getting low on grocery items and reorder from their chosen online retailers. Its website tells users to think of Pantri like a “butler 2.0,” but we view it more like a DIY Amazon Dash platform.

 

 

PlantJammer
Based in Copenhagen, PlantJammer is a vegetarian recipe-generating app which uses AI to help determine optimal flavor pairings in an effort to help inexperienced chefs cook more plant-based dishes and reduce food waste. If you want a more in-depth rundown of PlantJammer’s modular cooking platform, check out our profile on them.

 

Photo: Mitte

Mitte
This Berlin-based startup wants to revolutionize the way we drink water at home. Their smart water machine purifies tap water, then lets you customize it with cartridges that re-infuse the water with minerals or increases the pH level depending on your taste preferences and fitness goals. Bonus: it syncs up with your phone to give you deeper insights into and control over your H2O.

 

Lecker Labs
Startup Lecker Labs is the maker of Yomee, a countertop yogurt maker. We’ve covered this Keurig-like machine before: you pour in your favorite milk (even non-dairy), pop in a Yomee starter pod, select your desired type of yogurt on their app (Greek, stirred, etc.), and in 6 hours it’s chilled to 55 °F and ready to eat.

 

TipCrop
TipCrop is a smart lighting platform which allows growers to fine-tune aspects of their indoor farms (such as temperature, LED intensity, and humidity), giving them the ability to optimize their crops. As of now, their technology is used to grow microgreens and leafy greens in urban farms.

 

Digimeals
Swiss startup Digimeals is working with kitchen appliance companies and recipe publishers to build their cooking interface. Their platforms let you peruse recipes based on what you already have, export the ingredient list for online grocery ordering, and monitor the cooking progress by aggregating data from your smart cooking devices.

 


The final startup finalist will be launching their technology at SKS Europe, so for now we have to keep them shrouded in mystery. But let’s just say their platform could have huge implications for the smart kitchen.

Intrigued? Inspired? Want to hear more? Register for SKS Europe in Dublin on June 11-12th to meet the people behind these startups, hear them pitch, and experience their product demos. 

Talking Sustainable Kitchen Innovation with Electrolux’s David Cronström

Over the past few years, appliance brands large and small have begun to stake their claim on the smart kitchen market. One that’s been especially active is Electrolux; in 2015 the company launched a smart steam oven with a connected camera, and they acquired sous vide company Anova in February of 2017.

In preparation for SKS Europe this June in Dublin, we spoke with David Cronström, their Head of Strategy and Ecosystems, about the future of smart kitchens, what connectivity means to him, and his favorite pasta dish (hint: it has truffles).

Read the full Q&A on our Smart Kitchen Summit blog. If you want to hear Cronström speak in person about creating sustainable innovation, get tickets to see him at SKS Europe in Dublin on June 11-12th!