The Spoon Podcast

Is Brain Health Optimization The Next Big Wave in Wellness?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:24:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Mike catches up with Mo Abouelsoud, CEO of U The Mind Company, about the emerging intersection of brain health, wellness, and consumer technology.

Abouelsoud explains how his company’s non-invasive brain stimulation devices are designed to help treat neurological conditions while also opening the door to cognitive enhancement, better focus, and long-term brain wellness.

The conversation explores whether brain health could become the next major category in wellness, alongside sleep, metabolism, and fitness, and looks at how new technologies might one day give consumers a more complete picture of how their brains and bodies work together.

You can find out more about U the Mind Company at https://uthemind.company/

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Is AI an Enemy or Ally for Recipe Creators?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:30:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Mike catches up with Will Templeton, co-founder and CTO of Allspice, about how the traditional recipe blog model, laden with ads, pop-ups, and static content, is breaking down as users increasingly “lift” recipes into apps, screenshots, or AI tools.

The conversation explores how Allspice is building a new infrastructure layer for recipes, using structured ingredient data and vector databases to make sense of messy, inconsistent inputs from across the web. They also dig into the role of AI in the future of cooking, from conversational interfaces and guided cooking to the tension creators feel between embracing AI as a tool and fearing it as a threat.

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Talking About Nature's Trickster Protein With Ali Wing

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 20:51:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Mike catches up with Oobli CEO Ali Wing to discuss what Wing calls "nature's trickster protein", the sweet proteins they develop for products like ice teas and chocolate bars.

Wing talks about how the company is positioning its sweet protein technology at the center of two major shifts reshaping the food industry: the rise of GLP-1-driven dietary behavior and the growing demand for protein-forward, lower-sugar products. She also explains why the company has shifted from consumer-facing products like teas and chocolate to a B2B ingredient platform, and how partnerships with companies like Ingredion and Mars are helping drive scale.

The conversation also explores the future of sweetening systems, the role of fermentation in food innovation, and why the industry may be entering a new era of large-scale product reformulation.

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Where Are Grocery Stores With AI Adoption in 2026?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 18:00:00 -0000

Mike is joined by Matthew Schwarz, CEO of Afresh, who discusses the company’s expansion from fresh produce to an all-in-one AI solution for the entire grocery store. Matt explains how the company's AI tech has prevented 200 million pounds of food waste annually and explores the rise of agentic AI, the balance between automation and humans, and more.

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Why The Future of Food Testing May Be in Your Brainwaves

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 21:25:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Michael Wolf talks with Mario Ubiali, founder and CEO of neuroscience company THIMUS, about how brainwave data and AI could reshape how food companies develop new products. Ubiali explains how his company uses wearable EEG technology to measure consumers’ neurological responses to food, capturing signals around liking, familiarity, and emotional engagement that traditional surveys often miss. The conversation explores why consumers frequently say one thing but feel another when tasting food, how neuroscience can reveal those hidden reactions, and why combining brain data with AI could create a new generation of predictive tools for food and beverage innovation.

You can find more about THIMUS at their website, https://thimus.com/

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Are Home Kitchen Marketplaces the Future or a Risk to Consumers?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:07:00 -0000

In this episode, Mike sits down with friend, food systems thinker and The Food Corridor founder Ashley Colpaart to talk about the rise of Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs) and what they mean for the future of food entrepreneurship. Ashley shares why she believes lawmakers are trying to avoid an “Uberfication moment,” and why she thinks shared commercial kitchens remain a critical access point for food founders. Drawing on her own origin story growing up in a family hot sauce business that couldn’t scale without infrastructure, Ashley explains why she became interested in shared kitchens as her professional focus and explains how it led her to build her company. You can read Ashley's recent essay on MEHKO movement here on her blog: https://www.thefoodcorridor.com/blog/mehkos-2026-2/

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From Wallaby Milk to AI: Nora Khaldi on Decoding Nature’s Molecular Code

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 19:28:00 -0000

In this episode, Mike sits down with Dr. Nora Khaldi, founder and CEO of Nuritas, to explore how a postdoctoral epiphany about wallaby milk led her to build one of the first AI-powered molecular discovery platforms in food. They discuss how Nuritas uses AI to uncover, validate, and scale molecules into clinically validated ingredients, why ingredient discovery has historically taken decades, and what she's learned over the past decade building Nuritas.

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So You Wanna Know When You're Going to Die? Download This App

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 18:25:00 -0000

In this conversation, Mike interviews Brent Franson, CEO of Death Clock, a company that uses AI to predict when you're going to die (aka life expectancy) based on health data.

Brent and Mike discuss the origins of Death Clock, the importance of preventative health, and the role of consumer responsibility in managing health. Brent shares insights on the demand for longevity solutions, his entrepreneurial journey, and the potential for health tech to democratize access to quality healthcare.

The conversation also touches on the challenges and opportunities in the longevity movement, including the impact of big tech companies.

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What Should Impossible Foods Do Now?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 19:09:00 -0000

In this episode, Mike sits down with Rachel Konrad, former head of communications at Impossible Foods and now a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business, to talk about the state of alternative protein and where Impossible lost its way. Drawing on her experience as the company's first communications hire, Konrad argues that Impossible’s biggest mistake wasn’t market headwinds but a strategic shift away from its original biotech ambition toward a conventional CPG playbook. Mike and Rachel discuss founder vision, venture capital incentives, and the missed opportunity to license core technology to major food brands. They also discuss what a real turnaround would require if Impossible hopes to reclaim its original mission and relevance in the future of food

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Writing The Cookbook for Cultivated Meat With Alex Shirazi

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 23:38:00 -0000

In this episode, Mike sits down with Alex Shirazi, a food technologist, conference organizer, and longtime observer of the cultivated meat industry, to talk about his latest project, A Scientist’s Cookbook.

Shirazi explains why he chose to launch a cookbook via Kickstarter as cultivated meat products inch closer to market. They discuss writing a cookbook for products that aren't yet widely available, the cooling of investment in the sector, hybrid products as a bridge to scale, and the political pushback against alternative proteins. Alex also talks about the origin story and the future of the Cultured Meat Symposium.

You can find and support Alex's Kickstarter for The Scientists's Cookbook here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hotdogfyi/a-scientists-cookbook/description

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Restoring Fiber's Lost Signal in Modern Food

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 21:43:00 -0000

Michael Wolf sits down with Matt Barnard and Matt Amicucci, PhD, the cofounders behind one.bio and its newly launched consumer brand GoodVice, to discuss why they believe the modern food system is broken and why it starts with fiber. The conversation examines the science of dietary fiber as a biological signal and how decades of food processing have stripped those signals. They talk about why most fiber on the market today either doesn’t work or creates trade-offs consumers won’t tolerate. Barnard and Amicucci explain their new consumer line, GoodVice, which they view as a reference product, why GLP-1 drugs have accelerated awareness of fiber deficiency, and how restoring whole-food signals to everyday products could change the future of metabolic and gut health without requiring discipline, restriction, or sacrifice.

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Chef vs Robot: A Conversation at CES about Who Will Cook Our Food in the Future

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 16:45:00 -0000

At CES 2026, the future of cooking took center stage in a conversation about whether robots will replace chefs or simply become their collaborators.

The Spoon Podcast host Michael Wolf moderated a discussion with Tyler Florence, celebrity chef and longtime Food Network host; Nicole Maffeo, founder of Gambit Robotics; and Ali Kashani, CEO of Serve Robotics. They discuss how AI and robotics are entering professional and home kitchens, where automation will take hold, and why creativity, culture, and the human touch remain essential.

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How AI is Changing Agriculture

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 20:52:00 -0000

In this episode, Mike is joined by Tim Beissinger (CTO of Heritable) and Charlie Andersen (CEO of Burro) to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping agriculture. The conversation explores everything from AI-driven plant breeding to how autonomous robots are tackling labor shortages, improving yields. Both Tim and Charlie will be at CES in January, so make sure to check the CES Ag Tech conference (produced by The Spoon and MIke!) out.

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Reinventing the Egg With The EVERY Company's Arturo Elizondo

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 04:32:00 -0000

In this episode, Michael talks with Arturo Elizondo, founder and CEO of The EVERY Company, about the company’s nationwide rollout inside Walmart products, its $55 million Series D fundraise, and the strategic shift toward becoming a “boring but sexy” B2B ingredient supplier powering baked goods behind the scenes. Arturo talks about the early IndieBio days, the decade-long journey from USDA intern to food-tech founder, and why he believes egg-based supply chains are destined for disruption as avian flu risks intensify.

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Traversing the Fiberverse With Carolyn O'Neil

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 18:55:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, registered dietitian and longtime CNN food journalist Carolyn O’Neil joins Mike to traverse the fiberverse and discuss the growing trend of fibermaxxing. Carolyn discusses the science behind different types of fiber, and why Gen Z’s favorite prebiotic sodas are suddenly everywhere. She also breaks down how fiber actually works in the body, why most people get only half the recommended amount, and how social media, CPG innovation, and even CGMs are reshaping consumer nutrition habits.

If you haven't subscribed to Carolyn's podcast, you can find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Eliot Horowitz Wants to Reinvent Robotics Like He Did Big Data

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 22:17:00 -0000

In this episode, Michael talks with Eliot Horowitz, founder of MongoDB and now CEO of Viam, about why the physical world is lagging behind the AI revolution and how Viam is building the foundational platform robotics has been missing.

Eliot shares why robotics needs its “AWS moment,” how better tools can shrink development timelines from years to months, and why practical automation, from kitchen assistants to back-of-house restaurant robots, will arrive long before humanoids.

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Building a Social Impact Food Company With Anna Hammond

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 17:48:00 -0000

In this episode, Mike is joined by Anna Hammond, founder of Matriarch Foods, a social-impact food company that turns farm surplus and manufacturing byproducts into shelf-ready ingredients and meals for food banks, disaster relief, and food service.

Anna has an interesting career journey, going from museums and art publishing to building a triple-bottom-line food startup tackling food waste at industrial scale. Mike and Anna discuss her career path, the economics of upcycling, and how food waste is quickly becoming a real business opportunity.

Enjoy the podcast.

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The State of All Things AI in 2025 (Part 1)

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 19:21:00 -0000

This episode features a wide-ranging conversation between The Spoon's Michael Wolf and his old friend, long-time veteran tech journalist Derrick Harris, about the state of AI in 2025.

Topics discussed include:

The evolution from the early cloud and big-data era to today’s generative-AI boom
How Nvidia became dominant on the training side
How inference is becoming the true infrastructure bottleneck,
Why ChatGPT was a consumer inflection point
How the AI ecosystem is stratifying between foundation-model providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google) and an emerging wave of vertical and agentic applications built on top
Derrick's belief that infrastructure players will sell “picks and shovels” while domain experts own the higher-order use cases.

We'll have a part 2 with another AI expert in just a couple of weeks.

Enjoy!

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Behind The Scenes at the Good Housekeeping Appliance Lab

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 20:25:00 -0000

This week, we catch up with Nicole Papantoniou, the Director of the Good Housekeeping Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab.

We hear from Nicole about what it's like running one of the preeminent testing labs for kitchen appliances in the world, her personal journey to her current position and what she's excited about in terms of kitchen innovation.

Enjoy the podcast!

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Are Food Companies Really Embracing AI?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 16:43:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Mike welcomes Shiru CEO Jasmin Hume to the podcast to catch up on where things sit within the AI and food space in the context of Shiru's own evolution over the past couple of years.

The highlights include:

Talking about how VCs and entrepreneurs talk differently about how AI is being embraced in food
Who will own the foundation models for food in the future
How Jasmin and Shiru have evolved their company and how they talk with food brands about integrating AI
How Jasmin would advise young food scientists to move forward in an era of AI

It's a fun and interesting conversation, so take a listen!

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The Good (and Bad) of AI-Powered Food Tracking Systems

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 18:31:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Mike talks with Steve Statler, CEO and co-founder of AMB.AI, about the rise of ambient AI and energy-harvesting Bluetooth beacons could transform the supply chain.

Steve shares his journey from pioneering Bluetooth beacons at Qualcomm to envisioning a future where everyday items like food, medicine, and clothing are connected and continuously monitored for location, temperature, and even freshness.

The conversation explores the potential for reducing food waste, enabling dynamic expiry dates, and creating “demand chains” that respond in real time, while also tackling the privacy challenges and brand impacts of AI-driven purchasing. Steve balances excitement about the technology’s climate and efficiency benefits with caution about its role in feeding increasingly powerful AI systems.

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A Conversation With Mark Cuban

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 19:56:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Michael Wolf sits down with Mark Cuban for a wide-ranging conversation recorded live at the SKS 2025. Mark and Mike discuss the transformative power of AI, exploring why Cuban believes it's more disruptive than the internet, mobile, or streaming, and how it's already reshaping education, jobs, and entrepreneurship. Cuban shares his views on the broken U.S. healthcare system, his motivations behind launching Cost Plus Drugs, and how GLP-1s might reshape food and wellness. They dive into the changing innovation landscape, the future of hardware and robotics, and why Cuban stepped away from Shark Tank and sold majority control of the Mavericks.

You won't want to miss it!

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From Reality TV Producer to Recipe AI Entrepreneur with Babette Pepaj

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 02:53:00 -0000

In this episode, Mike catches up with Babette Pepaj, founder of Bakespace and the new AI-powered platform BakeBot.

Babette shares her journey from reality TV producer to social media pioneer, launching one of the first food-focused social networks in 2006. She reflects on the rise of food bloggers, the shifting digital landscape, and how she’s using AI to create more responsive, accessible, and personalized cooking tools for home cooks.

Babette will be at Smart Kitchen Summit. Head over to smartkitchensummit.com and use code PODCAST for 15% off your tickets.

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From Surfer to Robot Delivery CEO With Coco's Zach Rash

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 13:53:00 -0000

This episode's guest is Zach Rash, the co-founder and CEO of Coco Robotics. Mike talks to Zach about his journey from aspiring professional surfer to becoming of a robot delivery company backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman.

Zach shares how he and his co-founder started building robots out of their UCLA dorm room during the pandemic, why they focused on human-piloted delivery over full autonomy, and how Coco has grown into a multi-city operation.

Zach will speak at Smart Kitchen Summit. You can get your ticket for SKS at www.smartkitchensummit.com. Use discount code PODCAST for 15% off tickets.

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Why It's So Hard to Build Hardware in America

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 17:25:00 -0000

On this episode of The Spoon podcast, catches up with with longtime food tech innovator and friend of The Spoon Scott Heimendinger about the hidden challenges of U.S. manufacturing, the future of kitchen robotics, and why tooling expertise has all but disappeared in America.

Scott shares insights from his stealth startup Seattle Ultrasonics and his experience navigating domestic vs. overseas prototyping. The two also explore whether a new wave of robot-ready kitchen appliances is coming, what makes Thermomix a surprise hardware juggernaut, and how AI is powering everything from sous vide to smart food storage.

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Leading a Better for You Brand in 2025 With Zevia's Amy Taylor

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 15:28:00 -0000

In this episode, Michael Wolf chats with Zevia CEO Amy Taylor about her journey from helping to shape Red Bull into a cultural force to leading Zevia, a mission-driven brand making zero-sugar, clean-label sodas. They explore Zevia's evolution as one of the better-for-you sodas, its strategy for staying relevant in a competitive beverage market, and its commitment to affordability and authenticity. Amy also shares insights on emerging health trends, ingredient transparency, and how Zevia leverages AI and innovation to build trust and scale impact.

Amy will be at our virtual event Smart Kitchen Summit in July. Make sure to get a ticket at www.smartkitchensummit.com and use the discount code PODCAST for 15% off tickets.

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Live From ReFED 2025: Leanpath's Andrew Shakman on Food Waste's Second Act

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 17:50:00 -0000

We were live this week at ReFED's Food Waste Solutions Summit in Seattle. We had an interview stage on the show floor, where we caught up with a number of great folks to hear their thoughts on innovation in food waste and beyond.

This conversation is with Andrew Shakman, the CEO of Leanpath. You can read my article about this conversation at The Spoon.

You'll also want to check out Eva Goulbourne's conversations with folks from the ReFED conference over on her podcast, Everything But The Carbon Sink.

Finally, make sure to check out The Smart Kitchen Summit, our virtulal event in July where we'll talk to leaders across the food system about the state of food tech and much more! Use discount code PODCAST for 15% off tickets.

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Building a Home Cold Brew Coffee System with Mesh Gelman

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 15:28:00 -0000

In this episode we sit down with Mesh Gelman, the founder and CEO of Cumulus Coffee, to talk about reinventing the cold brew experience. A former Starbucks innovation executive, Gelman shares how his journey from coffee burnout to cold brew evangelist led him to build a sleek countertop system that delivers barista-quality nitro cold brew and cold espresso in under 60 seconds, without the need for nitrogen tanks. The two dive into the challenges of building a hardware startup, the evolution of consumer coffee habits, why cold is the future, and how Cumulus is positioning itself as both a coffee company and a tech innovator.

Check out our upcoming virtual event, Smart Kitchen Summit 2025 at www.smartkitchensummit.com. Podcast listeners can use the discount SPOONPOD for 20% off of tickets.

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Leaving an Iconic Restaurant & Reimagining a Career With Brian Canlis

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 15:42:00 -0000

This episode's guest is Brian Canlis, a third-generation co-owner of the famed Canlis restaurant in Seattle. Brian's last day at Canlis was last week as he looks to launch a new adventure with his college roommate Will Guidara, owner of Eleven Madison Park and author of Unreasonable Hospitality.

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The Future of Biotech Discovery With Reshape's Carl-Emil Grøn

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 05 May 2025 14:35:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, host Michael Wolf sits down with Carl-Emil Grøn, CEO and co-founder of Reshape Biotech, a Copenhagen-based company transforming the world of biotech research. While much of the tech industry has embraced automation and AI, Carl-Emil realized that biotech labs were still operating like it was the 1990s. Reshape is changing that by bringing robotics, machine learning, and a vast proprietary dataset to the lab bench—helping major companies like Unilever and Nestlé run millions of experiments and drastically accelerate the development of safe, natural ingredients. This conversation explores how AI is being used to reengineer food, personal care, and health products—and what it means for the future of the global food system.

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Blended Capital, Big Impact: Funding the Food System Change With Eva Goulbourne

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 10:28:00 -0000

This episode's guest is Eva Goulbourne, founder of Littlefoot Ventures and one of the most insightful voices at the intersection of food, climate, and finance. Eva’s career has taken her from the halls of the World Economic Forum to the launch of ReFED, where she helped build one of the most influential organizations in food waste reduction. Through her work at Littlefoot, she advises brands, foundations, and startups on how to drive meaningful change across our global food system. She’s also the host of the new podcast Everything but the Carbon Sink, where she dives deep into the tough, often-overlooked challenges facing the future of food.

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Andrew Simmons Shares Lessons Learned from Pioneering Pizza Subscriptions

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 15:28:00 -0000

We catch up with Andrew Simmons to chat about his new pizza subscription platform and to hear what his thoughts are after a year of change.

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Predicting the Future of Food with Mike Lee

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 18:37:00 -0000

On this episode of The Spoon Podcast, host Michael Wolf sits down with food futurist and innovator Mike Lee to talk about the launch of The Tomorrow Today Show, his new long-form podcast exploring the future of food. The two Mikes trace Lee’s journey from corporate innovation at American Express to building immersive concept experiences like The Future Market and launching the storytelling-driven magazine Mise. Mike shares how improv, design, and dinner parties shaped his unique lens on the food system, and why he believes corporate boardrooms need more narrative thinking.

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From Mammoth Meatballs to Scaling Cultivated Meat With Vow's George Peppou

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 18:05:00 -0000

In this week's episode, Mike chats with George Peppou, founder and CEO of Vow, the Australian startup pushing the boundaries of cultured meat. George shares how his background in science, food, and invention led to building a company that creates entirely new types of meat, like quail foie gras and even a woolly mammoth meatball. George dives into Vow’s bold approach to scaling production, including the in-house design of the world’s largest food-grade bioreactor, and how they’re defying industry trends by continuously selling cultivated meat in Singapore. George also discusses regulatory progress in Australia and New Zealand, what it takes to bring cultured meat to grocery shelves, and why others are now approaching Vow in the space for manufacturing support.

Check out our big virtual event in July, the Smart Kitchen Summit! www.smartkitchensummit.com

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DIY Solar, Backup Power, and the New Home Energy Stack with Pila's Cole Ashman

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 16:49:00 -0000

In this episode, Mike talks with Cole Ashman, founder and CEO of Pila Energy, about how his company is rethinking home energy with a distributed, plug-and-play battery system.

Instead of a single powerwall in the garage, Pila’s mesh battery network allows users to place smaller batteries throughout the home, appliance by appliance, to back up critical devices like refrigerators and sump pumps.

Cole shares how his experience with Tesla and Span shaped the vision for Pila, explains why whole-home battery backups are out of reach for most people, and explores how Pila is making backup power more affordable and flexible. They also dive into how upcoming policy changes—like Utah’s new legislation supporting plug-in solar and storage—could open up a new era of DIY, portable energy for renters and homeowners alike.

Cole will be joining us at the Smart Kitchen Summit, so make sure to get your ticket today at www.smartkitchensummit.com.

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How Canadian Food Brands are Dealing With the Chaos from the South

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 19:32:00 -0000

Our guest for this episode of The Spoon Podcast is Dana McCauley, CEO of the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN). Dana joins Mike to discuss the impact of recent US trade policies under the Trump administration on the Canadian food industry, highlighting the challenges and uncertainties faced by Canadian food businesses. McCauley also describes CFIN's role in supporting Canadian food companies through innovation and collaboration, and touches upon the strengths and emerging trends within Canada's food tech sector.

The Spoon is bringing back the Smart Kitchen Summit this year July 21-31st. Make sure to check out our website and get your ticket ASAP!

https://www.smartkitchensummit.com/

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How to Lead a Cult Brand Into the Future With Big Green Egg's Dan Gertsacov

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 16:52:13 -0000

This week's guest is Dan Gertsacov, CEO of Big Green Egg, who shares his journey of transitioning from leading digital strategies at global giants like Google and McDonald's to steering an iconic, community-driven cooking brand. Dan talks about his approach to taking over a brand that's only had two CEOs before him (and working with the company's founder, Ed Fisher), and how he envisions taking the company into the future (hint: it doesn't include AI-powered grills).

If you haven't checked out our growing family of podcasts, head over to The Spoon's podcast page and check them out and give them a listen!

https://thespoon.tech/podcasts/

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Uncovering Food Truths With Eric Schulze

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 18:21:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Mike sits down with Eric Schulze, scientist, former regulator, startup veteran, and now the host of Food Truths, a new show on The Spoon Podcast Network. Eric and Mike discuss the vision behind Food Truths and Eric's mission to cut through the misinformation swirling around food, nutrition, and policy.

They also dive into the current turbulence in the U.S. food system, the shifting political landscape around food additives and cultivated meat, and the regulatory headwinds facing food innovation. With his experience spanning government, academia, and industry, Eric brings a unique and pragmatic perspective to complex issues, aiming to make science accessible without the usual hype or partisanship.

During the pod, Eric also reflects on his journey—from working at the FDA to joining Upside Foods as one of its first senior hires—and how he honed his ability to communicate science clearly.

Whether you’re a food industry professional, a science enthusiast, or just someone who wants to know which banana to buy, this episode is packed with insight, candid conversation, and a glimpse into the kind of deep-dive discussions Food Truths will bring to the table.

You can subscribe to Food Truths on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Visit the show page here for more info: https://thespoon.tech/food-truths/

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From Simpsons Writer to Food Influencer With Bill Oakley

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 18:47:43 -0000

Bill Oakley, a writer and producer for shows like The Simpsons, discusses his unexpected career shift into becoming a food influencer and reviewer. He recounts his childhood fascination with fast food, which led to a lifelong fascination with the latest offerings at the drive-thru and grocery store. Mike and Bill discuss trends in the fast-food industry, Bill's shift towards reviewing a broader range of American foods and packaged goods, and his excitement for innovative condiments. They also talk about Bill's move into hosting ticketed dinners featuring regional cuisine, and how he beat Disney to the punch in trademarking the name "Steamed Hams" (his membership club is the Steamed Ham Society), a long-time Internet meme that originated from a script he wrote for the Simpsons.

You can find more about Bill at his website, billoakley.com and on Instagram at ThatBillOakley.

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The Story Behind Kojicon, a Global Online Event About Fermentation

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:56:35 -0000

In this week's episode, Mike is joined by Eric Dawson of the Yellow Farmhouse and Rich Shih, author of "Koji Alchemy". They discuss their online event, Kojicon, and the rich history and global use of koji and fermentation.

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Bringing The World's Best Restaurant into the Future with Noma's Kevin Jeung

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 22:30:00 -0000

This is an episode of The Reimagining Restaurants Podcast, a podcast focused on the future of restaurants by The Spoon Podcast's Michael Wolf. You can find out where to subscribe here.

Episode Summary: In this episode of Reimagining Restaurants, host Michael Wolf sits down with Kevin Jeung, Chef of Research and Production at the legendary restaurant Noma. Kevin shares his journey from washing dishes in Toronto to helping innovate at what many consider the world’s greatest restaurant. They discuss his early culinary experiences, his time in San Sebastian, his role in Noma’s evolution, and the restaurant’s transition towards product development and global pop-ups.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Kevin’s unconventional path from university dropout to fine dining innovator.
His experiences working in renowned kitchens around the world, including Noma, Mugaritz, and Gramercy Tavern.
Why Noma is shifting from a full-time restaurant to a product and research-driven food lab.
The philosophy behind Noma’s pop-ups and how they approach new culinary landscapes.
How Noma is using fermentation and product development to bring its flavors to a broader audience.
The role of AI and technology in culinary innovation and research.
Kevin’s personal cooking habits, favorite kitchen tools, and his newfound appreciation for Cantonese cuisine.

Resources & Links:

Noma Projects
Taste Buds Membership – Join to get exclusive early-access products.
The Spoon Podcast Network – Explore other great food tech and restaurant innovation podcasts.

Subscribe & Follow: Love this episode? Make sure to subscribe to Reimagining Restaurants on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. And if you enjoyed it, leave a review—it really helps!

Join the Conversation: Join our Spoon Slack to let us know what you think about this episode and get early peaks at other episodes.

Thanks for listening—stay tuned for more conversations with industry pioneers shaping the future of restaurants!

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Food Scientist Adam Yee on How Podcasting Has Changed His Career

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 22:14:23 -0000

In this episode, Mike welcomes Adam Yee to discuss his journey in food tech, his extensive experience as a podcaster, and his evolving role in the industry. The conversation covers Adam’s first-time experience at CES, the origins of his My Food Job Rocks podcast, and how podcasting has shaped his career—from networking opportunities to job offers. Adam shares insights from his time as a food scientist, his role in various startups, and the founding of Sobo Foods, a company focused on innovative dumplings.

Show Outline:

Introduction

Mike and Ada catch up on CES experience

Adam's Podcasting Journey

How My Food Job Rocks started 10 years ago
The podcast’s mission: Making food jobs as exciting as tech jobs
Growth through interviews with food scientists, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders
Memorable moments, including an interview with Harold McGee

Career Journey in Food Science

Early days at a granola bar factory in Phoenix
Transition to Isagenix to develop protein bars
Founding Sobo Foods and launching dumplings
Lessons from working at Motif FoodWorks and observing the food tech boom

Podcasting as a Career Catalyst

How My Food Job Rocks led to a role at Better Meat Co.
Influence on Paul Shapiro starting his podcast
Podcasting as a powerful networking tool

The Evolution of My Food Job Rocks

Relaunching the podcast: Season 2 with a focus on deeper industry insights
Exploring underrepresented food careers (e.g., farmers, venture capitalists)
Introduction of a new segment: Dig In, focusing on specific food industry trends

Maybe Food, Maybe Tech Podcast

How it started as Crisis Meets Opportunity
Analyzing food trends through the lens of global events and technology
Example: Understanding the impact of avian flu on egg prices
Discussing alternative proteins and food system innovations

The Future of Food Media & Podcasting

The growing influence of podcasts vs. books
The potential of video content for food tech discussions
Challenges of reaching frontline workers for interviews

Where to Find Adam Yee

Best way to connect: LinkedIn

Here is the story of The Spoon Podcast Network. Find Adam's podcast and more great shows at The Spoon Podcast Network page.

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The Future of Farming With Agtonomy's Tim Bucher

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 22:32:40 -0000

In this episode, Mike Wolf (The Spoon) sits down with Tim Bucher, CEO of Agtonomy, to discuss the intersection of agriculture, AI, and automation. Bucher shares his unique journey from growing up on a dairy farm to working at Silicon Valley giants like Apple, Next, WebTV, and Dell, before merging his two passions—farming and technology—to start Agtonomy.

The conversation explores:

How Bucher’s farming roots influenced his path into tech
His work with Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, and other Silicon Valley pioneers
The challenges facing modern farmers and how automation can help
What physical AI means for the future of agriculture
How Agtonomy partners with farm equipment manufacturers to accelerate autonomous solutions

We also just launched The Spoon Podcast Network! You can read about the reason behind our new network and see links to the shows here. (https://thespoon.tech/meet-the-spoon-podcast-network/)

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An AI Tidal Wave at CES 2025

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 18 Jan 2025 21:14:41 -0000

In this episode, Mike sits down with Raj Singh, a seasoned entrepreneur and product developer, to discuss the latest trends in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies showcased at CES. Raj shares his firsthand observations from the event, offering insights into how AI, robotics, and smart devices are shaping the future.

The Podcast Breakdown:

AI Innovations in Consumer Apps: Raj discusses his development of GPT Food Cam, an app that simplifies food calorie tracking with AI, emphasizing usability and consumer behavior.
The Role of Smart Glasses and AR: Raj highlights the evolving role of augmented reality glasses and how AR technology is positioned to revolutionize professional and consumer applications.
Physical AI and Robotics: Autonomous devices, from garbage bins to plant-watering systems, caught Raj’s attention as examples of how AI is entering everyday life.
The Next Wave of AI: Raj explains concepts like language action models (LAMs), multimodal outputs, and the path toward artificial general intelligence (AGI). He also discusses the importance of high-quality data for training AI and the role of synthetic datasets.
The Evolution of SaaS and No-Code Development: Raj delves into the debate between building custom tools internally versus using traditional SaaS products, reflecting on how no-code platforms are reshaping software development.

Whether you went to CES or not, you won't want to miss this episode to hear how AI showed up at the big tech show and to hear Raj's insights on what it all means and where he sees AI going.

Where to Find Raj Singh: LinkedIn, Linktree, and @mobileRaj on Threads, BlueSky, and Twitter.

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Why Your Next Stove Should Have a Battery With Sam Calisch

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 22:02:54 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, we sit down with Sam Calisch, founder and CEO of Copper, to explore how his company is trying to upend and catalyze the induction stove market by building an appliance with built-in batteries. Sam shares his journey from climate tech lobbyist and ecosystem builder to launching Copper, the challenges of breaking into the appliance industry, and how Copper’s products could eliminate the need for costly rewiring while also delivering a better cooking experience. We also dive into the future of energy-efficient homes, smart appliances, and the role of batteries in transforming our kitchens—and our power grids.

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Building a Smart Kitchen Product With Ome Kitchen's Akshita Iyer

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 20:39:27 -0000

This week we are joined by Akshita Iyer, CEO and co-founder of Ome, a smart kitchen startup that’s revolutionizing home safety with its second-generation smart stove knob. Originally launched under the name Inirv, the company’s journey began with a simple idea born from a personal experience—retrofitting stoves to prevent kitchen fires and help those aging in place. From a 3D-printed prototype in 2016 to delivering their first product through Kickstarter, Iyer shares the highs and challenges of bringing a hardware product to life, including turning down a Shark Tank deal and navigating complex safety standards.

Here's what we discuss in this week's podcast:

Iyer shares how her mother’s experience with Parkinson’s and a kitchen fire inspired her to start the company.
The challenges of developing the product, from idea to fully functional smart knob.
Iyer's Shark Tank experience, including an offer from Robert Herjavec that they chose to decline.
How Ome Smart Knob prevents fires by automatically shutting off burners, with a focus on helping older adults and those with cognitive decline.
The UL 858 safety certification and the company’s role in updating industry standards.
How insurance companies may someday incentivize the adoption of smart safety devices.
How Ome is working with senior living communities to gather data on reducing cooking-related risks.

You can find out more at Ome Kitchen (www.omekitchen.com).

Join The Spoon this week for a live conversation with two scientists from NotCo on how they are using AI to create new flavors and fragrances.

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Food Scientist Ali Bouzari

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 23:26:00 -0000

Ali Bouzari, a culinary scientist and co-founder of Pilot R&D, joins the podcast to discuss the intersection of food and technology. Bouzari shares his insights on the potential and limitations of AI and robotics in the culinary world, emphasizing the importance of approaching these tools with a critical eye. He also highlights the significant impact of climate change on the food industry, specifically citing the challenges facing chocolate production.

Bouzari discusses his work at Pilot R&D, where his team assists food entrepreneurs in developing and scaling up new products. He describes their process, which includes ingredient sourcing, extensive trials, and sensory evaluations like the "smellathon." The episode concludes with Bouzari's reflections on the evolving food landscape, emphasizing the need for adaptability and a sense of culinary adventure in the face of global challenges

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Sam Rose and Why She Loves Building Consumer Products

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 22:10:26 -0000

Today's conversation is with Sam Rose, who has spent her entire career unraveling the complexities of bringing consumer products—often kitchen-related—to life.

I first met Sam about eight years ago, introduced through our mutual friend, Scott Heimendinger, who was collaborating with Sam on developing a next-generation coffee grinder.

But this wasn’t just any coffee grinder. It was a cutting-edge, tech-forward device that could sense the freshness of the beans, use burr grinders to achieve perfect consistency, and more. In other words, it was exactly the kind of innovative kitchen gadget that intrigued me, especially as someone who organized the Smart Kitchen Summit.

However, Sam’s journey didn’t begin with coffee grinders. Her first product was much simpler—at least from a technology standpoint—and was inspired by a personal frustration. Disgusted with a cheap silicone spatula, Sam thought, "Why don’t I just make my own?"

And that’s exactly what she did. Throughout her entrepreneurial journey, Sam has not only mastered the art of creating and selling her own consumer products to hundreds of thousands of customers but has also developed a comprehensive set of business processes and technologies to help others do the same. To top it off, she’s now investing in companies she believes she can help succeed—focusing on physical consumer products, a category that many investors shy away from.

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Can You Grow Meat With Light?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 19:41:00 -0000

Lab-grown or cultivated meat companies have struggled lately as they try to figure out how to do something that's never been done before: grow meat in large quantities in big metal vats known as bioreactors.

Part of the challenge is figuring out how to get the meat cells to grow. The technology to do this has been borrowed from the world of pharma, an industry where you can charge thousands of dollars for drugs.

Deniz Kent thinks he has the answer. His company, Prolific Machines, is replacing these expensive growth medium with the cheapest source of energy in the world: light.

Link: Prolific Machines Website

Make sure to subscribe to our weekly Food Tech News Show podcast where we talk about some of the top stories of the week in the world of food tech.

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How a Non-Scientist & Former Lobbyist Started a Future Food Company

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 16:28:55 -0000

This week's episode features a conversation with Paul Shapiro, who went from being a lobbyist who advocated for better animal treatment to building a future food company that leverages technology to reduce our reliance on animal agriculture.

Links:

Paul's website: https://www.paul-shapiro.com/

Paul's company: The Better Meat Co.

Paul's book: Clean Meat, on Amazon.

Also, make sure to subscribe to our weekly Food Tech News Show podcast where we talk about some of the top stories of the week in the world of food tech.

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Catching Up on Virtual Restaurants With VDC's Robbie Earl

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 01:32:29 -0000

The episode's guest is Robby Earl, president of Virtual Dining Concepts (the company behind Beastburger). Robby is also president of Linked Eats, a new technology company that makes software for virtual restaurant brand operators.

I caught up with Robbie last week to talk about his new company and its technology and to get an update on what is going on in the virtual restaurant space, an industry that has seen some challenges in recent years. We also talk about the reshuffling of the VDC brand portfolio and get an update on the lawsuit between VDC and BeastBurger.

Enjoy the conversation!

Remember to subscribe to our new show, The Food Tech News Show. Our latest guest is Molly Wood, longtime podcaster and host of Everbody in The Pool.

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The Story of Chef Robotics

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 16:32:00 -0000

This interview is with Rajat Bhageria, an investor and technology founder who debuted his food robot after working stealthily for five years.

Bhageria, a master’s graduate of Penn’s Robotics and Machine Learning Lab, started his first company in high school, a social network for young writers. During college and grad school, he founded Third Eye, a company using computer vision to assist the visually impaired.

I got to know Rajat in 2019 when he spoke at our food robotics conference called ArticulaTE. At the time, he was just getting started exploring the idea of food robotics while also running his venture capital firm Prototype Capital.

He took this knowledge and what he learned as an investor and started Chef, a company that makes a food robot that assembles cooked and ready-to-eat food in high-volume environments. This focus, says Bhageria, is much different from the bulk of robots in the market, most of which focus primarily on prep and cooking in restaurants and food service.

In this conversation, we talk about:

Why it's important to have great data when building vertical-specific robot like Chef
Why Rajat felt that restaurants is the wrong part of the value chain to start building food robot
How early founders should focus on understanding the pain points of their future clients before building their product
Why Rajat believes that home food robots will never be a big market
Where he sees this space going over the next decade
and much more!

If you'd like to explore how AI and automation will change food, you won't want to miss our upcoming Food AI Summit on September 25th. Visit the website and use the coupon code PODCAST to get 15% off tickets.

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Food Tech News Show: Food Tech Funding Drops in 1H 2024

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 15:48:00 -0000

The Spoon is launching a dedicated Food Tech News Show podcast. which you can find here on Overcast, on Pandora (and here on our podcast host) and Apple Podcasts. \And, of course, you can listen to this episode on The Spoon feed.

In the future, we will focus on interviews and deep dives here on The Spoon Podcast, so make sure to subscribe to FTNS for your weekly shot of food tech news.

On this episode, Michael Wolf and Carlos Rodela welcome Peter Bodenheimer, a longtime food tech investor and operator, to discuss the current state of food and ag tech funding. In this episode, they delve into:

The decline in agrifoodtech investments in the first half of 2024, with startups raising $7 billion across 427 deals, a significant drop from H1 2023.
Upside Foods’ recent layoffs and industry challenges due to legislative bans and decreased venture capital funding.
SharkNinja’s latest innovation, the Ninja SLUSHi™ Professional Frozen Drink Maker, which brings commercial-grade slushies to home kitchens.
Chef Robotics emerging from stealth mode to showcase its new robot and announce early customer partnerships.
Thimus’ groundbreaking technology, the T-Box, which reads brainwaves to assess consumer reactions to food products.

Tune in to The Spoon's new dedicated weekly food tech news show!

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How is Kraft Heinz Preparing For the Future of Food?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 18:28:00 -0000

For most Americans, the Kraft and Heinz brands have been ever-present in our cupboards and fridges for our entire lives. Products like Oscar Meyer hot dogs, Kraft cheese, Velveeta, and Jello. Household names all.

The company resulted from the 2015 merger between Kraft Foods and Heinz. Now the third biggest food brand in North America, we thought it would be interesting to hear how they think about innovation and reinventing their product lineup.

To do that, we sit down with Kraft Heinz's President of R&D for North America, Robert Scott.

As a part of this conversation, we talk with Robert about:

The company's partnership with NotCo and how they are using the Guiseppe AI to develop new plant-based products.
How he sees AI becoming interwoven into the company's product development cycles
Why they created a Freestyle-like machine for custom condiments called the Heinz ReMix
The idea behind the 360Crisp and innovating our food products and how they cook in our kitchens
How Robert would advise aspiring food scientist to pursue a career path in food research and development
And much more!

At the Food AI Summit in September in Berkeley, we will explore how big CPGs can interweave AI into their product development and discuss lessons from the front lines. You can learn more about the Food AI Summit at our website, and make sure to use the coupon code PODCAST for 15% off tickets.

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AI-Powered Rolling Pins? Lessons From The First Wave of Smart Kitchen

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:15:00 -0000

This episode is the audio from the very first session at SKS 2024, Lessons From the First Wave (And How to Prepare for The Next One).

The session included Chris Young (Combustion, ChefSteps, Modernist Cuisine), Scott Heimendinger (Sansaire, Modernist Cuisine and Cuisonic), and Kai Schaffner (Thermomix). The session was moderated by The Spoon's Michael Wolf.

It was a lively conversation about how we are seeing patterns of behavior reminiscent of the last wave, as well as what each of the speakers is excited about for the future.

We'll be talking about some of these same topics at our next event, the Food AI Summit. Use discount code PODCAST for 15% off tickets.

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A Look Back at Smart Kitchen Summit

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 19:53:00 -0000

SKS 2024 is in the books, so Carlos Rodela and Mike sit down and talk about the craziness of the past week, some of the products they checked out at the show, and some of the talks by our great lineup of speakers.

If you'd like to see a video version of this conversation with interspered photos from SKS, check it out on the Spoon later this week.

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Exploring Kitchen Electrification With Impulse Labs' Sam D'Amico

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 19:17:00 -0000

What would happen if you put a big battery in your induction stove?

For one thing, you could cook at a much higher temperature because the power the battery brings to each cooking session is much higher than a traditional outlet. You also have the start of a fractionalized power wall, creating a foundation for what could be your electrified home.

We talk about these and other implications of electrification in this conversation with Sam D'Amico, the CEO of Impulse Labs.

Sam will be at Smart Kitchen Summit this week talking about kitchen electrification and the Impulse Labs story.

If you'd like to see Sam in person, get your ticket for the Smart Kitchen Summit at www.smartkitchensummit.com. Use code PODCAST for 15% off tickets.

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Rethinking The Toaster (and Cooking) With Revolution Cooking's Tom Klaff

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 25 May 2024 20:04:00 -0000

If you follow food Instagram or TikTok, chances are over the past couple of years you've seen a touchscreen toaster from Revolution Cooking. Revolution's toaster went viral during the pandemic, in part because it has a touchscreen, but also because of a price tag north of $250. But Revolution CEO Tom Klaff said the toaster was just the beginning, and the fuller vision for the company started to come into focus this past CES when they introduced the Macrowave, a device that combines microwave cooking, infrared heating, air frying and more. In this podcast, we talk to Tom about why he decided to enter the kitchen technology space, how he and his partner came up with the idea to create a touchscreen toaster, launching during a pandemic, becoming Oprah's favorite toaster, and much more. If you want to meet Tom in person and hear about his heating technology, he'll be at the Smart Kitchen Summit on June 4-5th. Just head to www.smartkitchensummit.com and use the coupon code PODCAST for 15% off tickets.

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The Story of Chefee, The Home Cooking Robot

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 16 May 2024 21:02:00 -0000

This episode's guest is Assaf Pashut, the founder of Chefee, a company that makes home cooking robots. If there's a category in kitchen technology where there have been lots of startups over the past few years, it's food robotics. Zume, Flippy, Remy Robotics, BurgetBot, and Picnic to name a few. Even Travis Kalanick is getting into the act. However, most food robots are made for commercial kitchens and that's for good reason. As consumers tend to like appliances we're familiar with, so the idea of having a robot to make our food seems like something out of a science fiction future. But Assaf Pashut had a vision for using robotics to help us make better food and so he built Chefee, a home food robotic system that is different than anything out there. It's not a countertop appliance that has automated things within a box, or a system that has big robotic arms attached to the wall. With Chefee, the robotics recede into the background. In this conversation, we discuss how Assaf came up with the idea for Chefee, how he got to where he is today, and his vision of the future. He also tells the story of pitching Chefee on Shark Tank. If you'd like to see Assaf in person you can do so at the Smart Kitchen Summit. Just use coupon code PODCAST at smartkitchensummit.com for 15% off.

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The Story of Samsung Food With Nick Holzherr

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 13 May 2024 19:27:00 -0000

Nick Holzherr is well-known in the smart kitchen space. With the rapid growth of his startup Whisk and the acquisition of the company by Samsung, it's one of the true success stories in this market. Whisk was the first recipe startup to explore early on how to use AI and apply it to recipes. As we find out in this interview, Nick and his team were building everything from the ground up, including buying computer chips to run his AI models a decade ago. Nick also tells the story of going on the British version of The Apprentice and appearing before Lord Sugar (the British version of Donald Trump) to pitch the company. Over the years, Nick's company started working with grocers in Europe and eventually appliance brands, and it wasn't long before he started getting calls about acquiring the company. Nick talks about those heady days in which he got three companies all making bids to buy the company. Nick also discusses what he is excited about and where he sees the use of AI in the kitchen going. If you'd like to see Nick and hear his story in person, I'd encourage you to head to Smart Kitchen Summit. You can use the discount code PODCAST to get 15% off tickets at smartkitchensummit.com.

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The Food Tech News Show: A Look at Our Food Lives in The Year 2055

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 19:06:00 -0000

This week Mike and Carlos be joined by Future Market’s Mike Lee to talk over some of the most interesting stories of the week. Mike Lee also tells us about his new book Mise, which paints four different scenarios depicting the potential direction of our future food system.

Here are all the stories we’ll be talking about.

Bored & Hungry Closes – Food & Web3: A check in on where things are

In March 2022, NFT and crypto investor Andy Nguyen purchased Bored Ape #6184 along with three Mutant Apes and soon decided to establish a Bored Ape-themed restaurant named Bored & Hungry. The restaurant opened its doors on April 9, and by the end of its first day, it had served 1,500 burgers and had lines stretching around the block.

Two years later, Bored & Hungry has closed.

Last week, Nguyen announced on Instagram that the restaurant’s original location in Long Beach, California, was closing. He shared that they had sold the concept to a franchising company from Asia known as HUNGRY Dao.

Is AI-Powered Customer Interaction at Fast Food & Retail Giving Up too Much Privacy?

A Fast Company article titled “How fast food is becoming a new surveillance ground” looks at how new customer interaction layers using things like bio-authentication, cameras, profile information, and more are a new risk for gathering information about the public.

And earlier this week, we saw Steak n Shake launch facial recognition nationwide for check-in.

Are we going through an airport or going to buy a surf and turf?

Vow Thinks Imitating Meat We Eat is Bad Approach. Enter the Quail Parfait.

Green Queen: The Syndey-based startup is today launching its cultivated Japanese quail in Singapore’s Mandala Club, after the country’s regulator gave it the go-ahead to sell the product. But unlike other rollouts of cultivated meat, where chefs are supplied with the meat itself (which they then incorporate into dishes), Vow is taking a novel approach. What restaurant kitchens get is a parfait containing its cultivated quail.

Mike’s Book about The Future of Food

The four future visions in Mise (pronounced “meez”), which range from the year 2033 to 2067, are created to help people understand the potential long-term impact of things that are happening today in the world on our food system. The book identifies 5 major happenings in society, technology, the economy, the environment, and politics (abbreviated and referred to as the STEEP factors) that will have a profound impact on the way the world produces and consumes food.

We'll be talking about some of these food futures and how it will shape our lives at the Smart Kitchen Summit on June 4-5th in Seattle. If you'd like to join us, you can use the discount code PODCAST for 15% off tickets at checkout.

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Food Tech News Show: Apple Eyes Home Robots

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 15:34:00 -0000

This week on the Food Tech News Show we are joined by Scott Heimendinger, one of the inventors of the home sous vide circulator and a long-time kitchen tech inventor.

Here are the stories we talk about:

Apple is working on robots for the home! – From Bloomberg: “The original concept for the robot was a device that could navigate entirely on its own without human intervention — like the car — and serve as a videoconferencing tool. One pie-in-the-sky idea within Apple was having it be able to handle chores, like cleaning dishes in a sink.

Google has used its latest AI to create a new tool that creates a fusion recipe between two culinary cultures. Lifehacker: “According to Google, Food Mood can provide creative inspiration for your next meal. Select two countries and this fusion recipe generator will create one for you. You can choose whether you would like to cook a starter, a soup, a main course or a dessert. For example, why not try a unique blend of flavors from Sri Lanka and Uganda or mixing influences from Oman and Belgium? This experiment was created by artists Emmanuel Durgoni and Gaël Hugo, and uses Gemini 1.0 Pro via Vertex AI.”

Whirlpool has let the entire Yummly team go. Appliance giant Whirlpool has laid off its entire Yummly team. According to industry sources, the company recently laid off all the employees for the recipe and cooking app and website. These sources tell the Spoon that it’s unclear what the company plans to do with the property it acquired in 2017.

Amazon Pulling ‘Just Walk Out’ from Amazon Fresh Grocery Stores – According to a story published in The Information, Amazon is planning to pull its Just Walk Out cashierless technology from its large-format grocery store, Amazon Fresh.

One Robot Pizza Chain Operator Breaks Down the Cost Each Part of the Pizza-Making Process – For small operators (and big ones as well) in the pizza business, Andrew Simmons’s posts on Linkedin have become must-read material.

Scott will be at the Smart Kitchen Summit, talking about some of the lessons he's learned building the kitchen of the future. If you are interested in seeing Scott at SKS, you can use the discount code PODCAST for 15% off tickets.

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The Story of Mill with Matt Rogers

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 17:40:00 -0000

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 had a unique approach, offering 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 could help us change consumer behavior
The future of food waste reduction technology in the consumer kitchen

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.

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The Food Tech News Show: Behold, The Humanoid Kitchen Robot is Here

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 17:51:00 -0000

This week, the Spoon crew got together to discuss some of the big stories of the week on a new weekly video news show we’re launching called The Food Tech News Show.

The stories Carlos Rodela and I discuss include:

You can watch the full show on YouTube, or listen to it on the Spoon podcast.

And, if you’d like to watch next week’s Food Tech News Show, join us on March 22nd at 1 PM Pacific on Streamyard, Twitter, or on our YouTube channel.

Music from #Uppbeat

License code: HKXBEQJCPWPRMN7H

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Building Enabling Technology to Power the Smart Kitchen With Fresco's Anthony Sullivan

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:16:00 -0000

Over the past decade, Fresco has been building technology that helps appliance and housewares brands to create smart kitchen products.

The journey for Fresco started when the company - then known as Drop - created a connected kitchen scale. After finding success selling its scale in the Apple store and other locations, the company started working with other brands to help provide enabling technology to power their smart kitchen solutions.

Fast-forward to today, and Fresco is now working with some of the world's biggest kitchen brands, including Panasonic and Viking, to help them build out their smart kitchen solutions.

To hear about this journey, we welcome Anthony Sullivan, the Chief Product Officer for Fresco, to the podcast.

On the podcast, host Michael Wolf talks with Anthony about:

The journey from a consumer product company to a platform company
Building software for appliance brands
The evolution of the mindset of appliance companies around creating solutions that enable cross-brand connectivity
The challenges of getting consumers to adopt more tech-forward solutions in the kitchen
And lots more!

You can learn more about Fresco at www.frescocooks.com

If you are interested connecting with Fresco and other kitchen tech companies, you'll want to be at the Smart Kitchen Summit on June 4-5th in Seattle. Use the discount code PODCAST for 15% off tickets at checkout.

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The Story of Chefman and Chef iQ with Ralph Newhouse

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 16:39:00 -0000

Around 2009, Ralph Newhouse's company hunted down excess inventory of small electrics and would re-sell them into the secondary market. However, it wasn't long before Newhouse realized he wanted to make his own appliances, and that's when the Chefman we know today was born.

Newhouse wasn't done. As he and Chefman started to see how new connected products made their way into the market over the past decade, he realized he wanted to create a brand around more tech-forward connected products, and that thinking led to the creation of ChefIQ, a startup within a startup focused on the smart kitchen.

In this conversation, Newhouse talks about this journey, why he decided to create a separate company for his connected products, and where he sees the future of the connected kitchen going.

And...for those interested new products, we have a couple reveals by Ralph in this podcast that are heard for the first time.

Have a listen!

For those interested in checking out where the future kitchen is going, you'll want to be at the Smart Kitchen Summit on June 4-5th in Seattle. Use discount PODCAST at checkout for 15% off tickets.

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Overcoming Obstacles To Build Kitchen Tech Hardware With Ovie's Ty Thompson

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 19:24:00 -0000

Ty Thompson and the rest of the Ovie team recently passed a major milestone: They shipped their first piece of hardware.

The product, a consumer food waste management system, was over half a decade in the making. Along the way to market, the founding team faced numerous challenges around funding, finalizing the product concept and design, building prototypes for manufacturing, and finding the right manufacturer to work with.

Ty talks about all of these challenges and the lessons learned, including:

-Battling mission creep around the product's vision

-How to find the right minimum viable product to get it into production

-What you need to do (and what you shouldn't do) when looking to find the right manufacturing partner

-How to balance your life and your day job while hustling to build a startup

And much more.

Ovie will be at Smart Kitchen Summit, so if you like what you hear and want to connect with the team in person, get your ticket at www.smartkitchensummit.com.

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Talking AI and the Future of Cooking With Chris Young

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 14:46:00 -0000

Chris Young is one of the most provocative and interesting thinkers in the future of food and cooking, so any time he visits The Spoon podcast we learn a lot.

This time was no exception.

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, we talk about:

How he has put AI compute into something as small as a thermometer
Where he thinks generative AI and other AI is going in the food and cooking space
How he thinks big companies should approach the AI era
Why he's back creating content for Youtube and other channels again
And much more!

Chris will be back at Smart Kitchen Summit this summer in Seattle, so if you're interested in seeing him there or learning more, head to www.smartkitchensummit.com.

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Talking Underground Delivery With Pipedream's Garrett McCurrach

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 16:31:00 -0000

Food delivery through underground tubes?

Sounds crazy, but it's already happening today, and Pipedream's Garrett McCurrach thinks it just may be the future of delivery.

We catch up with Garrett just a week after they announced their first pilot in the Atlanta suburbs, where they have built a system that delivers food and other items underground for nearly a mile.

During this podcast we talk about how Garrett came up with the idea, what it was like to showcase the system to Jeff Bezos, how the company is working with fast food restaurants to rethink drive-thru pickup and what he sees for the future of underground delivery.

As always, like or subscribe if you haven't already.

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Why Are CPG Brands Freaking Out About Ozempic?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 17:46:00 -0000

This week SuperGut CEO Marc Washington joins the podcast to talk about why new GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are keeping CPG brand CEOs up at night.

These new drugs, which got their start as a new class of pharmaceuticals that help contol type 2 diabetes, have become very popular in recent years as weight loss drug. They are hugely effective in suppressing appetites and reducing the overall calorie intake of those taking them, so much so that some speculate that they could have a significant impact on overall demand for food if, as predicted, tens of millions begin to take them in coming years as the price comes down and more accessible formats (i.e. not shots) become available.

Marc thinks a lot about these drugs because his company, SuperGut, creates a natural alternative to GLP-1 drugs in the form of supplements, snacks and bars. His journey to leading the company was born out of both a personal loss as well as a chance meeting with Dave Friedberg, the CEO of The Production Board.

You can learn more about Super Gut on their website.

And a quick plug before we go: The Spoon is heading up the food tech conference at CES, the world's biggest technology expo. If you'd like to become involved as a sponsor, just fill out this form and we'll be in touch!

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How AI Is Changing Personalized Nutrition

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 17:00:00 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, we welcome Ari Tulla, CEO of Elo Health.

Ari got his start in tech working for mobile giant Nokia, where he helped lead the company's mobile app studio.

However, after his wife experienced a health scare in the late 2000s, Ari decided to turn his attention to the broken health system and built what he describes as a "search engine for doctors."

After he sold that company, he began to think about how the explosion in personal data using wearables and other inputs could help pave a way for food as medicine and personalized nutrition. That journey eventually led to the creation of Elo Health, a company that uses AI to power a personalized nutrition and supplement platform.

Ari will be joining The Spoon and others at the Food AI Summit on October 25th to discuss his journey. If you want to connect with Ari personally (and try an Elo Health personalized supplement!), join us in Alameda. Use the discount code PODCAST for 25% off tickets.

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How One Operator is Reinventing His Restaurant's Tech Stack

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 18:44:00 -0000

Andrew Simmons is an open book.

When the long-time entrepreneur decided to buy a restaurant in 2020, little did he know that in just a few months he would be forced to close his doors due to COVID.

But instead of giving up, he had to get creative and, after surviving the pandemic, he kept on tinkering, trying to figure out how new technology could make his restaurant more efficient.

During this whole experience, Andrew has been documenting his journey via posts on Linkedin and on a blog. As he reinvents his restaurant through technology, he talks about what works and what doesn't, providing a potential blueprint for other operators who are thinking about how technology could change their business.

During this podcast, Andrew and Mike talk about:

How the installation of a pizza robot from Picnic completely changed how he does business
How one piece of game-changing technology, like a pizza robot, forces other changes and adoption of new technology throughout the restaurant's work flow
The impact of new technology on his unit price for pizzas
How analytics software helped him realize his dine-in business was not profitable and how it changed his thinking about how he ran his restaurant
How he was forced to rethink how he used employees through the use of technology and how the employees (and former employees) have reacted
His pizza subscription concept and how he believes it can help him pay for opening new restaurants
Andrew's plans to launch a 100 unit restaurant chain built using off-the-shelf restaurant technology

If you are considering using technology such as robotics for your restaurant, this episode is a must-listen!

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Talking AI & Food With Evan Rapoport

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 20:42:00 -0000

In this week's podcast, we talk food and AI with Evan Rapoport. Over the past decade, Evan has led teams in Google Research and other organizations looking at how AI could impact biodiversity and change. During our conversation, we talk about a project called Tidal, in which he and Google used AI technology like computer vision and applied it to aquaculture. We also discuss the impact of AI more broadly on the food system and how Evan thinks newer technology like generative AI might have an impact sooner than we think on the world of food.

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3D Food Printing & Cooking with Lasers!

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 12 May 2023 17:41:00 -0000

When you think of the kitchen of the future, do you envision a 3D food printer instantly whipping up a dinner or a snack?

While the crazy idea might not happen tomorrow, if life follows the path of science fiction (as it often does), there's a good chance a food printer will be sitting on our kitchen counter in 10 or 20 years.

If we're going to get there, this week's guest Jonathan Blutinger might have something to do with it. Jonathan is a 3D food and software-defined cooking researcher who is trying to envision what this future world of cooking looks like.

In the podcast, we talk about

How Jonathan got started exploring future cooking technologies
What is laser-cooking and how does it pair with 3D food printing
How the current state of the 3D food printing ecosystem compares to other industries like digital music
The difference between printing sweet vs savory products
Will consumers ever accept the idea of 3D printed food?
And lots more!

Enjoy this week's podcast and we'll see you next week!

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From Astrophysicist to Cheesemaker With Oliver Zahn

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 14:53:00 -0000

As a child, Oliver Zahn was a self-described "mathy" kid who had a fascination with how the world worked. This early interest in the mechanics of the universe would lead him to the study astrophysics and embark on a career that would land him at one of the world's top universities teaching cosmology.

But as Zahn went on to become a world-recognized astrophysicist and cosmologist who would also work at places like SpaceX and Google, his interest in another childhood interest - food - continued to grow, especially as he realized the potential of complex mathematical models to effect change in the food system.

That realization led him to found Climax Foods, a company using artificial intelligence models to discover new, more sustainable plant-based ingredients that can replace those derived from animals.

In the episode, Zahn talks about this journey from astrophysicist to future food entrepreneur and the work Climax has done using AI to create cheese with plant-based ingredients.

Podcast Timeline:

How did you get into the field of food? (3:01) Transitioning from Google and tech to Climax (7:28) The cold start problem in artificial intelligence (11:49) Tackling dairy in a holistic way (18:18) Building a consumer brand company vs platform company (22:30) The opportunity for future food companies (25:42) Can generative ai be used to create future foods? (29:15)

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Becoming A Kitchen Tech Reviewer With Wired's Joe Ray

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 22:37:00 -0000

This week we catch up with Wired's Joe Ray. Here at The Spoon we're fans of Joe's kitchen reviews, where he cuts to the quick and tells the reader exactly why he or she should (or shouldn't) buy a product.

In this episode, we take a look back at how Joe got started in food, why he picked up one day and went to France to become a writer, his tutelage under the famous restaurant reviewer François Simon, and his approach to kitchen technology journalism.

We also talk about the current state of kitchen tech and the smart kitchen and where we see it all going.

Enjoy!

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The Story of SideChef: From the Smart Kitchen's Early Days to Rise of AI with Kevin Yu

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 19:26:00 -0000

In this podcast interview, Mike catches up with SideChef's Kevin Yu in the wake of the company's recent funding round to discuss the evolution of SideChef and the smart kitchen market.

A lot has happened since Mike and Kevin first met on the roof deck of a restaurant at SXSW, so they reminisce about old times, talk about the cyclical nature of innovation, and how AI will impact the connected kitchen space. Kevin shares SideChef's AI strategy, his plans for the company, and where he thinks this is all going.

Podcast Outline:

Introduction: (00:00)

-Host: Michael Wolf

-Guest: Kevin Yu, CEO and founder of SideChef

Early days and the birth of SideChef (02:29)

SideChef's recent funding round (03:15)

The evolution of SideChef (05:42)

Plans for the future (07:30)

Expansion of SideChef platform into computer vision and machine vision (10:34)

Collaborating with Bacardi (12:36)

The state of the connected kitchen space (15:59)

Overcoming challenges in the industry (17:00)

The potential of shoppable recipes and future innovations [20:53]

Cyclical nature of innovation and the role of AI [23:02]

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Robots & Money: The Food Robotics Investment Landscape

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 19:54:00 -0000

Are VCs still hungry for food robotics investments?

We ask S2G's Arthur Chow and Vebu Labs' Buck Jordan what their thoughts are on the food automation landscape.

In this podcast we ask:

The current investment climate for food automation
Why founders should consider monetizing on their vision soon through incremental releases of products
The roll-up opportunity for investors
Alternative forms of financing for food robotics founders
Whether we will see a food robotics unicorn

You can watch the video of this session on The Spoon here.

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How the DeSci Movement Will Impact the World of Food

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:55:00 -0000

Do you know what DeSci is?

If you don't, don't feel bad, especially if, like me, food is your primary focus.

A16Z's publication Future describes DeSci as a movement in which "a growing number of scientists and entrepreneurs are leveraging blockchain tools, including smart contracts and tokens, in an attempt to improve modern science. Collectively, their work has become known as the decentralized science movement, or DeSci."

If you're like me and are just learning about DeSci, the reason for that is that while it's a trend that's caught the attention of the biotech and research funding worlds, it hasn't made its way into the future food conversation just yet.

But it's only a matter of time, so I figure there's no better time to learn. To help us do that, our guest for this episode of The Spoon Podcast is Dr. Jocelynn Pearl, a biotech scientist, entrepreneur, and podcaster.

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the following:

What is DeSci?
How DeSci is changing the insular and outdated world of research publishing
The benefits of using Web3 tools like DAOs, blockchain, and NFTs in science research
Why DeSci hasn't yet reached the future food industry just yet and why that may soon change
What the future of science research may look like with these types of tools

If you'd like to hear more from Jocelynn, you can find her podcast, the Lady Scientist Podcast, and read some of her writing on her website.

As mentioned in the episode, we are having an event next week on the state of food robotics, and we'd love for you to join us. So get your free ticket here.

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Tater Tot Valentines & Sourdough Starters

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 00:21:00 -0000

Our special guest is Scott Heimendinger for our weekly food tech news wrapup.

Scott is a long-time kitchen tech inventor and entrepreneur who is currently building his next big thing.

In this episode, we discuss the following stories:

As always, you can find more Spoon Podcasts at our website or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.

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How Will We Feed Astronauts in Deep Space?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:38:00 -0000

Up until now, every morsel of food astronauts eat in outer space was created and packaged on earth. However, as we embark on the era of long-term space flight, NASA and other space agencies realize that that will need to change.

As the Senior Project Manager for Space Crop Production and Exploration Food Systems for NASA, this is the problem Ralph Fritsche has been thinking about for the past decade. Ralph, who helped develop the Deep Space Food Challenge, works with his team to try and figure out how exactly they'll feed astronauts when they set up camp on Mars over a decade from now.

If you've ever wondered about how we feed space travelers today and far into the future, this is the podcast for you!

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The Bloomberg Alt-Meat Hullabaloo with Rachel Konrad

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 16:39:00 -0000

In this week's episode we catch up with Rachel Konrad, a former journalist who has spent the last decade-plus working for Tesla, Impossible Foods and now the Production Board.

Rachel joins Michael Wolf and Carlos Rodela to talk about her background, the recent controversy around Bloomberg's article declaring plant-based meat a fad, and how she helped Impossible bring food tech to CES in 2019 with the launch of the Impossible 2.0 burger.

It's a really fun conversation that you won't want to miss!

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A Look Back at The Year in Food Tech With S2G's Tonya Bakritzes

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 16:18:00 -0000

It's almost the end of 2022 and so we decided to catch up with S2G Managing Director Tonya Bakritzes.

In this podcast we talk about:

-The impact of inflation and global macroenvironmental headwinds on the food tech landscape

-The plant-based meat sales slowdown and what it means for the space longterm.

-Some areas to look forward to in 2023

You can find out more about S2G here.

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Hospitality in the Era of Web3 with Ben Leventhal

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 22:06:00 -0000

Ben Leventhal has nothing if not good timing.

In 2004 the New York entrepreneur launched Eater at the dawn of the blogging era, back when food media was still mostly legacy publications and message boards.

After selling Eater to Vox, he went on to launch Resy in 2014 just as restaurants were beginning to bristle at the data practices of legacy online reservations systems such as OpenTable. He'd eventually sell his second company to American Express.

And now Leventhal is looking to create his third founder success story with the launch of Blackbird, a company which he describes as “a new loyalty, membership, and payments technology company.”

In this episode, we discuss Ben's journey from those early days, how evolution of food media, the changes to reservation and other restaurant tech platforms, and how he envisions Web3 and other new technologies could change the game for small and independent restaurants.

You can find out more about Ben's new company at Blackbird.xyz.

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Food Tech Friday: Talking Food Robots With Clayton Wood

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 17:25:00 -0000

Our guest this week on our weekly food tech news wrapup is Clayton Wood, the CEO of pizza robot startup Picnic.

We talk food tech news and then hear Clayton's view on where things are going in the world of food robots.

Here are some of the stories we covered:

The Food tech venture capital market really dropped hard in Q3.: Food tech venture drops 63% quarter over quarter

One sector that seems to be somewhat active in Web3 meets restaurants: Seattle's Forum3 announces funding on heels of launching Starbucks' NFT-centric loyalty program.

Two Fast-Grocery Delivery Giants Have Merged: Turkish fast delivery company Getir has closed its acquisition of German rival Gorillas as fast grocery continues to consolidate.

Wonder Lays off 7% of Workers: Marc Lore's food delivery unicorn has its first layoff as growth goes slower than expected.

Colleges are embracing delivery robots. Grubhub announced a partnership with Kiwi, adding to their partnerships with Starship and Cartken. Is there something about college campuses that make them a logical testing ground for food robotics?

And we put Clayton on the food robot hot seat, asking him:

How would you assess the food robot marketplace in 2022?

Will we see some consolidation in certain areas of food robotics in 2023?

Predictions for the 2023 food robot market.

Enjoy!

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Food Tech Friday: Farmbots, Smart Mixers and Cocaine Bear

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 03 Dec 2022 18:42:00 -0000

We're ramping our Friday food tech casual news wrapups back up again, and this week Mike and Carlos got together to talk about some of the stories that caught their attention this week.

The stories we talked about include:

Will reusable containers take off at colleges? Maybe. What about restaurants? One startup is trying to make it work.

A new smart mixer from GE Appliances stood out as an innovative product in a market that has lacked innovation as of late.

Has Amazon's Alexa strategy failed?

A startup debuts its new driver-optional electronic tractor. Is this the future of farming?

One sidewalk robot company lands a nice deal with Norway's post office, but how are the others doing?

Plus: Cocaine Bear!

Join us next week on The Spoon's Crowdcast channel to see the live recording.

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Scaling a Plant-Based Meat Company With Nowadays' Max Elder

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 20:48:00 -0000

In his previous life, Max Elder worked as a futurist, where he helped food brands develop strategies for the future.

One of his primary motivations in this work was the hope that he could help steer them away from animal agriculture and towards a future centered around more humane and sustainable foods. Over time, however, Elder realized that to have a meaningful impact, he'd have to create his own product.

So in late 2020, Elder left his job as a futurist and created a plant-based meat company. With Nowadays, Elder envisions a future where he can have a bigger impact by scaling meat utilizing production techniques perfected for traditional animal agriculture.

In this episode, we talk about his transition from strategist to entrepreneur and Elder puts his futurist hat back on to look at where things are going in the world of alternative protein.

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#138: WTF (Alt-Protein Edition) With Indiebio's Po Bronson

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 15:56:00 -0000

WTF is going on with alternative protein?

To find out, we decided to catch up with one of our favorite people in future food, Indiebio's Po Bronson. Po went from being one of the early chroniclers of the dotcom boom via his novels and nonfiction titles to leading one of the most active investors and accelerators in the future of food in IndieBio, and in this podcast, we talk about his journey and how he become a VC. We also talk about the current struggles facing certain sectors of alt protein and where he sees things going.

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#137: Navigating The World of Patents As a Food Tech Startup

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 15:34:13 -0000

Food tech industry is built on intellectual property. Whether a startup builds alternative proteins, cooking technology, automation/ AI or another food tech product, a large part of its future success relies on its intellectual property. A big part of a startup's success relies on managing a patent portfolio. But navigating the world of patents is confusing, so why not bring in an expert to answer some of our questions? That's exactly what we do on this episode of The Spoon podcast with Anas Alfarra. Anas managed IP for one of the world's biggest industrial equipment makers, has secured his own patent for a food cooking system, and advises startups on how to manage their IP. Topics discussed on this podcast include: -What are the different types of patents? -What is a provisional patent? -How to understand patent strategies of large companies like Amazon and Microsoft -The process of applying for a patent -And much more! If you are at all interested in intellectual property and have questions about how to manage it for your food tech startup, this is a must-listen! via Knit

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#136: Building a Next-Generation Ingredient Company With Shiru's Jasmin Hume

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 14:57:52 -0000

As the former head of food chemistry for Eat Just, Jasmin Hume thought there was a lot of white space for innovation and thought a company should exist to build the next generation of ingredients for plant-based food. So she created it. At Shiru, Hume and her team make novel ingredients by identifying proteins with function such as taste, texture and more utilizing cutting edge tools like machine learning. So far, the company has raised over $20 million and just recently hired Impossible Foods' former VP of R&D and strategic ingredients. On the podcast, Mike and Jasmin discuss the following topics: -how the alternative protein market is evolving from early fully vertically integrated brands to companies like Shiru that build ingredients and solutions for a variety of companies -the new cohort of food companies utilizing AI and ML to build the next generation of food -how what Shiru is doing with precision fermentation is different from that of Perfect Day and others trying to create animal-identical proteins -Where Jasmin sees the ingredient industry going in the future -Plus lots more! You can find out more about Shiru at www.shiru.com via Knit

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#135: A Few Dark Clouds Gather Over Restaurant Tech

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 16:52:29 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon, we are joined by long-time restaurant and restaurant tech journalist Nancy Luna. We thought we would have Nancy on to compare notes about some of the challenges we've seen in the last few months in restaurant tech. Some stories we discuss on the show include: -NextBite's layoffs -The shutdown of Chowbotics and pizza robot pioneer Pizzametry looking for a buyer -the state of ghost kitchen players -QR code startup Sunday and their fast-burn through funding and pull out of markets -and Much More! As always, you can find more Spoon podcasts at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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#134: How Self-Ordering Tech Changes Fast Food Customer Behavior

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:04:10 -0000

In this episode of The Spoon podcast, we catch up with the CEO of GRUBBRR Sam Zietz and the CTO of BurgerFi (a 120 location burger chain) to talk about how the two companies worked together to roll out self-ordering technology at BurgerFi locations and how the early results show the technology changing consumer behavior. via Knit

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#133: Talking Restaurant Tech With Reforming Retail's Jordan Thaeler

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 14:38:49 -0000

Jordan Thaeler doesn't mince words when it comes to the business of restaurant and retail technology business. Anyone who reads Thaeler's Reforming Retail, which he does in addition to running a retail payments analytics and consulting business, knows that Thaeler likes to break down the cost economics and associated business models of some of the biggest names in restaurant tech. In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, we talk about: -The overall restaurant tech market space and why there aren't more publicly traded companies in this market -How point of sale is still the focus and starting point for the digital transition for many restaurants -The ghost kitchen and virtual brand space -Jack Dorsey's fixation with crypto and the potential impact of Web3/crypto on restaurants -Lots more! You can find more Spoon Podcasts at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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#132: Talking Food Waste Reduction (And How We Could Do More) With Andrew Shakman

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 21:17:01 -0000

Andrew Shakman had a tough job. After two full days of inspiring talks at ReFED's annual food waste symposium, the CEO of Leanpath was asked to give a closing message that would inspire and catalyze action. He delivered, so we asked Andrew to come on the podcast to discuss how he thinks those delivering food waste reduction solutions can do more to help make a bigger impact. As always, you can find more Spoon podcasts at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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#131: The Wendysverse, 15-Minute Grocery Struggles & Roku's Big Food Play

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 20:35:40 -0000

Mike and Ashley get together to talk about some of the more interesting food tech stories of the week, including: -The big food brand metaverse trademark landgrab -An NFT restaurant in San Francisco -The faulty rationale for investing big $ in 15-minute grocery -Roku's big play for shoppable food TV -The Spoon's looking for leaders in the food-tech revolution As always, you can find more podcasts at The Spoon. The Spoon podcast is part of the Spoon Media Network. via Knit

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#130: Bruce Friedrich of the Good Food Institute

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 20:17:27 -0000

If you are in the alt-protein industry or even just interested in the space, chances are you know about the Good Food Institute. In this episode, I caught up with GFI CEO and co-founder Bruce Friedrich to talk about the evolution of the space, the politics of alternative meat, the regulatory environment and where he sees the market going. You'll want to check it out! You can find out more about GFI at www.gfi.org. As always, find more podcast at The Spoon. via Knit

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#129: Food Tech News Show: Electrolux Rethinks the Kitchen

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 15:37:30 -0000

Can the design of your kitchen change how and what you eat? Electrolux thinks so. In this week's episode of the Spoon podcast's food tech news wrapup, we discuss Electrolux's new kitchen concept called GRO, Taco Bell's restaurant of the future, a new mushroom grow chamber called Shrooli and a new countertop cooking appliance with a built-in freezer called Celcy. As always, you can read about these stores at The Spoon (www.thespoon.tech). via Knit

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#127: Talking Food as Medicine With NourishedRX's Lauren Driscoll

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 10:45:56 -0000

In this episode, we talk about the state of the food as medicine market and the how Lauren Driscoll built NourishedRX, one of the fastest growing companies in this space. via Knit

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What Does Web3 & NFTs Mean For Restaurants?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 25 Mar 2022 17:43:05 -0000

So while it may not be surprising that a restaurant concept by alpha-adopter and Internet celebrity Gary Vaynerchuk can raise millions of dollars selling NFTs, what about that mom & pop place on the corner? In other words, how does a small restauranteur that doesn't have the followers, fame and early adopter advantage of a Vaynerchuk take advantage of web3? That's what we talk about with this week's guest, Adam Brotman, the CEO of Brightloom and former head of digital for Starbucks. via Knit

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#125: Using Artificial Intelligence to Build The Next Generation of Food with Matias Muchnick

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 00:00:49 -0000

Matias Muchnick started NotCo in 2015 with a singular idea: Could AI be used to reinvent how new food products are discovered and made? Seven years later, his company is eating up market share in the plant-based milk and other alt-protein categories and he just inked a joint venture with one of the biggest food companies in the world. In this episode., Matias talks about those early days, what he saw as broken in the traditional food development process, and goes deep into how Giuseppe, NotCo's AI platform, helps create new food products. via Knit

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#124: Wildtype's Justin Kolbeck Talk Cultivated Seafood

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 18:49:33 -0000

Wildtype, a cultivated seafood startup, announced it has raised a $100 million Series B funding round, the largest to date for a cultivated seafood startup. I sat down with company CEO Justin Kolbeck to learn more about the company's plans. Justin and I talk about: -How he and his cofounder started the company -Expansion of production capacity for cultivated seafood -Where the FDA is in its approval process -Convincing consumers to eat cultivated seafood -And more! via Knit

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#122: Building The Shopify For Restaurant Robotics With Hyphen's Stephen Klein

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 19:02:05 -0000

Hyphen announced this week that they'd raised a $24 million Series A funding round. We caught up with Stephen Klein to hear about his food robot platform and his vision for building the Shopify for restaurant robotics. via Knit

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#121: The Story of ColdSnap, the Make-Anything Ice Cream & Beverage Machine

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 12:40:47 -0000

One night Mattew Fonte's young daughter suggested they make an instant home ice cream making machine. A few years later, the idea became a reality. Only the ColdSnap does a whole lot more, including margaritas, cold coffee, frozen yogurt and, of course, ice cream. In this conversation we walk with Forte about the appliance that stole the show at CES 2021 and how he sees it changing the home ice cream (and beverage) market. via Knit

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#120: Buying a Restaurant With friesDAO

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 13:28:44 -0000

When Bill Lee and Brett Beller started talking about the idea of using a DAO and an NFT to buy a McDonald's, they were mostly joking around. Before long, they had started a Discord server and friesDAO had raised over $4 million. Now they had to figure out how to make it happen. In this episode we talk with Bill Lee, an advisor to friesDAO, about their plans to use a DAO to purchase a restaurant (and possibly multiple restaurants) and operate them through a decentralized autonomous organization. The conversation talks about the possibilities of crypto and a Web3 community as a new way to do business in the restaurant industry. via Knit

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#119: Building The Star Trek Drink Replicator With Cana's Matt Mahar

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 15:45:10 -0000

This week, Cana came out of stealth and announced their "molecular beverage printer", a device the company says will be able to create almost any beverage from the same 80 or so flavor compounds. We talk with Matt about the device, the story behind its creation and where he sees beverage tech going. To learn more about Cana, check out their website at www.cana.com via Knit

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#118: Building The Anti-Ghost Kitchen Ghost Kitchen With Kristen Barnett

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 14:06:14 -0000

While the fast growth of the ghost kitchen industry is exciting, it has some downsides. The industry's rapid expansion has often meant low-quality food, a lack of transparency, and, even health code violations. Kristen Barnett wants to change all that with her newest venture, Hungry House. Barnett, who was formerly with Zuul, wants to be transparent about where the food is made and who is making it and to have tight control over the quality. That means growth will be purposeful in the beginning as the company builds its business one kitchen - and chef - at a time. via Knit

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#117: The Restaurant Tech Variety Hour With BBot's Steve Simoni

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 20:11:23 -0000

When Steve Simoni originally started BBot, the idea was to create restaurant robots, But things don't always go as planned, and for Simoni and BBot, that's a good thing since BBot is a fast-growing restaurant tech software startup. Mike and Steve catch up on all things restaurant tech, including ghost kitchens, virtual restaurants, the food metaverse and, yes, restaurant robots. Enjoy! via Knit

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#116: Using Computational Biology to Create New Ingredients With Kingdom Supercultures

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 18:23:11 -0000

Unlike many computational biology startups that have emerged in recent years, Kingdom doesn't use precision fermentation technology or genetic engineering to build its new ingredient building blocks. Instead, the company is applies artificial intelligence to analyze a massive database of existing cultures to discover new and interesting potential microbial combinations that could provide new functionality, flavors and more. In this interview, we talk with Ravi Sheth and Kendall Dabaghi, the cofounders of Kingdom Supercultures, to discuss how they are using modern compute to create new novel ingredients at a much faster pace than traditional biology. via Knit

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#115: Talking Cell-Based Collagen with Stephanie Michelsen

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 18:55:37 -0000

Collagen is used everywhere, from cosmetics to food to health and wellness applications, and because animal-derived collagen is a by product of the animal farming industry, it has all the same downsides as the factory farming industry. While some companies, like Geltor, are using precision fermentation technology to create animal-identical collagens using precision fermentation technology, a relatively new arriver to the alt-collagen space by the name of Jellatech is using cell-based technology to produce collagen, which the company then harvests for use in a variety of different applications. Jellatech's approach is similar to that of Turtletree Labs, which uses cell-based approaches to create human-identical breast milk. For TurtleTree - and Jellatech - the cells are not the products sold to or consumed by the customers - it's the collagen produced by those sells. via Knit

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#114: Building Food Robots With Adam Lloyd Cohen

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 19:48:04 -0000

In 1985, Adam Lloyd Cohen was in Paris working on a documentary about ancient robots as a project during his senior year in college. After steeping himself in the history of automation during the day and dining on French cuisine at night, he began to think about how we might use robots to make food. It took nearly four decades, but Cohen has built his food robot and is ready to bring his vision of distributed dining to the world. You can listen to the podcast and also read about Adam's journey at The Spoon: https://thespoon.tech/after-almost-40-years-adam-lloyd-cohen-is-bringing-his-vision-for-food-robots-to-life/ via Knit

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#113: Building a Kitchen Category Creator With Scott Heimendinger

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 02:50:03 -0000

Scott Heimendinger has been building technology in the kitchen for the past decade. It started over a decade ago when he wrote a seminal article for Maker magazine about building a $75 consumer sous vide circulator.From there he went to work for Modernist Cuisine and helped Nathan Myhrvold launch a series of new products built around the Modernist brand. He then started his own company called Sansaire building sous vide appliances. He eventually went to work with Anova to help them launch their steam oven. And now, he wants to build the next great category in the kitchen. Listen in to hear about what he is doing and what he's excited about in the kitchen. This is Season 5, Episode 1. via Knit

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Talking Grocery and Smart Kitchen With Innit's Kevin Brown

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 13:43:30 -0000

Innit dropped news this week of a partnership with Google Cloud, so I thought I'd do a quick catch up with him to hear about the news and see what else Innit is up to. You can find my story on Innit and Google Cloud over at The Spoon (www.thespoon.tech). via Knit

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Reengineering Cell-Based Meat With Future Meat's Koby Nahmias

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 13:11:54 -0000

Koby Nahmias got a call in 2015 that would set the trajectory for next six years of his life and the cell-based meat industry. An investor wanted to know what he thought of Mark Post's 250,000 euro cell-based hamburger. From that point forward, Nahmias would set about reengineering the production for cell-based meat to reach mass market price points. You can ready more about this interview with Koby Nahmias at The Spoon (www.thespoon.tech). via Knit

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Talking The Future of Meat with Paul Shapiro

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 16:26:01 -0000

Better Meat Company CEO Paul Shapiro is an alt-protein evangelist. And it's not just for his own company, but for pretty much any company or person helping to contribute to the end of factory farming. In this episode, Mike talks about Better Meat Company's new mycoprotein production facility, the current state of plant-based meat and where Paul thinks the cell-based meat industry is going. via Knit

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Talking Food as Medicine with Dr. Robert Graham

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 12:56:23 -0000

Dr Robert Graham is on a mission to help the world eat better. As a Harvard trained doctor as well as a chef, his business Fresh Med focuses on helping patients get at the root cause of their diseases and move towards healthier lives through diet. As always, you can find more podcasts at The Spoon at www.thespoon.tech. via Knit

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Talking Upcycling with ReGrained's Daniel Kurzrock

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 13:43:30 -0000

Daniel Kurzrock first became interested in upcycling when he first started making bread for his friends using the spent grains from his home brewed beer. This hobby eventually led him to realize that beer brewing industry, as well as many other industries - had many food by products that could be turned into consumable food. Listen as Daniel and I talk about the journey for ReGrained and the growth of the upcycled food industry. via Knit

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Talking Cell-Based Meat Regulation With Upside's Eric Schulze

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 13:05:28 -0000

Eric Schulze left a long-time position as a FDA regulator to go to Upside Foods (Memphis Meats at the time) to help develop the cutting edge technology. Eric's background would eventually come in handy as the company looks navigate the regulatory environment as it moves towards introducing its first product to market. via Knit

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From Futurist to Plant-Based Meat Founder: Max Elder

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 12 May 2021 18:48:49 -0000

Max Elder had a good thing going. And then he decided he wanted to make a difference in the world. So the last year he worked in stealth on his new plant-based meat company, Nowadays, which debuted this week. via Knit

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A Conversation With Miyoko Schinner

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 10 May 2021 13:29:52 -0000

There's really no one more responsible for the creation of today's plant-based cheese and butter market than Miyoko Schinner. After turning vegan in the 80s, Schinner began a long journey that involved writing a number of best-selling cookbooks, getting on the wrong side of a Japanese mobster and eventually starting Miyoko's Creamery, a huge success story. As always, you can listen to The Food Tech Show at The Spoon (www.thespoon.tech) or wherever you get your podcasts. via Knit

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Exploring Space Food

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 15:32:47 -0000

Let's talk space food! As NASA prepares to send astronauts into space for years to reach far-flung places like Mars, one of the biggest challenges will be feeding them. Prepackaged meals-ready-to-eat won't cut it for years in space as astronauts will need to find ways to create fresh food that provides the balance nutrition required for long-term health and productivity in the most challenging of work environments. To talk about the current state of space food and where it's going in the future, our guests for this show include: -Anjan Contractor, CEO of BeeHex - BeeHex created a 3D pizza printer for NASA -Dane Gobel - the operations administrator for the Deep Space Food Challenge, a NASA Centennial challenge to find innovative new ways to feed space travelers. As always, you can find more Food Tech Show podcasts at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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Talking About the Future of Food With Seth Goldman

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 13:32:57 -0000

For most, founding one of the original better-for-you brands in Honest Tea would be enough of a life achievement. For Seth Goldman, it meant he was just getting started. Nowadays as the Chairman of Beyond Meat and founder of plant-based snack brand Eat the Change and plant-based fast food chain PLNT Burger, Seth Goldman thinks a lot about the future of food. We talk about how alt-protein and the future food space has evolved in recent years, the crazy valuations for startups, and where he thinks the market for these new alternatives to animal agriculture are going. via Knit

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A Conversation with Eat Just's Josh Tetrick

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 12:47:28 -0000

Eat Just founder and CEO Josh Tetrick is inarguably one of the leading pioneers in the future of food. In this interview, The Spoon's Jenn Marston talks with Josh about the company's recent milestones and where he sees alt-protein going in the future. via Knit

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Talking Personalized Nutrition with Naveen Jain

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 18:39:06 -0000

Naveen Jain has been on the forefront of technology for the last quarter century, starting one of the early seminal Internet companies in InfoSpace and eventually starting a space company in Moon Express. His current passion is Viome, a company focused on building high-precision nutrition information services and supplements derived from an understanding of a person's DNA, RNA and microbiome. via Knit

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Talking Cultured Meat Economics With Jim Mellon

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 17:14:32 -0000

Jim Mellon's new book, Moo's Law, looks at the future food industry through the lens of a long-time investor. Mellon is an investor and entrepreneur who also has written numerous books on industries such as biotech and investing. For his latest book, he interviewed the who's who of the future food industry and we discuss his findings on the podcast. via Knit

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A Conversation With Chef Chris Young

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:01:17 -0000

If you're interested in the future of the home kitchen, restaurants or food in general, you won't want to miss this conversation with Chef Chris Young. Young announced his new company Combustion Inc this week, so we invited him to get on stage with us on Clubhouse to talk about lessons learned from his days at ChefSteps and Modernist Cuisine, what he's building at Combustion Inc and where he sees the world of restaurants going. It was a great conversation! via Knit

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Creating a Chickenless-Egg With Clara Foods' Arturo Elizondo

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 18:18:28 -0000

Clara Foods is making eggs without the animal. The company has been working on its technology to make chickenless eggs since 2014 and finally released its first product last year. We talk to Clara Foods CEO Arturo Elizondo about a chicken-less egg future and how we get there. via Knit

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Talking Cell-Based Fish With Lou Cooperhouse

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 17:56:48 -0000

Long-time food tech executive Lou Cooperhouse became fascinated with the idea of creating biotechnology to create animal cells for food as he watched pioneers like Mark Post product mammal cells in a lab, but realized there wasn't nearly as much innovation happening the world of cell-based fish. And so BlueNalu was born. We talk about the future of cell-based fish market, how creating cell-based fish differs from other types of cultivated meat and much more. via Knit

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Are We Ready for Smart Grocery Carts?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 17:29:21 -0000

This week the Spoon editorial crew got together to talk about the latest food tech news. On this week's podcast, the crew talked about: -Dragontail Systems and Pizza Hut Deploy Pizza Delivery Drones in Israel -Controlled Ag Company AppHarvest's First-Ever Crop Arrives at Grocery Stores This Week -Smart Shopping Carts at Kroger (and elsewhere) -Big $ Continue for Cultured Meat Startups As always, you can subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts. - via Knit

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Making Plant-Based Cheese With Grounded Foods' Veronica Fil

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 14:23:41 -0000

While alt-meat and plant-based milks have seen an explosion in great products the past few years, plant-based cheese space hasn't seen the same level of new and exciting products. That might change soon as Ground Foods brings its cauliflower and hemp based cheese products to the masses. We talk with Veronica Fil, the CEO of Grounded Foods, on the story behind their product that has many in the plant-based food world excited about cheese. via Knit

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CES and Food Tech Live 2021 Review

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:54:25 -0000

In this episode of The Food Tech Show, the Spoon crew talks about what they saw at CES 2021 and Food Tech Live. Both shows were virtual, but that didn't stop us from seeing and talking to some interesting food tech innovators. As always, you can read about what we saw at The Spoon (www.thespoon.tech). via Knit

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A Conversation With Will Patrick of Culture Biosciences

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 14:31:01 -0000

In the world of computing, the ability to build new products and scale quickly is something that has come to be expected. Long-established toolsets enable innovators to invent, iterate and scale and get to market much more quickly than in the past. While the world of biomanufacturing has seen rapid advancements in recent years, Will Patrick believed that many of the things he had learned in the world of mechanical engineering could help make things move even faster. The result was Culture Biosciences, a company which makes offers cloud-connected bioreactors as a service to makers building the next generation of food and other bioengineered innovation. via Knit

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Making Honey Without The Bee: A Conversation With Darko Mandich

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 17:00:24 -0000

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the bee is being threatened by a number of factors such as global warming, pesticides and yes, murder hornets. While that presents a challenge to the $7 billion honey industry, the focus on honey production is problematic for the bee ecosystem itself as farmed bees compete with wild bees for food and ultimately can hurt biodiversity. Because of this, Darko Mandich wants to create honey without the honeybee using cutting edge bioengineering techniques through the process of fermentation. His company, MeliBio, has already received commitments from over a dozen companies around the world to use his honey. via Knit

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Ghost Kitchens Are Complicated

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 13:52:21 -0000

The Spoon team talks about the latest news from the world of food tech. In this episode, we also talk about what we learned at our ghost kitchen event last week. As always, you can find more Spoon podcasts at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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Would You Like Your Mike Burger Medium or Medium Rare?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 13:32:29 -0000

The editor crew gets together to talk about some of this week's biggest food tech stories. -Pink Dot Using Postmates' Serve Robot to Delivery Food in West Hollywood -Eat Just Gets the World's First Regulatory Approval to Sell Cultured Meat -Are Humans the Next Lab-Grown Meat? -The Spoon gift guide recommendations. As always, make sure to check out more podcasts at The Spoon. via Knit

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Will Joe Biden be the Food Tech President?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 13:25:30 -0000

This week the Spoon team discusses the confusion over McDonald's plant-based burger debut, the fast food restaurant's new drive through only restaurant format, the intro of Spyce Kitchen robotic restaurant 2.0 and discuss what a Biden presidency might look like when it comes to food tech policy. via Knit

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Lab-Grown Meat vs the Internet

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 13:46:21 -0000

Will lab grown meat scale like the Internet? We discuss this and other stories on this week's podcast. Other stories include Ordermark's ghost kitchen play, the acquisition of coffee robot startup Briggo, whether we can use the term veggie burger. As always, read more about these stories at The Spoon. via Knit

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A Conversation with Harold McGee

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 12:49:34 -0000

Before there was Modernist Cuisine and the entire molecular gastronomy movement, there was Harold McGee. McGee changed the culinary landscape and, in particular, science-forward food writing with his book, "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen", when it was published in 1984. Since the publication of his seminal book, McGee has influenced a generation of chefs and food writers, as well as creating the original big bang for what would become the molecular gastronomy movement. And now McGee is expanding his examination of how we examine and take in the world around us with his new book, " NOSE DIVE: A Field Guide to the World's Smells." In this episode Mike talks with Harold about his new book, how he views the current state of culinary innovation and asks him about what gets him excited nowadays when it comes to food. via Knit

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Anova's Steam Oven, The Dunkin Cup & Paying With Your Face

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 13:23:29 -0000

This week the editor team got together to discuss the following stories: -Anova's new combi oven and whether steam will be the next big thing on the consumer kitchen -The broader trend towards more sustainable packaging -The creep factor of paying with your face -GE's new chef platform As always, find more podcasts at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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An Almost All Coffee Pod: Spinn, Coffee Robots & Atomo

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 20:15:50 -0000

The Spoon team have a heavily caffeinated conversation about the layoffs at Cafe-X, Mike's first week with the Spinn and Atomo molecular coffee. We also talk about a new ghost kitchen funding and augmented reality powered restaurant menus. Also, Mike suggests new names for both Chris and Jenn. via Knit

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Ghost Kitchens, Keto Cookies & the Magical Egg Cooker

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 15:50:45 -0000

The Spoon editor team got together this week to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the week. Included in this week's wrap up is a discussion about the white hot ghost kitchen market, a big milestone by cultured meat startup Mosa Meat, the acquisition of StoreBound (the company behind the Dash housewares brand) and Mike's disbelief about the $1 Keto cookies. As always, you can find more Food Tech Shows at The Spoon at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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Investing in Consumer Brands With Elizabeth Edwards

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 12:41:15 -0000

Investing in startups that make products to-consumers can be tough, but it's also exciting. Mike talks with long-time investor Elizabeth Edwards about why she invests exclusively on consumer brands and why food is one of her favorite categories. via Knit

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Talking Food Tech and Racial Injustice With Journey Foods' Riana Lynn

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 15:02:27 -0000

This week Michael Wolf sits down with Riana Lynn to talk about her journey as a black female food tech entrepreneur. From working in the Obama White House to Don Thompson's Cleveland Avenue to starting her latest venture that uses AI to help CPG companies make healthier and more sustainable food products, Riana's had a fascinating journey. Mike talks to her about this journey, how she thinks food tech could help address some of the systemic racial inequities within the broader food system, how food tech could be more welcoming to people of color, and whether she's hopeful about the possibility of positive change resulting from today's current conversation around race in the United States. via Knit

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The Let's Have a Moment of Silence for PicoBrew Episode

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 08 May 2020 14:26:22 -0000

This week the Spoon editors got together to talk about some of the biggest stories of the week, including: -CookMagic, a textbot based recipe assistant -Can Pico-roasting help coffee shops survive the pandemic? -The all-but-certain end of PicoBrew -The Yo-Kai meal kit: Robot maker goes meal kit provider via Knit

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Going Off-Premise During a Pandemic With Chowly's Sterling Douglass

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:52:19 -0000

With most places still in lockdown, many restaurants are trying to survive by going off-premise through a combination of delivery and takeout. The Spoon's Chris Albrecht caught up with Chowly's Sterling Douglass to talk about what he's seeing out there in what is a rapidly changed restaurant landscape and to discuss strategies for going off-premise. This conversation took place as part of The Spoon's COVID-19 Virtual Strategy Summit. If you missed the summit and would like to see some of what you missed, all the sessions are now available to watch here: https://thespoon.tech/covid-19-strategy-summit-for-food-session-videos/ via Knit

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Looking for Bright Spots in a Dark Time

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 13:44:10 -0000

The Spoon editors got together to talk about some of the stories of people and companies stepping up to the plate during a dark time or well positioned to take advantage of rapidly changing consumer behavior. As always, you can find more Spoon podcasts and our stories at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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How One Seattle Chef is Surviving Through Innovation During the Pandemic

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 14:11:56 -0000

From his time as director of culinary research for three Michelin star restaurant Alinea to creating video game themed dinner nights at his own Seattle based restaurant "incubator" Addo, Chef Eric Rivera has a reputation for being innovative. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, those innovation skills have become survival skills as Rivera helps his restaurant group traverse our rapidly changing new shared reality. Michael Wolf caught up with Rivera to discuss the ways in which his business is adapting with the mandatory shut down of restaurants in Washington state during COVID-19, including launching his own delivery service, his Addo Pantry and remote cooking classes. You can find Eric on Instagram at www.instagram.com/ericriveracooks via Knit

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Editor's Podcast, COVID Lockdown Edition

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 13:38:49 -0000

We're all sheltering in place, locked down and trying to keep on top of the impact of this global contagion on the world of food tech. We talk about mandatory restaurant shut downs, restaurants and food businesses trying to pivot during COVID and the challenges of writing about food tech during a global pandemic. We want to hear your stories. If you have any unique stories from your place in the world that intersects with food tech, food innovation or just something you think should be heard, reach out via tips@thespoon.tech. Stay safe everyone! via Knit

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How Coronavirus Is Accelerating Adoption of Some Food Tech

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 14:33:52 -0000

It's a confusing and worrying time, so join some of your friends from the Spoon as we talk food tech for a half an hour. On today's podcast, we talk cover the following stories: -Is coronavirus accelerating adoption of certain food tech sectors? -Amazon is selling its next-gen grocery tech to other companies -Sweetgreen looks to make its to-go bowls fully compostable -There is another pizza vending machine and they've raised an eye-popping $10 million As always, you can find more podcasts at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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Coronavirus Hits the Housewares Show

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 06:34:16 -0000

We're back for an editor podcast. This week Mike, Chris and Catherine discuss the following stories: -How the coronavirus is impacting the world of tech, including the Housewares show -Starbucks and McDonalds push waste free cups in San Francisco -A cup that lets you create fizzy water on the go -Another plant based burger, this time from industrial food giant Cargill For more podcasts, visit www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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What Do PicoBrew's Struggles Mean for High Tech Beer Making?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 21:34:07 -0000

The Spoon editor pod! Mike, Jenn, Chris and Catherine got together to discuss some of the stories of the week, including: -PicoBrew is up for sale. What happened? -In a related story, PicoBrew also has technology that can "age" spirits overnight. Is this a game changer for the distilling industry? -Coranavirus is impacting nearly every aspect of the economy. How is it going to impact the world food and food delivery? -The owner of Tim Horton's and Burger King is investing heavily in personalization. How will that change the consumer experience in the restaurant? As always, listen to more podcasts at The Spoon: www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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Are We Ready to Eat Bugs?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:57:40 -0000

The Spoon team got together talk about the most interesting food and kitchen tech stories of the week, including: -Should food robots take humanoid form? -Miele's next-generation cooking appliance is shipping - what does it mean? -Is hot food the next big thing to be delivered from your grocery shopping list? -Some people think we'll never eat bugs here in the US. Are they right? For more Food Tech Show podcasts, head over to The Spoon at www.thespoon.tech or subscribe in your favorite podcast player via Knit

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The CES 2020 Food Tech Wrapup Episode

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 20:06:11 -0000

We spent a week in Vegas scouting out everything food and kitchen at the Consumer Electronics Show! In this episode, Mike, Catherine, Chris and Jenn talk about what we saw, tasted and who we talked to in the world of food tech for the big show. In this episode we cover: -Impossible Pork -Food robots at CES (drinkbots, cooking robots and pizzabots) -All the drink tech -Adaptable, personalized kitchen spaces -The growing interest in home grow systems by big appliance brands -Poop hands (or technology to fight this epidemic in restaurants). That's it. Make sure to check out our wrap up posts on CES over at The Spoon and to subscribe to the podcast! via Knit

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What Does the End of Nomiku Mean for Consumer Sous Vide?

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 13:38:12 -0000

The Spoon editors got together to discuss the news of the week, including the recent story we broke on The Spoon about Nomiku closing its doors. We discuss whether Nomiku's ends says anything about the broader consumer sous vide landscape and what categories could replace it as the next-big-thing in cooking. Other stories we cover this week: Blue Bottle wants to become waste free in one year. Is that too aggressive? What is this about breast milk grown in a lab? Winners and losers in kitchen Kickstarter in 2019 Enjoy and have a great holiday season! via Knit

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Is The Smart Kitchen Smart or Dumb? Discuss.

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 17:09:20 -0000

It's another editor podcast where the Spoon gang gets together to discuss some of our favorite stories of the week. Here's what Mike, Jenn and Chris discuss on this week's podcast: -Fatburger's ghost kitchen play -Food tech and stadiums -Joe Ray's Wired article about the smart kitchen being dumb -Amazon's Alexa announcements We'll be discussing many of these topics at SKS (including Mike talking to Joe on stage about what isn't working with the connected kitchen). Make sure to get your tickets at www.smartkitchensummit.com and use the discount code PODCAST for 25% off! via Knit

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Impossible's "Ground Beef" is On Its Way and We're Ready For It

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 15 Sep 2019 22:38:38 -0000

The Spoon team (Mike, Catherine, Jenn & Chris) got together this week to talk food tech! Here are some of the stories we discussed: -The Caper smart grocery cart -The new bill in California that would require gig economy workers to be treated as employees -Impossible's first retail product, which looks like it will be a pound of "ground beef" -A look at this year's class of Startup Showcase finalists for the Smart Kitchen Summit If you want to see the startups we talk about or hang out with the Spoon crew, make sure to go to the Smart Kitchen Summit! Use discount code PODCAST for 25% off of tickets at www.smartkitchensummit.com - via Knit

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Our Little Bot is Heading to College!

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 04:45:13 -0000

This week the Spoon gang got together to talk about some of the most interesting food tech stories of the week. Chris Albrecht, Jenn Marston, Catherine Lamb and Michael Wolf discuss the following stories: -Starship's new funding round and their expansion to more college campuses -The new cow/plant-based milk blends -The curious crowdfunding campaign of Mealthy, a recipe app and pressure cooker air fryer converter lid -The NYC proposed cap on third party delivery fees of 10% -Our reviews of the Impossible Whopper Enjoy the podcast! via Knit

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Big in Japan

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 16:04:11 -0000

The Spoon team went to Tokyo this month for the third annual Smart Kitchen Summit Japan. It was Chris and Catherine's first time in Japan, so we discuss the magical wonders of this amazing country like Japan's version of 7-11, food robots and the amazing food to be had everywhere. And, of course, we also discuss the hugely successful third edition of SKS Japan, so listen in to hear about what we learned and some of the friends we made during this great two day event. If you want to be meet many of those who participated in SKS Japan, make sure to come to SKS North America (use discount code PODCAST for 25% off of tickets). Find out more at www.smartkitchensummit.com via Knit

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Mapping the Flavor Genome With Beth Altringer

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 28 Jul 2019 21:39:08 -0000

Beth Altringer first became fascinated in flavor when she joined a competitive wine tasting organization when she was going to graduate school at The University of Cambridge. While it had nothing to do with her field of study (product design and innovation), the very idea one could break down the characteristics of wine and its flavor into highly descriptive and well understood categories was a revelation to Altringer, so much so she eventually began to think about whether it was possible to apply this systematic and analytical approach to flavor to almost any type of food. It was from there that the Flavor Genome Project was born, an initiative that "explores how components of flavor combine to create delightful multi-sensory, chemical, emotional, and cultural experiences." The goal of the project is to eventually create an "automated understanding of what people are intuitively searching for in a food or drink experience, regardless of the language they use to search for it, intelligently understanding flavor goals in context, and, ultimately, making it easier for people to discover experiences they are likely to enjoy." The Flavor Genome Project is intended to be a platform that could be a foundation for other products, and the first of those product is a mobile game called Chef's League. The iOS game allows players to compete to master the usage of different flavor characteristics such as "salt, sweetness, acidity, fat, spice, and more." You can find out more about the Flavor Genome Project and the Chef's League at www.flavorgenomeproject.com. via Knit

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Talking Personalized Restaurant Menus With The Fit's Scott Sanchez

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 15:56:49 -0000

With all the technology today around our own usage patterns, personal preferences and overall health and wellness, why is it that the restaurant menu still offers a one-sized fits all offering for guests? Host Michael Wolf is joined by The Fit's Scott Sanchez to talk about the evolution of the restaurant menu and when we can expect to see truly personalized menus. via Knit

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A Conversation About CRISPR

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 29 Jun 2019 20:32:52 -0000

Imagine you could "delete" the portion in a food DNA sequence that is bad for you. That's exactly what CRISPR and gene editing promises to do, and in this podcast Mike catches up with Deepbranch Biotech's Pete Rowe to learn more about this technology that promises to be one of the food industry's biggest game-changers over the next couple of decades. You can learn more about Deepbranch Biotechnology at https://deepbranchbio.com/ Make sure to check out the Smart Kitchen Summit at www.smartkitchensummit.com and use discount code PODCAST for 25% off of tickets. via Knit

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Digitizing The Kitchen With Innit

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 02:40:27 -0000

The kitchen has lagged behind other rooms in the home in the move towards digital service platforms, but that is starting to change. One of the companies at the forefront in building a digital food and cooking platform is Innit. In this conversation, Mike catches up with Kevin Brown, the CEO of Innit, on the great digital kitchen transformation and what Innit is doing to build a digital platform for food and cooking. via Knit

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The Scoop on Magic Spoon

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 17:08:46 -0000

This is a podcast where Mike professes his love...for cereal. After breaking himself free of the morning cereal habit years ago, Mike decides to try Magic Spoon, a new high-protein low carb cereal that sells only through a direct-to-consumer model. This cereal, which tastes like the sugar cereal of our (and maybe your) childhoods, has been on backorder and out of stock despite an eye-popping price point of $10 per 7 ounce box. As always, check out The Spoon at www.thespoon.tech for more news and analysis (and the occasional cereal review). via Knit

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Tiny Little Dishwashers

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 05:38:42 -0000

Welcome to The Food Tech Show with Michael Wolf (formerly the Smart Kitchen Show). The Spoon team is back together for another editorial roundtable (this time with sound effects!). This week we discuss: -Who would use a tiny little countertop dishwasher -The problem with Beyond Meat burgers -The growing robot backlash -Are we ok with Walmart walking into our homes? On the podcast are Michael Wolf, Catherine Lamb, Chris Albrecht and Jenn Marston. via Knit

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Here Come The BurgerBots: A Conversation About Restaurant Robotics

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 14:17:44 -0000

As you might expect, working a robot into the busy back of house of a fast food restaurant isn't as easy as just setting it in front of the grill and plugging it in. Nope, restaurants are a complicated mix of workflows, equipment and yes, people, so automating a part of the process with robotics requires planning. For this podcast we talk with some of the folks working on the leading edge of restaurant robotics, including Shawn Lange of Lab2Fab (a division of Middleby) and David Zito of Miso Robotics (the company behind Flippy, the burger flipping robot). **Important Note** - We are going to change the name of this podcast to The Food Tech Show from The Spoon. Why? Because we talk about lots of things in addition to the connected kitchen (though we still talk about that a whole bunch) and thought the name should reflect the wide set of topics. You won't have to change a thing - just stay subscribed and keep an eye out for our new podcast logo with the new name next week! via Knit

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Making Food Out of Thin Air with Solar Foods

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Fri, 03 May 2019 13:45:38 -0000

If you're a reader of the Spoon or a hardcore foodtech nerd (or, more than likely, both), you have read about a nascent but fast-growing group of startups working on technology to make food "out of thin air". These new companies are exciting because they are able to entirely disconnect from using agriculture-based resources - yes, both animal AND plant-based inputs) to create protein with a negligible impact on our the environment. The technique they are using is called "gas fermentation". I am so fascinated by this technology and these companies that I decided to invite the CEO of Solar Foods, Pasi Vainikka, on the show to tell us a little more about when we can expect protein created with this new process to hit our plates. I hope you enjoy it. You can find out more about Solar Foods at https://solarfoods.fi As always, find more podcasts about foodtech at The Spoon at www.thespoon.tech via Knit

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Being A Kitchen Product Reviewer In The Era of The Smart Kitchen

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 17:29:17 -0000

No matter what publication you write for, if you are writing about kitchen products you increasingly have to consider how digital and connected technology impact how people cook. At SKS 2018, Michael Wolf sat down with four of the leading kitchen product reviewers to ask them how they do their job - and how their job is changing - in an increasingly connected world. On the podcast panel were: Lisa McManus - America's Test Kitchen Joe Ray - Wired Ashley Clarke Thompson - CNET Wilson Rothman - Wall Street Journal You can find more podcasts and articles about the future of cooking at https://thespoon.tech via Knit

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Talking Food Robots & The Uncanny Valley of Meat with Ali Bouzari

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 18:36:51 -0000

Like most people, when I think food robots I think about efficiency. More burgers flipped, dishes cleaned and customers served. But what if the precision of robots can actually make food that tastes better? I talk about this, the uncanny valley of meat and more with this week's guest, Ali Bouzari, the chief science officer of Pilot R&D and Render Foods and author of INGREDIENT: Unveiling the Essential Elements of Food. You can find out more about Ali at https://www.alibouzari.com/ via Knit

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Talking Space Food With Angelo Vermeulen

podcast@nextmarket.co (The Spoon) — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 17:07:06 -0000

Like many people, I've long been fascinated with space and one of the most interesting aspects of interstellar travel is what exactly people will eat on space and once they get up there among the stars. This is something that Angelo Vermeulen has been thinking about for a long time. After spending years focused on systems and design for interstellar travel and colonization, Vermeulen was made the commander of the first HI-SEAS mission, a NASA funded space simulation focused on researching how to keep crews happy during long missions in space. In this episode, we talk about his experience on the HI-SEAS, some of his key takeaways, and the current state of space food research. You can find out more about Angelo at http://www.angelovermeulen.net/ via Knit

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