Latest food tech and innovation news, jobs and events.
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organic
FEATURED
Good Eggs Raises $50M, Sayonara Organic Checkoff Program + More (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=7ea04e9c94&e=2715c96b29)
Our round-up of this week's top food innovation news.
2017 US Food & Beverage Startup Investment Report (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=1bd2ab4177&e=2715c96b29)
Introducing our first annual Food & Bev Startup Investment Report by Ryan Williams. There were $1.08b in venture capital investments across 99 deals in 2017. Check out our report for a deep dive into the deals and trends.
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LATEST JOB LISTINGS
Customer Experience Intern at Hopsy (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=1f1eb29f4d&e=2715c96b29) - New York, NY
Sales Account Executive at Copra (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=d420d3f26b&e=2715c96b29) - New York, NY
Sales & Distribution Manager at Cocoburg (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=5fd47214c7&e=2715c96b29) - Brooklyn, NY
Senior Engineer at Sweetgreen (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=725e36e87b&e=2715c96b29) - Los Angeles, CA
Product Development Manager at Splendid Spoon (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=6069e1a590&e=2715c96b29) - Brooklyn, NY
iOS Engineer at Sweetgreen (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=96c631742d&e=2715c96b29) - Los Angeles, CA
Value Chain Coordinator at Sweetgreen (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=d428023fad&e=2715c96b29) - Bay Area, CA
Sales Specialist at BentoBox (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=9e51089336&e=2715c96b29) - New York, NY
Food Buyer - Purchasing Team at Eat Club (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=a070f8856c&e=2715c96b29) - San Leandro, CA
Program Manager at Food Shift (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=7e38eb7fb7&e=2715c96b29) - Bay Area, CA
Pastry Assistant at Philo Ridge Farm (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=dc2a07c145&e=2715c96b29) - Charlotte, VT
SEARCH MORE JOBS! (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=d5b8158e22&e=2715c96b29)
hu products
CPG
Hu Products Closes Round, 43 Investors Strong (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=8d511203ff&e=2715c96b29) - Project Nosh
Maker of paleo-friendly, vegan, organic chocolate closed a round just under $10m led by Sonoma Brands. The new investment will allow Hu Kitchen to commercialize six new products already developed in its restaurant.
This New Edible Packaging Is Grown from Kombucha (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=404f1b7619&e=2715c96b29) - Co.Design
Polish design student Roza Janusz developed a fully recyclable packaging solution made of scoby that can be grown by farmers to wrap their products and bring them to market with zero waste.
ImpactVision Can Detect Foreign Objects in Food Using Hyperspectral Imagery (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=ce470c803c&e=2715c96b29) - AgFunder
Lighter foreign objects, such as plastic, paper, bones, cardboard, textiles and insects can go undetected by visual inspection and by X-ray machines. ImpactVision's hyperspectral system can detect objects as small as 0.08 inches in size.
The Time Is Right for Authentic Indian Cuisine in the United States (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=2d06390309&e=2715c96b29) - Food Business News
Anshu Dua, CEO of The Chaat Co, believes the time is right to put authentic Indian dishes on the menu, and in retail grab-and-go departments. Indian foods offer much of what the evolving American palate craves, including fresh produce and bold flavors.
Big Food's Information Gap (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=15bb448e4a&e=2715c96b29) - Food Dive
Startups make better use of consumer feedback than large food companies, and the bigger firms should take a page from their playbook.
How Curiosity Propelled the Entrepreneur Behind Justin's to Grow a $100M Brand (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=ba7a6a8fa6&e=2715c96b29) - Entrepreneur
Justin Gold kept asking himself questions, which led to the founding of his business, new product ideas and a $286m acquisition.
Instant Coffee Is Making a Comeback (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=818650973e&e=2715c96b29) - Vogue
Once abandoned in favor of more complicated brewing methods, dissolvable coffee granules have a new champion in third-wave coffeemakers.
good eggs
RETAIL
How Good Eggs Came Back from the Brink – and Plans to Take on Amazon (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=05690f7d54&e=2715c96b29) - Fast Company
The online delivery company came close to shutting down in 2015. Now it's raised $50m and is planning to grow beyond San Francisco by offering an alternative to the Amazon-Whole Foods behemoth.
Kroger Partners with Ocado in a Bet on the Future of Online Grocery (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=89aaf42104&e=2715c96b29) - Food Dive
The retailer has signed an exclusive agreement with Ocado to bring its automated fulfillment capabilities to America. Ocado's technology offers online ordering, automated warehouse fulfillment and delivery logistics.
Next Up at Amazon-Run Whole Foods: Half-Priced Halibut Steaks (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=5b86a84a60&e=2715c96b29) - New York Times
Whole Foods will give large discounts for some products, and 10% off hundreds of sale items in stores for Amazon Prime members.
PetPlate Raises $4M in Seed Funding Round (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=de5f642f84&e=2715c96b29) - Finsmes
The round was led by Dane Creek Capital with participation from Amity Supply, SWAT Equity, The Yard Ventures, Castor Ventures and BrandProject. PetPlate will use the funds to scale operations to meet demand of its subscription pet meal service.
Food Delivery's Untapped Opportunity (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=0f52dabee8&e=2715c96b29) - TechCrunch
This industry has low margins, is slow to adopt new technologies and has many incumbent players. But the opportunity to design and execute on this platform is significant, with clear ROI as a reward and a built-in moat once it reaches critical mass.
Walmart Just Abandoned Cashierless Checkout, and It Reveals a Huge Challenge in Its Battle with Amazon (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=367941ce7f&e=2715c96b29) - Business Insider
The failed test highlights a key challenge for Walmart in its battle with Amazon: getting Walmart's core customers to adopt new technologies and engage with the company digitally.
HelloFresh Officially Pulls Ahead of Blue Apron As the Meal Kit Market Leader (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=ab24ad0951&e=2715c96b29) - Food Dive
The German company grew its US customer base to 1.2m, a 68.9% increase over last year.
chefs
RESTAURANTS
The Female Couples Remaking the Restaurant Industry (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=1b24a2afef&e=2715c96b29) - New York Times
As restaurants helmed by queer women thrive in American cities, so too does a new paradigm for less brutal, more collaborative, professional cooking.
Cava Group Is Raising Tens of Millions of Dollars. Again. (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=5d6b6ebb4b&e=2715c96b29) - Biz Journals
The fast casual restaurant chain raised a $35m equity offering from undisclosed investors. It has already raised $96m in the past few years to fuel its growth.
Hospitality Giant Buys Delivery Service Waitr for $308M (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=5a28492ea9&e=2715c96b29) - Skift Table
The Louisiana-based delivery company will be acquired by Landcadia. It currently has 540k active diners on its platform and partners with over 5k restaurants.
UberEats Doubles Down on POS Integration with orderTalk Acquisition (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=e4823322fa&e=2715c96b29) - Skift Table
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The move was part of a two-fold strategy that allowed for ease of ordering and better manage restaurant workflow.
OpenTable Adds Business Insights to Restaurant-Facing Guest Center (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=37ff4daf7f&e=2715c96b29) - Skift Table
The new business intelligence tools aim to give restaurants more insight into the data that surrounds daily operations like booking, customer relationship management and occupancy.
Tom Colicchio Announces Food Hall Project (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=ccf18e291c&e=2715c96b29) - Nation's Restaurant News
The celebrity chef and owner of Crafted Hospitality is putting his culinary touch on a 40k-square-foot food hall in Kansas City.
Restaurants Lean on Retail to Add to the Experience and the Bottom Line (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=6033d4123c&e=2715c96b29) - Skift Table
Economics is driving the trend, as restaurants search for new sources of income.
BIGH
AGRICULTURE
Belgium: BIGH Raises €4.3M for Largest Urban Rooftop Farm in Europe (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=ecb45f3590&e=2715c96b29) - AgFunder
The $5.1m investment came from LTFD, Fidentia Green Buildings, Finance.Brussels and ECF. The startup plans to build its first aquaponic farm on a site spanning 4k meters above a food hall in the center of the city.
USDA Nixes Organic Checkoff Program (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=6591e3c592&e=2715c96b29) - Food Dive
The department said there wasn't enough support to move forward on a plan that would have larger producers pay about $30m annually to fund a national research and marketing strategy.
Canada: Motorleaf Raises $2.85M to Help Greenhouses Predict Their Harvests (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=aa61051465&e=2715c96b29) - Betakit
The investment was led by Radicle Growth with participation from Desjardins Capital, Real Ventures, Fluxunit and 500 Startups Canada. The startup will use funding to build up its platform providing data analytics to greenhouse operators.
Startup Using Deep Learning to Fight Food Waste Raises $2M Seed Round (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=260edfe4de&e=2715c96b29) - AgFunder
Exfinity Ventures led the seed round to allow AgShift to hire more deep learning experts and prepare for full commercialization with more pilot studies.
Subcutaneous Fitbits? These Cows Are Modeling the Tracking Technology of the Future (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=e28ecb6f67&e=2715c96b29) - MIT Technology Review
Livestock Labs is getting bio-monitors under cows' skin in hopes of helping farmers spot disease earlier, and it wants to bring its tech to people, too.
What Could the Next Farm Bill Mean for the Organic Program? (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=1a2d732d40&e=2715c96b29) - Civil Eats
Congress granted the National Organic Standards Board authority in 1990 to shape the organic label and decide which chemicals farmers can use. Now some lawmakers are pushing changes that could dismantle it.
These Shipping Containers Have Farms Inside (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=844be5eb9d&e=2715c96b29) - Bloomberg
Los Angeles startup Local Roots is supplying its 40-foot-long TerraFarms to restaurants, SpaceX and the UN.
Syrian Seeds and the Future of Wheat (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=995ffcde57&e=2715c96b29) - The Fern
Engulfed by war, Syria's seed bank still provided the genetic resources for a new generation of climate-resilient wheat varieties.
Joel Salatin responds to New York Times' 'Myth of Sustainable Meat' (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=ecf3eeb2a4&e=2715c96b29) - Grist
Is sustainable meat production possible? Polyface Farm's Joel Salatin takes on a recent New York Times op-ed point by point.
Brooklyn Grange Announces a New Location — in a Former WWII Shipyard (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=a907795bf5&e=2715c96b29) - Inhabitat
At Kearny Point in New Jersey, Brooklyn Grange will convert three acres into a native meadow and an acre of parking lot spaces into a demonstration garden.
Merged Bayer-Monsanto Will Corner the Market on Farm Data and Software (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=58b6d2ccc9&e=2715c96b29) - Des Moines Register
The DOJ is expected to approve the merger between Bayer and Monsanto. The merger will create the world's largest seed and chemical company that has more in common with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica than meets the eye.
Wounded Pigs and Dehydrated Ducks: Questions Arise About How the Agriculture Department Treats Its Animals (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=ab662cae2f&e=2715c96b29) - The Washington Post
Animal welfare groups are calling on Congress to increase oversight of animal research programs. Government inspectors documented 16 animal welfare violations at 10 USDA facilities in 2017.
Taranis Acquires Aerial Imagery Platform Mavrx (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=bfe8b8f5a1&e=2715c96b29) - AgFunder
Taranis will integrate Mavrx's aircraft-based ultra-high resolution imagery product into its product line and bring existing customers onto its platform. Financial terms are undisclosed.
healthy cooking
EATERS
The New Global Plan to Eliminate the Most Harmful Fat in Food, Explained (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=c8a20a043f&e=2715c96b29) - Vox
For the first time, the World Health Organization wants to ban trans fats from the food supply by 2023. If successful, they say it could save more than 10m lives worldwide by reducing cardiovascular disease.
Farm Bill Controversy Centers on Food Stamps (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=11a88874b3&e=2715c96b29) - NPR
The House is scheduled to vote this week on a controversial Farm Bill that would impose strict work requirements on people who receive food stamp benefits.
Cod and 'Immune Broth': California Tests Food as Medicine (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=9bfe24450c&e=2715c96b29) - New York Times
A state-funded clinical trial will test whether nutritious daily meals for chronically ill people can improve health and reduce medical costs.
Thryve Secures $1.4M in Funding (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=206dfd8170&e=2715c96b29) - Finsmes
The provider of microbiotics and microbiome testing secured funds from PivotNorth Capital, Unilever Ventures, Darling Ventures, Candela Paramount, Abstract Ventures and Joyance Partners. It will use funds for increased research, technological developments and exposure to potential customers.
The Food System and AI's Transformative Potential (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=ff4421a258&e=2715c96b29) - Food Navigator
AI has the potential to reinvent the global food production system, with far reaching consequences on health, nutrition and environmental impact.
Almost 40% of Peer-Reviewed Dietary Research Turns Out to Be Wrong. Here's Why (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=eec4194aaf&e=2715c96b29) - New Food Economy
Food science has a huge statistics problem. The solution, for now? Stop treating new nutrition studies like they contain the truth.
40% of Americans Are Willing to Try Lab-Grown Meat (https://foodtechconnect.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5137626c88ab3a61c40112a42&id=57e761e5bf&e=2715c96b29) - Food Dive
As the process and cost for creating animal protein is refined, the real question is whether people will buy it.
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