The Spoon

Publix Has Ambitious Plans to Get More Hydroponically Grown Greens in Its Stores

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 19:00:00 GMT

Back in 2019, we predicted that hydroponically grown greens would soon become a mainstay of grocery stores in the U.S. We did not predict that a global health crisis would [...]

Unfold Raises $30M to Innovate on Vegetable Varieties in Vertical Farming

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 16:40:38 GMT

Today, Leaps by Bayer, an investment arm of Bayer AG, and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek announced the creation of a new company that will develop new varieties of vegetables best [...]

Walmart Brings on Instacart for Same Day Grocery Delivery

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 16:28:19 GMT

Walmart has teamed up with Instacart to provide same day grocery delivery in four markets across California and Oklahoma, reports CNBC. Instacart users in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego [...]

Google Lookout Adds Food Label Reading for the Visually Impaired

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 16:00:00 GMT

Lookout, Google’s Android app that helps visually impaired users identify their surroundings, announced some new features yesterday, including the ability to read food labels. From Google’s corporate blog, The Keyword: [...]

Whataburger’s Food Truck Set to Tour the U.S. in 2021

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 15:00:00 GMT

Iconic Texas-based QSR chain Whataburger announced this week it has upped its off-premises game with a 36-foot-long food truck that will take a multi-state tour in 2021. The forthcoming Whataburger [...]

Kiwibot’s Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign for its Deliver Robot Service

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 21:14:25 GMT

Kiwibot, which makes rover delivery robots, officially announced its equity crowdfunding campaign today, with the goal of raising a little more than $1 million via Wefunder. As of this writing, [...]

ShiftPixy Launches Ghost Kitchen Incubator

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 19:56:59 GMT

Gig economy engagement platform ShiftPixy announced today the launch of its Ghost Kitchen Incubator Project, which will provide advice and infrastructure to restaurants wanting to launch and/or improve their off-premises [...]

California Judge Orders Uber and Lyft to Reclassify Drivers as Employees

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 18:00:54 GMT

A California judge late Monday ordered that Uber and Lyft must reclassify their drivers as employees. This preliminary injunction is stayed for 10 days, during which time Uber and Lyft [...]

S2G Ventures to Invest $100M in Seafood and Ocean Health Startups

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 16:00:00 GMT

Food and agriculture venture fund S2G Ventures announced today that it is launching a new seafood and ocean health strategy and will be investing $100 million startups across the sector. [...]

VeggieVictory, Nigeria’s First Plant-Based Meat Company, Receives Angel Investment

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 15:00:00 GMT

VeggieVictory announced last week that it has raised its first round of angel investment. This first round of funding was led by Ryan Bethencourt, founder and CEO of Wild Foods [...]

Atomo Raises $9M in Seed Funding for its Molecular Coffee

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 12:00:00 GMT

Atomo, the Seattle startup that re-creates coffee on a molecular level, announced today that it has raised a $9 million in seed funding from S2G Ventures, AgFunder, Bessemer Venture Partners [...]

Recipes for Relief Ends Initial Run, Raised More Than $11,000 for Chefs and Bartenders

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 22:00:00 GMT

Recipes for Relief is ending its inaugural run today after raising more than $11,000 for foodservice workers like chefs and bartenders out of work because of the pandemic. The initiative [...]

Food-X Gets $2.6M Grant to Build Out its E-Commerce Platform

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 20:00:00 GMT

Food-X Technologies, which creates a software platform to help retailers facilitate their online grocery shopping and delivery, announced last week that it had received a $2.6 million Canadian (~$1.95M USD) [...]

Cafe X Closed its Airport Locations and Laid Off Staff. Now It’s Planning for the Future

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 18:45:33 GMT

Cafe X has shut down its San Jose and San Francisco airport operations, laid off staff and made a number of other market adjustments as the company adapts to the [...]

Plant-Based Meat Company THIS Has Surpassed Its £2M Crowdfunding Goal — With Time to Spare

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 17:05:31 GMT

Plant-based meat company THIS has more than surpassed its £2 million (~$2.6 million USD) target goal on crowdfunding platform Seedrs. So far, the London, U.K.-based company has raised over £3 [...]

iKcon Raises a $5M Pre-Seed Round for Its Ghost Kitchen Network

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 15:06:22 GMT

Cloud kitchen startup iKcon announced today it has raised a $5 million pre-seed round led by Arzan VC, AlTouq Group and Nazer Group. This brings iKcon’s total funding to $10 [...]

As Menus Move to Mobile Phones, Research Shows AR Could Drive More Sales

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 13:00:00 GMT

Among the countless ways COVID is altering the meal journey is the humble menu. Gone are the germy, reusable laminated menus of the past, and while single-use paper menus are [...]

I, Restaurant

Sun, 09 Aug 2020 13:00:00 GMT

This is the web version of our newsletter. Sign up today to get updates on the rapidly changing nature of the food tech industry. This week’s virtual Spoon event was a goldmine [...]

Food Tech News: Kroger Pilots Contactless Pay, How QSRs Could Change the Whole Food System

Sat, 08 Aug 2020 13:00:00 GMT

Had your fill of food tech news for the week? Of course you haven’t. With that in mind, here are a few more bits and bites to carry your appetite [...]

Sensei Ag Uses AI Platform and Hydroponic Technology to Grow Food

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 22:27:58 GMT

As the world’s population inches towards its estimated 10 billion people by 2050, finding more, not to mention more sustainable, ways to feed people becomes more and more important. High-tech, [...]