TheSpoon

Imagine you wanted to build a complete-from-scratch meal delivery company. Not just the delivery part like Doordash. I’m talking about building a company that is essentially an entire restaurant and food delivery industry in a box, one that works with big-name chefs to develop new restaurant concepts, builds centralized food production facilities, creates a network of mini-kitchen hubs around a large metro area, and owns the delivery network to get the food to people’s doors.

When California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the California Budget Act of 2022 into law this week, the state of California directed billions of dollars of tax funds to be allocated to everything from mental health support to gun buybacks to transportation infrastructure. But also nestled inside the $308 billion budget...

In 2024, imagine walking into Burger King and ordering a mammoth burger. No, not one that is bigger than your head; this Whopper will taste like the extinct proboscideans that roamed the earth millions of years ago. It’s all part of the magic from a Belgium-based food ingredient company called Paleo.

Imagine you wanted to build a complete-from-scratch meal delivery company. Not just the delivery part like Doordash. I’m talking about building a company that is essentially an entire restaurant and food delivery industry in a box, one that works with big-name chefs to develop new restaurant concepts, builds centralized food production facilities, creates a network of mini-kitchen hubs around a large metro area, and owns the delivery network to get the food to people’s doors.

Here at The Spoon, we think a lot about cooking. Sure, a big part of why is because we love to eat, but it’s also because we’re obsessed with cooking technology. And to be honest, there’s been a shortage of exciting new technology to make food and drink over the past couple of years. While we’ve seen some exciting advances like new smart ovens, crazy food robots, and even a drink replicator, the reality is there’s a lot more room for innovation.

Today Seattle-based Atomo announced it had raised $40 million in Series A funding to scale production of its beanless coffee, according to an announcement sent to The Spoon. When the company’s founders made the rounds in 2019, they pitched Atomo as the first ‘molecular’ coffee company. They had just emerged from the company’s chief scientist’s garage with a prototype of a ready-to-drink coffee made from upcycled ingredients, and eventually launched a Kickstarter with plans to make a ground coffee substitute that, when brewed, tasted and caffeinated like coffee.

From connective tissue, skin health, lunchroom JELLO, and your inner ear to injections to create fuller lips, collagen is one of a body’s vital chameleons. Until now, the best way to introduce this protein to your everyday health is by eating animal products or substitutes such as Keratin and other amino acid supplements.

If you’ve ever put meat or fish into a freezer, you’ve probably noticed it doesn’t look nearly as fresh once you thaw it out. That’s because the process of freezing food alters and damages its structure at a cellular level. As the temperature drops, water molecules slow down, and ice crystal embryos form ice nucleation sites. From there, the ice spreads to freeze the entire piece of food. Water within the food expands by up to 9% when frozen, causing food cells to rupture. When frozen food thaws, nutrients and flavors leach out from the food, often in the form of drip loss (that red liquid dropping from a warmed piece of red meat).

Happy Monday! We’ve got a round-up of recent food robot news to get your week kicked off right. This month, Singapore-based food robotics firm Ross Digital announced a $4.2 million ($3 million USD) Series A+ round led by food conglomerate Fraser and Neave. According to the company, which makes robotic arms for serving coffee and cocktails, the new funding will be used for product improvement and expansion into Thailand and Malaysia.

It’s another weekly food tech new wrap-up. As always, you can find more episodes of The Spoon Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also just click play below to listen to today’s show.

While it’s uncertain at this point just how profitable the food industry’s efforts to build out a presence in the metaverse will be, what we do know is those sure to make out in the near term around all these food web3 initiatives are trademark attorneys. All anyone...

Last week, Walmart and Roku announced a deal that would allow TV viewers watching streaming via a Roku device to purchase items – including food items – using their remote. According to the announcement, the new experience will allow customers to click on and purchase items advertised within...

For about as long as I’ve been seriously watching the Internet industry, companies have been trying to make a business of home grocery delivery. It started back in the late nineties when companies like Webvan and Homegrocer raised massive amounts of capital after convincing investors that food shopping would be largely done online in the future.

If you work 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 catch up with GFI’s CEO and founder Bruce Friedrich to talk about everything alt-protein and the future of meat. Some of the...

Another fast-grocery startup bites the dust. JOKR, the speedy grocery delivery company that was part of a larger wave of startups that entered the US last year, is shutting down its US operations, according to an email sent to customers today. The company said the last day of delivery in New York City and Boston will be June 19th.

We may be a little biased here at The Spoon, but we think food tech is the most exciting industry going. Think about it: Food is what many of us – heck, most of us – spend a huge chunk of our day thinking about, craving, searching for, and consuming. Food is something everyone is passionate about.

Today Mars announced the launch of a new animal-free chocolate under the brand CO2COA. Developed in partnership with precision fermentation specialist Perfect Day, the chocolate is available today via the product’s new website. While Mars already offers a range of vegan chocolate bars, this is the first bar from...

Lab-grown or cultured meat is a sexy topic that fulfills the dream of healthy eating while saving the planet’s precious resources. Most of the headlines focus on the companies in the four corners of the world waiting for regulators to wave the checkered flag. The more interesting story—at least for those who enjoy looking under the hood—is in the processes, supply chain, and partnerships vital to this promising industry.

Another fast-grocery startup bites the dust. JOKR, the speedy grocery delivery company that was part of a larger wave of startups that entered the US last year, is shutting down its US operations, according to an email sent to customers today. The company said the last day of delivery in New York City and Boston will be June 19th.

Moolec Science, a company that develops animal-identical proteins utilizing a technique called molecular farming, announced today it is going public via a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”). The company is doing so via a business combination agreement with LightJump Acquisition Corp, a company formed in 2020 as a SPAC vehicle. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022.