These 9 'future food' trends are changing the way we eat
In recent years, Silicon Valley has turned its eyes on the food industry. From coffee-infused gummies to lab-grown meat, the foods in development today are shaping the culinary scene of tomorrow.
Whether your ideal meal is a quinoa bowl served by "robots" or meal-replacement beverage Soylent, there's something for everyone.
YOU CAN DITCH YOUR CUP OF JOE FOR "CHEWABLE COFFEE."
Imagine if instead of rolling out of bed to brew a pot of coffee, you pop a sugar-coated, caffeine-infused gummy into your mouth to get moving.
Nootrobox, a hot startup out of Silicon Valley once dubbed the Birchbox of cognitive enhancers, has made "chewable coffee" a reality. Its Go Cubes are made with real cold-brew coffee and aim to improve clarity and focus, without causing unwanted side effects like jitteriness. The bite-sized cubes are the equivalent to drinking half a cup of coffee.
PLANT-BASED FOODS MAY SOON BE INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE FOODS THEY IMITATE.
Until recently, veggie burgers resembled pan-fried Frisbees more closely than beef. Now, startups are reinventing meat and dairy substitutes.
A new plant-based burger by Beyond Meat "bleeds" juices in every bite (it's actually a pulverized beet blend). Impossible Foods, a company Google tried to buy for $200 million in 2015, makes a legume-based burger that's so convincing, Momofuku restaurant empire head David Chang wrote in a review, "Today I tasted the future and it was vegan."
Craving dairy? Try Kite Hill's yogurts and cream cheese spreads made from almond blends. You might not notice the difference.
THE AUTOMAT IS BACK.
The automat first became a go-to lunch destination in the mid-twentieth century, when New York City's 50 automat locations attracted some 350,000 customers a day. Now, decades later, it's back.
Fast-food chain Eatsa uses technology to automate the ordering and pick-up processes, so a customer can dine in or out, no interaction with a human required.
The vegetarian restaurant specializes in quinoa bowls that cost about $7 and serves food through glass-doored cubbies in the wall. The first locations are now open in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
MEAL-REPLACEMENT DRINKS ARE GOING MAINSTREAM.
The meal-replacement beverage Soylent claims to fulfill 20% of your daily needs for all essential vitamins and minerals, andtastes like milk leftover from eating a bowl of Cheerios. The bottled form factor means there's no mixing required, so each bottle tastes as consistently "okay" as the last.
An estimated one million people tried a nutritionally complete food like Soylent or Joylent last year, according to a recent report by meal-replacement company KetoSoy. Sales are on pace to hit $110 million, up from $30 million in 2015.
RAW JUICE COMES FROM A VENDING MACHINE.
In 2015, the cold-pressed juice market hit an estimated $100 million in revenue.
While a vending machine is probably not the first place you look for healthy snack alternatives, a startup called Juicebot is experimenting with the idea. The company's vending machines dispense raw, cold-pressed juice in eight-ounce servings.
Because raw juice is very sensitive, the Juicebot keeps it refrigerated and vacuum-sealed to maintain constant temperature, pH levels, and acidity.
ROBOTS WILL GET YOUR BURGER ORDER RIGHT EVERY TIME.
Momentum Machines has created a robot that can crank out 400 made-to-order hamburgers in an hour, and the robotics startup plans to open a restaurant featuring its technology in San Francisco in the near future.
The robot is fully autonomous, meaning it can slice toppings, grill a patty, and assemble and bag a burger without any help from humans.
UGLY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES ARE GETTING A SECOND CHANCE.
Some six billion pounds of fruits and veggies are left unharvested or unsold every year because they're considered too small, fat, or otherwise weird-looking.
A startup called Imperfect is trying to salvage the ugly produce by buying it on the cheap from California farmers and delivering it to Oakland and Berkeley subscribers, for about half of what you'd pay for comparable produce at the grocery store.
Even Whole Foods got on board with cosmetically-challenged produce this year. The high-end grocer partnered with Imperfect to sell some of its fruit in stores.
FAST FOOD IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY GUILT-FREE.
Thanks to the rise of healthy fast food joints, we can finally have it all: delicious grub that's quick, cheap, and easy.
Trendy salad bar Sweetgreen serves up massive salads made with organic, locally sourced ingredients, while the nation's first 100% vegetarian drive-thru, Amy's, serves up a mean Broccoli Cheddar Mac among other comfort foods.
Kimbal Musk, the brother of Elon, is launching an organic sandwich and salad joint in Memphis, Tennessee, this August where food costs $5 or less.
Vocabulary Words:
1. Infused - (verb) Soak (tea, herbs, etc.) in liquid to extract the flavour or healing properties
2. Reinvent - (verb) Change (something) so much that it appears to be entirely new
3. Mainstream - (noun) The ideas, attitudes, or activities that are shared by most people and regarded as normal or conventional:
4. Revenue - (noun) Income, especially when of an organization and of a substantial nature
5. Autonomous - (adj.) Having the freedom to act independently
6. Grub - (noun) informal Food
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you follow any "food trends"? Why or why not?
2. In your opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages of food trends?
3. Do you think technology is really changing how humans eat and see food? How so?
4. Do you think technology and food should mix? Why do you think so?
5. What technological advancement in terms of food would you like to see in the coming years?
