One week in a post #24: Home-Brewed Spirulina, Metabolism Boosters, Real Food Patties, Self-Driving…
One week in a post #24: Home-Brewed Spirulina, Metabolism Boosters, Real Food Patties, Self-Driving Delivery.
Now that climate beneficial eating is becoming more popular, and a number of individuals and organizations are getting into the space, I feel called to share with a broader audience what I encounter every single day through my work at Future Food and Food for Climate League. Weekly, I share startups I read about, products I tasted, founders I met (and a bit of personal life!). Every single concept I mention will be tracked on a public database we’re populating. The overarching goal is to increase the general interest in this topic, acknowledging that the challenge is too big not to work cooperatively.
This initiative is possible thanks to our amazing Future Food Ecosystem, where our team is working head-down every single day to research, design, create, and commercialize new food solutions to help our planet.
My word of the week
Thankful. NOUN / expressing gratitude and relief
Food, Climate and Innovation: three highlights of the week
1/ Self-Driving Delivery
Tech Crunch reported recently that Nuro, the passenger-less vehicle company, has raised $600 million in a fundraising round led by new investor Tiger Global Management, capital that the autonomous delivery startup will use to ramp up commercial operations.
Nuro is reimagining local delivery with their custom autonomous delivery vehicles that are designed to drive in neighborhoods. And because they only carry goods, they prioritize the safety of others. It’s a safer, smarter approach to everyday errands.
Nuro first launched its R1 Robot in Scottsdale Arizona in December 2018, but has recently updated with the launch of their second vehicle R2. According to their Medium Article, Introducing R2, Nuro’s Next Generation Self-Driving Vehicle by Co-founder Dave Ferguson, for this design they partnered with Roush, a full-service product development supplier based in Michigan. They developed a more durable custom vehicle body, updated their sensor array with both supplier-provided and custom, in-house sensors, added two-thirds more compartment space, and introduced temperature control to help keep food fresh. In addition the R2 uses a custom battery solution that increased that battery size allowing for the vehicle to delivery all day.
Nuro has begun public road testing with their second vehicle, R2, in Houston: they are carrying out trial deliveries with a number of companies, such as Chipotle, Krogers, CVS , Dominoes, Walmart, and FedEx.
For more information, stay up to date here.
2/ Brewing Spirulina at Home?
You know that superfood that tastes like the sea? Yes, spirulina, one of the most trendy superfoods over the past couple all know that “superfood” that notable seaweed taste that’s added to nearly every high-end smoothie: Spirulina is a blue-green algae, that is well known for being “nutrient dense” full of antioxidants, protein, beta-Carotene, iron, omega-6 and a huge range of vitamins and minerals.
However, a British start-up called Canopi, is looking to make Spirulina more accessible to consumers with the launch of their countertop machine named Bloom, which enables people to grow spirulina in their own kitchens.
According to SpoonTech, Canopi aims to make growing spirulina with its system just as easy as brewing coffee. Once the user adds water, a nutrient tablet, and living spirulina culture to the Bloom’s two growing pods, the machine optimizes light, heat, and airflow to create a perfect environment for spirulina to bloom. You can grow one of the must nutrient dense foods on the planet right on your very own countertop.
With their app, you can also track the growth of your spirulina: Each growing pod has a Growth Status Bar which has LEDs that indicate how far along the growing cycle the spirulina are. This remains orange during the 5-day growing cycle and turns green when it’s ready. The paste you are left with at the end of the growing cycle can be used in smoothies, soups, dressings, sauces, water, or frozen into cubes for later.
After the failure of Spirugrow, another attempt at a countertop appliance that cultivates fresh spirulina in your kitchen, in 2018, it will be intersting to see if the company is able to succeed and find the demand for their product. However, according to Spoon Tech, Bloom is cheaper, smaller, and appears to be more streamlined compared to Spirugrow so we remain hopeful.
To pre-order, see here.
3/ A Drink that Lowers Blood Sugar?
The functional beverage trend is here to stay and with it is only coming more and more innovation as consumers continue looking for the perfect “healthy” substitute to their cravings with added functional benefits.
Good Idea, a functional beverage developed by the founders of Oatly and the co-founder of Fiji Water set out with the goal of helping improve metabolism and optimizing energy from the foods we eat. They wanted to find a natural way to reduce elevated blood sugar following meals and to help our bodies maintain homeostasis.
According to PR Newswire, Good Idea is a scientifically proven dietary supplement of five amino acids and a mineral in sparkling water that can help those with normal blood sugar levels handle the sugar spike following any meal containing fast carbs and/or sugar.
Food Dive reported the company invested around $9 million in research and development and nine third-party, double-blind clinical trials to confirm the efficacy of the functional ingredients in Good Idea’s beverages. Research found adding a small amount of chromium picolinate to the five amino acids enhanced their effects, and reduced blood sugar rise after a meal by 20% to 30% compared to a placebo.
The product has new packaging and flavors with wild Nordic berries, including Wild Raspberry, Sea Berry and Black Currant varieties. Good Idea beverages are available for sale at Good Idea’s web site, with retail locations to be announced.
Climate Friendly products of the week
Cajú Love
Cajú Love transforms a byproduct of the cashew nut industry into nutritious plant-based meat alternatives.
Founders / Alana and Felipe are both first generation immigrants from Brazil and Colombia raised on the east coast of the United States.
Nutrition / Cajú Love does not contain gluten, soy, and is organic, vegan & a high source of fiber. IT is only made from 1 nutritious ingredient making it a more wholesome and clean plant-based meat alternative.
Somos Foods
SOMOS Foods makes Mexican food with authentic recipes and plant-based, Non-GMO ingredients. Tacos, tostadas, nachos and chilaquiles all ready in ten minutes.
“At SOMOS, we make real Mexican food with authentic recipes and ingredients — just like our moms made it.”
Brand Name / Somos means “we are” in Spanish. The team picked the name for different reasons a key reason being it created a sense of community.
Sourcing / The product line is produced in Mexico, with most ingredients sourced from family-owned farms there.
Actual Veggies
Actual Veggies makes thick-cut plant-based burgers formulated with whole beans, vegetables and spices.
Sourcing / Actual Veggies works directly with farmers to source the freshest and most sustainable crops.
Nutrition / Actual Veggies patties do not contain fillers, preservatives or ingredients you can’t pronounce. They are also vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free.
The Future Food Institute believes climate change is at the end of your fork. By harnessing the power of our global ecosystem of partners, innovators, researchers, educators, and entrepreneurs, FFI aims to sustainably improve life on Earth through the transformation of global food systems.
Learn more at www.futurefoodinsitute.org, or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube.
Or attend a program through the FutureFood.Academy!
Can I help you with the work you’re doing? Please reach out to me here!
👉👉 Thank you Natalie Brandenburg for the priceless help putting this article together!
One week in a post #24: Home-Brewed Spirulina, Metabolism Boosters, Real Food Patties, Self-Driving… was originally published in FUTURE FOOD on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.