This is a monthly guest post written by consulting firm Rosenheim Advisors; it highlights the most interesting acquisitions, financings and partnerships within the Food Tech & Media ecosystem – digital content, social, local, mobile, grocery, e-commerce, delivery, ordering, payments, marketing and analytics – to give you insights into the latest funding and growth trends.

The food tech ecosystem brought in over $665 million of capital in September, with a little over half attributed to the IPO of Dutch food delivery marketplace Takeaway.com. There were 17 private companies who announced funding during the month, raising close to $300 million in total private capital, half of which were U.S.-based. Within this, Fresh Direct’s private equity infusion of $189 million was the largest raise during the month.

With six relatively early stage deals announced in September, M&A activity was a bit light but notably international as nearly every acquisition announced took place outside the U.S. Among the larger strategics, Just Eat and Zomato were active acquirers during the month as well as iZettle, a fast-growing mobile payments and POS startup.

While meal delivery, meal kits and grocery continue to be well-represented categories, there was a lot of activity among SaaS-based restaurant ops players, both on the M&A front as well as funding. Top themes included business automation, reservations and point of sale solutions.

M&A

Zomato Acquires Sparse Labs. The Guragon, India-based delivery monitoring technology will allow Zomato to enhance its delivery technology.  Sparse Labs technology allows both the company and customer to view the location and progress of a delivery in real time via mobile app. Zomato will incorporate this technology into its meal delivery services, which rely on individual restaurant’s own delivery teams to complete their orders. With the acquisition, Sparse Labs will become Zomato Trace.

Announced: 09/26/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: July 2014

U-Feast Acquires Pass the Table. As a competitor to U-Feast which offers exclusive weekly “feasts” at different area restaurants, Pass the Table allows consumers to customize their menu and food experience at restaurants. Pass the Table will bring U-Feast 2,000 new customers. With the acquisition, the co-founders of Pass the Table will join U-Feast as a chief experience officer and a member of the board of directors. According to Betakit, in the coming year U-Feast plans to launch a new user interface focusing on “customization and building out its data analytics engine to better target customers”.

Announced: 09/23/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2014

1C Acquires Quick Resto. The Moscow-based SaaS solution for restaurant business automation sold a controlling stake to 1C, a Russian enterprise software giant. According to East-West Digital News, 1C intends to develop the company further with its founders.

Announced: 09/12/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2013

Eating with the Seasons Acquires Bay Area Operations of Farmigo. Farmigo announced this summer that they would sell their delivery operations and continue solely working to develop their software system. Eating with the Seasons has bought the Bay Area operations and will add Farmigo customers to its current local food delivery service under the name Farmhouse Foods. Farmigo is reportedly looking to sell its Seattle and New York operations as well.

Announced: 09/09/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed (Divestiture) Founded: 2009

iZettle Acquires intelligentpos. The Edinburgh, UK-based cloud-based point of sale system will enhance iZettle’s mobile point of sale system by integrating advanced features such as stock and table management. According to TechCrunch, intelligentpos, which has been a partner to iZettle for three years, will add another €500 million in processing volume to the €3 billion that iZettle already processes annually. TechCrunch also notes that this may be just the beginning of an acquisition spree for iZettle as the company is company is “looking to go beyond its original payment roots as a route to more recurring revenue and a wider customer base”.

Announced: 09/06/16  Terms: Not Disclosed (Cash and Equity) Previous Investment: $0.8m  Founded: 2013

Just Eat Acquires Partial Assets of Tok Tok Tok. The France-based shopping and delivery service, which operates similarly to Postmates, will provide Just Eat with logistics technology to further manage restaurant delivery drivers. According to TechCrunch, the company had been “on its last legs for a while now”, and with the sale of the assets will be shutting down.

Announced: 09/06/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: $2.0m  Founded: February 2012

Revel Systems Acquires iqPOSitive. The Russian developer of cloud-based automation solutions for restaurant businesses offers tablet-based solutions for a range of process including checkout, employee schedule and inventory management. The transaction reportedly took place in May, with iqPOSitive now operating as a subsidiary of Revel Systems.

Announced: 08/15/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed Founded: 2014

FUNDING

Takeaway.com Raises $368m in IPO. The Amsterdam, Netherlands-based online meal delivery service allows consumers to order meals from restaurants for on-demand delivery. Takeaway provides restaurants with an online ordering platform, and the meals are delivered by restaurants’ own delivery services. Takeaway operates in Europe and parts of Asia. As TechCrunch notes, Takeaway.com priced its shares at €23 each ($25.82), giving the company an enterprise value of around €849 million ($952 million) and a market cap of around €993 million ($1.1 billion).

Announced: 09/30/16  Valuation (at IPO): $1.1 billion  Stage: IPO  Previous Investment: $118.0 million  Founded: 2000

Home Chef Raises $40m. The Chicago, IL-based meal kit delivery service offers a menu of recipe kits updated weekly. Kits include prepared ingredients and directions and can be customized with add-ons including breakfast and fruit baskets. Home Chef has distribution centers in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta and ships kits throughout the United States. The company delivers over 1.5 million meal kits per month, and has recently increased its team to 600. The investment will be used for growth.

Announced: 09/29/16  Stage: Series B  Participating Institutional Investors: L Catterton  Previous Investment: $16.0 million  Founded: June 2013

VMO Raises Undisclosed Funding. The Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based platform for event scheduling allows customers to book venues for events for free. VMO offers over 650 venues and services, and 20% of those may be booked instantly online. Strategic investor, Rhombus Food, operates popular eateries in Malaysia and saw a stream of bookings to their restaurants from VMO, which led to the funding. VMO plans to use the investment to expand in Malaysia.

Announced: 09/27/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Institutional Investors: Rhombus Food Holdings  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: August 2014

Fresh Direct Raises $189m. The Long Island City, NY-based grocery delivery service has grown to $600 million in revenue and has been profitable since 2010. In addition to its core order-ahead service, Fresh Direct also operates FoodKick, which delivers food in an hour. Fresh Direct currently operates in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware. The investment will be used for “manufacturing capacity” and expansion to “new geographies.” According to Reuters, the CEO has said it is ‘too early’ to comment on potential plans for either an initial public offering or a sale to a larger competitor.

Announced: 09/26/16  Stage: Private Equity  Participating Institutional Investors: J.P. Morgan Asset Management (lead), AARP, W Capital Partners  Previous Investment: $91.0 million  Founded: July 2002

Umi Kitchen Raises $1.4m. The New York, NY-based mobile app offers a home-cooked meal delivery marketplace. Home cooks apply to cook for the platform, and the app offers users 4 to 7 meal choices each night.  Meals are delivered to consumers by Postmates. Umi Kitchen currently operates in Brooklyn and Manhattan for dinners five days a week.

Announced: 09/26/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Institutional Investors: BoxGroup, Version One Ventures, SWTLF Ventures, YEI Innovation Fund  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: March 2015

Chef’s Plate Raises $6m. The Toronto, Canada-based meal kit delivery service allows consumers to select recipes they want to cook and delivers pre-portioned ingredients and directions. Recipe offerings are changed weekly, and each meal takes about 30 minutes to prepare once delivered. Chef’s Plate currently has distribution centers in Ontario and Vancouver. An estimated 200,000 kits are delivered each month, with sales increasing 10 percent week to week.

Announced: 09/20/16  Stage: Series A  Participating Institutional Investors: Acton Capital Partners (lead), BrandProject, Emil Capital Partners, Linas Matkasse  Previous Investment: $2.0 million  Founded: December 2014

Brava Raises $12m. The Mountain View, CA-based domestic automation company specializing in food and kitchen experiences produces hardware and software to “simplify aspects of daily life”. Brava is currently working on a kitchen appliance, and according to TechCrunch, the product will be “for everyone” and “not a luxury item.” Brava plans to launch their first product sometime next year.

Announced: 09/20/16  Stage: Series A  Participating Institutional Investors: True Ventures (lead), Aileen Lee, Chris Anderson, Robert H Reid  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2016

Allset Raises $2.35m. The San Francisco, CA-based mobile app allows restaurant patrons to book a table, order their meal, and pay in advance. The aim of the app is to decrease wait time and let consumers finish their restaurant experience in 30 minutes. Allset currently operates in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Manhattan. It operates in over 180 restaurants and serves over 8,500 customers per month. The investment will be used for expansion to Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as product research, development, and marketing.

Announced: 09/20/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Institutional Investors: Compound (lead), Andreessen Horowitz, FJ Labs, SMRK VC Fund  Previous Investment: $1.5 million  Founded: April 2015

SmartBite Raises Undisclosed Funding. The Petaling Jaya, Malaysia-based food delivery service delivers lunches to working professionals. People who use the service get a text message each morning with a daily menu and reply with their choice of options to select their meal. Currently, SmartBite only offers lunch deliveries, but the company has plans to offer breakfast, snacks, and take-home dinners.

Announced: 09/19/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Institutional Investors: Marna Capital, Noodles, Rhombus  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2016

Swiggy Raises $15m. The Bangalore, India-based meal delivery service provides restaurant meals to consumers with on-demand delivery. Swiggy claims to have the fastest delivery rates in India, with an average time of 37 minutes. Swiggy currently operates in 8 cities, works with over 9000 restaurants, and processes over 40000 orders per day. The funding will be used to increase delivery efficiency, upgrade technology, and expand the number of restaurants.

Announced: 09/19/16  Stage: Series D  Participating Institutional Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, SAIF Partners  Previous Investment: $60.5 million  Founded: August 2014

FoodChéri raises $6.7m. The Paris, France-based online restaurant offers healthy meals prepared by chefs for delivery. Orders are taken in advance and on-demand, and meals are delivered ready to reheat. FoodCheri currently serves over 1,000 meals per day and operates in Paris and surrounding suburbs. The company will use the funding to expand in France, to increase its staff, and to develop.

Announced: 09/19/16  Stage: Series A  Participating Institutional Investors: 360 Capital Partners (lead), Breega Capital (lead), Samaipata Ventures  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: April 2015

Sourcery Raises $5m. The San Francisco, CA-based app allows restaurants to digitally manage orders, inventory, and costs. Restaurants can scan and upload invoices and receipts, and the Sourcery app will organize the information. Sourcery will use the funds to create an app feature that will allow vendors to send and track invoices and bill customers.

Announced: 09/13/16  Stage: Venture  Participating Institutional Investors: Marker (lead), Palantir Technologies, Steadfast Venture Capital  Previous Investment: $8.0 million  Founded: 2012

eBev raises $1.5m.  The Sydney, Australia-based online platform allows wholesale wine purchasers to manage their inventories and order directly from wine sellers. The platform includes 22,000 wines and is currently used by 700 venues. eBev aims to have 8,000 venues using the platform in the next year. The investment will be used to expand to Melbourne and other areas, as well as to expand services—including offering more wines and further developing customer relationship and payment tools.

Announced: 09/12/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Institutional Investors: Sydney Angels Sidecar Fund  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: September 2014

Idea Chakki Raises Undisclosed Funding. The New Delhi, India-based mobile app works with restaurants to provide digital video menus and allow customers to gift food and beverages across the world. Currently Idea Chakki operates in six restaurants, and the company aims to expand to 30 restaurants by the end of this year. The funding will be used to expand to new locations, build the team, and advance technology.

Announced: 09/12/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Investors: Ratan Tata  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2013

Salido Raises $2m. The New York, NY-based restaurant operating system lets restaurants manage workers, point of sale, inventories, and customer relations from one operating system. Having overall management of restaurants sets Salido apart from other operating systems which focus individually on single aspects of restaurant management, such as point of sale or orders. At present, Salido has processed $27 million in transactions for more than 1 million guests.

Announced: 09/08/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Investors: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Phil Suarez  Previous Investment: $2.0 million  Founded: 2012

GoSpotCheck Raises $16.5m. The Denver, CO-based mobile data collection app helps companies collect and analyze inventory, display and price information.  The data analysis helps companies make better retail decisions, such as how best to display their products to increase business. Clients include The Dannon Company and Labatt Brewing Company. GoSpotCheck will use the funds to hire more employees and develop new app features.

Announced: 09/07/16  Stage: Series B  Participating Institutional Investors: Point Nine Capital, Insight Venture Partners  Previous Investment: $9.5 million  Founded: June 2011

VizEat Raises $4.3m. The Paris, France-based “social dining platform” allows travelers to eat a local, home-cooked meal in a home where they are visiting. In addition to meals, some VizEat hosts also offer cooking classes and food tours. To date, VizEat has over 20000 hosts in 110 countries. The funding will be used for growth, and VizEat plans to open offices in the UK and Germany, in addition to its current offices in France, Spain, and Italy.

Announced: 09/06/16  Stage: Venture  Participating Institutional Investors: Eurovestech  Previous Investment: $1.3 million  Founded: 2014

DayBox Raises $600k. The New Delhi, India-based platform for fresh produce sales connects farms with restaurants and retailers. At present, over 30 farms and 50 restaurants use the platform. The funding will be used to grow the team, develop technology, and to expand to Bangalore and Mumbai.

Announced: 09/01/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Investors: Ashutosh Lawania, Badal Malick, Rajul Jain, Rishi Gupta  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2016

PARTNERSHIPS

Edamam Partners with Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Tablespoon and QueRicaVida to provide nutrition information.

Fishbowl Partners with Groupon to help restaurants measure and analyze success of Groupon campaigns.

Revel Systems Partners with Punchh to enhance restaurant customer mobile engagement.

Hershey Partners with Chef’d to make dessert meal kits.

EatStreet Partners with Pingup to allow consumers to order food directly from Yahoo and YP searches.

INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE

As the Food Tech & Media ecosystem continues to see rapid change, Rosenheim Advisors created The Food Tech & Media Industry Map to help entrepreneurs, participants and investors understand this quickly evolving landscape. Let us know about your recent or upcoming funding, partnerships or acquisitions here.

Check out the 2015 Annual Report and the Summer 2016 round-up. 

The post Food Tech Media Startup Funding, M&A & Partnerships: September 2016 appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

This is a monthly guest post, by consulting firm Rosenheim Advisors, which highlights the most interesting acquisitions, financings and partnerships within the Food Tech & Media ecosystem – digital content, social, local, mobile, grocery, e-commerce, delivery, ordering, payments, marketing and analytics – to give you insights into the latest funding and growth trends.

Despite market trepidation, the new year kicked off strong for the global food tech and media ecosystem with over $500 million invested (through 17 investments and five acquisitions) plus a freshly minted $3.3 billion for China’s Meituan-Dianping, securing the company a place within the top five unicorns at a $18 billion valuation. Within that, U.S.-based companies took in a little over $300 million in private company funding, and represented all but one acquisition.

On the M&A front, notably, three of the five deals were local grocery delivery services based in TX and CA. The largest, and only international, deal was restaurant guidebook publisher Michelin’s acquisition of Bookatable, estimated to be valued at approximately $122 million. As Eater and French startup blog Rude Baguette respectively note, “it’s certainly a major leap into the 21st century for the 127-year-old company” and “represents both a big step into digital for Michelin, as well as a change in the [mergers and acquisitions] mindset in France.”

Restaurant and meal delivery-related tech was overwhelmingly prevalent among the funding sectors both globally and within the U.S. Signaling a maturing industry, while there were a few early stage concepts, more than half of the investments were sized larger than $15 million.

M&A

Farmhouse Delivery Acquires Greenling and Urban Acres. With the acquisitions, the Austin, TX-based online grocery delivery service Farmhouse Delivery, which offers local produce items for weekly or biweekly delivery, will grow the team to approximately 50 workers and offer a subscription service to customers in the Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston areas. The company doesn’t expect to operate outside of Texas.

Announced: 01/15/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: Greenling – $8.2m  Urban Acres – Not Disclosed  Founded: Greenling – 2005; Urban Acres – 2008

Next Glass Merges with Untappd. Untapped, a Los Angeles, CA-based mobile app that allows users to socially share beer with other users will enhance the platform for Next Glass, a Wilmington, NC-based mobile app for personalized wine and beer recommendations. Going forward, both apps will continue operating under their original names, and each have plans for new developments. As part of the merger, the co-founders of Untappd will join the Next Glass leadership team.

Announced: 01/15/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: Untapped – September 2010; Next Glass – December 2012

Michelin Acquires Bookatable. The London, UK-based online booking service and mobile payments platform is used by more than 15 thousand restaurants across Europe, allowing Michelin to become Europe’s leading digital service for restaurant reservations. According to Rude Baguette, Bookatable was seeing increased competition in Europe from TheFork (LaFourchette, acquired by TripAdvisor in May 2014) among others; however, the relationship between Michelin & Bookatable started as early as May 2013, when the two began their partnership, allowing booking of Michelin-rated restaurants via Bookatable.  With the acquisition, Bookatable plans to expand its new service to countries in Scandinavia. In case you are keeping track – Bookatable was previously known as Livebookings, as the two companies appear to have merged in 2007 (and before that, Livebookings was called Profitable.net).

Announced: 01/11/16  Terms: Est €108 m ($122m)  Previous Investment: $56.5m  Founded: 2005

GrubMarket Acquires FarmBox. The Los Angeles, CA-based organic grocery delivery service will expand the business of Grubmarket, a Newark, CA-based online marketplace where consumers can buy products from farmers markets, farms, and restaurants. The company plans to expand nationwide and according to an interview with Forbes, with the acquisition, the company will reach a total of 60 employees, expecting to double headcount, to 100-140 employees, by the year’s end.

Announced: 01/05/16  Terms: Not Disclosed  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2009

FUNDING

Tinmen Raised Undisclosed Angel Funding. The Hyderabad-India-based food delivery startup sources meals from home cooks and delivers to offices and professionals, “like a virtual cafeteria.” According to Inc42, the capital will be used to serve a larger set of customers in Hyderabad and thereafter expand to other cities.

Announced: 01/29/16  Stage: Angel  Participating Institutional Investors: Lead Angel Network  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: August 2015

Black Garlic Raises Undisclosed Seed. The Jakarta, Indonesia-based meal-kit delivery startup is targeted towards middle class families and takes about 45 minutes to cook. According to Tech In Asia, the funding will be used to scale up the company’s operations in the Jakarta metro area, and to diversify Black Garlic’s offerings.

Announced: 01/25/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Institutional Investors: Convergence Ventures, Skystar Capital  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2015

SheKnows Media Secures $22m Credit Facility. The New York, NY-based women’s digital media company operates as a platform where experts, bloggers, and social media influencers post content designed to empower women. According to AdExchanger, 75% of total ad revenue is connected one way or another with an influencer marketing campaign. SheKnows acquired BlogHer in November 2014 and had previously acquired a handful of female-focused publishers, giving it 92 million unique visitors. The credit line will be used for further acquisitions (focused on companies “empowering women”), as well as to enhance SheKnows Media’s Momentum Content Management System technology platform.

Announced: 01/26/16  Stage: Debt  Participating Lender: Ally Corporate Finance  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed (Great Hill Partners acquired SheKnows in 2012)  Founded: November 2003

FiveStars Raises $50m. The San Francisco, CA-based platform for customer loyalty rewards provides rewards programs for restaurants and small businesses via mobile app. Programs track customer visits and include rewards such as discounts and coupons. To date, FiveStars has been used by over 10 thousand merchants and 10 thousand consumers. FiveStars will use the investment to continue to build the team, grow their brand and expand within the United States.

Announced: 01/22/16   Stage: Series B  Participating Institutional Investors: HarbourVest Partners (Lead), Menlo Ventures, DCM, Lightspeed Venture Partners  Previous Investment: $42.7 million  Founded: 2011

Olo Raises$40m. The New York, NY-based white label SaaS platform for mobile and online ordering and delivery integrates its services with restaurant’s point-of-sale systems to maximize sales and improve the customer experience. The investment will allow Olo to grow enhance its offerings, and expand its on-demand delivery platform, Dispatch. Dispatch facilitates access to a national network of independent Delivery Service Providers, collects real-time price quotes, chooses the best available, and extends the option to the consumer.

Announced: 01/21/16  Stage: Series D Participating Institutional Investors: The Raine Group  Previous Investment: $23.3 million  Founded: 2005

Boxed Raises $100m. The Edison, NJ-based ecommerce startup sells Costco-sized groceries and household goods online and via mobile app. Rather than taking market share form big box stores like Costco, BJ’s, or Sam’s Club, the founder maintains the company is converting a customer base of over 80 percent ages 25 to 44 to changing their habits to bulk buying instead of purchasing one-off. The company will use the capital infusion to expand the team, offerings and customer service operations.

Announced: 01/20/16  Stage: Series C  Participating Institutional Investors: blisce, Huangpu River Ventures Limited, Vaizra Investments, FJ Labs, Jose Marin, Fabrice Grinda, Yuri Milner, GGV Capital, Safa Partners, Light Street Capital Management  Previous Investment: $32.6 million  Founded: June 2013

Gather Raises $2.5m. The Atlanta-based event management software helps restaurants and venues manage and grow their private events business. Gather allows clients to respond to leads, manage their calendar, create and send proposals, collect payments and more. The company states that it is profitable, and will be using the funding for expedited product development, sales and marketing. The company employs about 25 and plans to double its workforce in the next 12 months.

Announced: 01/19/16  Stage: Series A  Participating Institutional Investors: Storm Ventures (lead), Ludlow Ventures  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: March 2012

Tovala Raises $500k. The Chicago-based smart kitchen startup automates home cooking through a new type of food tech appliance plus the delivery of premade meals. The company’s appliance, also called Tovala, utilizes a combination of dry and wet heat cooking technology instead of microwave technology, so users can cook several different types of foods in the same unit at the same time. Users can create their own recipes (and upload to the app for the potential to earn royalties), or they can subscribe to get fresh, chef-designed meals delivered to them weekly that are specifically developed for the machine.

Announced: 01/19/16  Stage: Seed  Participating Institutional Investors: Origin Ventures Previous Investment: $70k  Founded: May 2015

ALICE Raises $9.5m. The New York, NY–based hospitality operations platform focuses primarily on hotels, and enables all front of house, back of house and guest communication needs to be handled in one platform. According to Skift, the new strategic investor allows the company to leverage Expedia’s database of hotel partners. The team will use the funding to “continue to build out the technology and significantly expand the team hiring sales, engineering, product, and account management roles.”

Announced: 01/19/16  Stage: Series A  Participating Institutional Investors: Expedia (lead), 645 Ventures, Laconia Ventures, neuehouse  Previous Investment: $3.5 million  Founded: July 2012

Swiggy Raises $35m. The Bangalore, India-based on-demand delivery and payments platform service allows customers to order meals from restaurants for on-demand delivery. Swiggy currently operates in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Chenna, with around 5000 restaurants on its platform. The investment will be used to expand the company, hire engineering talent, and upgrade platform technology.

Announced: 01/18/16  Stage: Series C  Participating Institutional Investors: RB Investments, Harmony Partners, Accel, Northwest Venture Partners, SAIF Partners  Previous Investment: $18.5 million  Founded: August 2014

Meituan-Dianping Raises $3.3b. The Shanghai, China-based mobile app allows consumers to receive group discounts (similar to Groupon), order food from restaurants, and read and write restaurant reviews. The company, which has emerged as the largest player in China’s online-to-offline (O2O) market, was formed last fall after Meituan (backed by Alibaba) merged with Dianping (backed by Tencent). Meituan and Dianping still operate as independent brands.

Announced: 01/18/16  Valuation: $18.0 billion Stage: Series F  Participating Institutional Investors: Capital Today, Baillie Gifford, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, TBP Capital, Temasek Holdings, ST Global, Tencent Holdings  Previous Investment: $2.1 billion (represents combination of Meituan and Dianping investment)  Founded: October 2015 (through merger)

Grain Raises $1.7m. The Singapore-based “Full-Stack” food delivery service manages the process from meal preparation and cooking, to orders and delivery. The company keeps its menu narrow with four different meals available each day on a selection that rotates weekly. According to Tech In Asia, the company plans to use the funding build up infrastructure and the team, including marketing and tech, as well as expansion to Hong Kong and beyond.

Announced: 01/14/16  Stage: Series A  Participating Institutional Investors: NSI Ventures (lead), 500 Startups, Digital Media Partners VC, Ivan Lee  Previous Investment: Not Disclosed  Founded: 2014

Foursquare Raises $45m. The New York, NY-based mobile platform for local discovery allows users to explore options for dining and shopping in cities via location-based information and reviews written by other users. The investment will be used to build out its enterprise business, including hiring 30 new positions across sales, engineering and other functions. The round is said to value the company at approximately half of the $650 million valuation it garnered with a $77 million Series D raise in February 2014, but in a TechCrunch interview the new CEO, Jeff Glueck, is careful to note that the financing round was oversubscribed.

Announced: 01/14/16  Stage: Series E  Participating Institutional Investors: Union Square Ventures (lead), Andreessen Horowitz, DFJ Growth, Morgan Stanley  Previous Investment: $117.4 million  Founded: March 2009

Vivino Raises $25m. The Copenhagen, Denmark-based wine discovery app uses image scanning technology to identify wines consumers are drinking and offer suggestions based on users’ rating of the scanned wine. Vivino is currently used by 13 million consumers in 228 countries. The company plans to use the funding to further expand within the U.S., Italy, France, Spain, and Germany, and aims to have 25 million users by the end of 2016. Notably, the lead investor is strategic; SCP Neptune International, is the investment arm of Moet Hennessy’s global CEO Christophe Navarre.

Announced: 01/12/16  Stage: Series B  Participating Institutional Investors: SCP Neptune International (lead), Balderton Capital, Creandum, SEED Capital Denmark  Previous Investment: $12.4 million  Founded: 2009

FreshMenu Raises $17m. The Bangalore, India-based meal delivery service runs its own kitchen and offers main meals, salads, sides, and desserts cooked by professional chefs for on-demand delivery. FreshMenu currently operates in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Guragon and will use the investment for further expansion in India. The funds will also be used to build the brand and increase staff.

Announced: 01/08/16  Stage: Series B  Participating Institutional Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Zodius Capital  Previous Investment: $5.0 million  Founded: 2014

Toast Raises $30m. The Boston, MA-based provider of point-of-sale systems offers Android tablet point-of-sale systems for restaurants, bars, and other food establishments. The systems provided by Toast include customer loyalty information and are used by 1,400 establishments in 43 US states. The funding will be used to hire more employees, as well as for marketing and expansion across the United States. According to a TechCrunch interview, in 2016 the company plans on launching a suite of tools that allow Toast to integrate with other services.

Announced: 01/05/16  Stage: Series B  Participating Institutional Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, Google Ventures  Previous Investment: $3.0 million (debt financing)  Founded: December 2011

Dipjar Raises $2.4m. The New York-based hardware and software startup provides digital tip jars and donation boxes for credit cards. DipJar manages the processing and disbursement of funds, while customers control the dollar amount setting and monitor their intake through the software dashboard. The company intends to use the funds to expand its national hardware presence and continue development of software solutions for customers.

Announced: 12/28/15  Stage: Seed  Participating Institutional Investors: Bolt, Project 11 Ventures, Corazon Capital, Charge Ventures  Previous Investment: $0.4 million  Founded: 2012

PARTNERSHIPS

MyWebGrocer Parters with Mastercard to streamline consumer grocery shopping.

HelloFresh Partners with Jamie Oliver to share healthy recipes with home cooks.

UnderArmour, Inc. Teams Up With IBM incorporate the Watson supercomputer into its newest fitness and health-tracking app.

Restaurant review app OpenRice partners with foodpanda to deliver in Hong Kong.

NutriSavings and FreshDirect Partner to Reward Consumers for Purchasing Healthier Foods.

Chili’s® Grill & Bar partners with Olo to power its online ordering platform.

INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE

As The Food Tech & Media ecosystem continues to see rapid change, Rosenheim Advisors created The Food Tech & Media Industry Map to help entrepreneurs, participants and investors understand this quickly evolving landscape. Let us know about your recent or upcoming funding, partnerships or acquisitions here.

Check out the 2015 Annual Report and last month’s round-up. 

The post Food Tech Media Startup Funding, M&A and Partnerships: January 2016 appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

This annual report, by consulting firm Rosenheim Advisors, looks at the financing and acquisition trends in the Food Tech & Media ecosystem, which encompasses digital content, social, local, mobile, grocery, e-commerce, delivery, ordering, payments, marketing and analytics.

$6.8 Billion of Global Food Tech Investment in 2015

The global food tech and food media ecosystem was piping hot in 2015, with (at least)* $6.8 billion of capital flowing into private companies (including $2.3 billion within the U.S.). Outside of the U.S., a majority of both investment and acquisition activity was driven by China, Germany, India and the U.K.

China appears to be a cycle ahead of the U.S. in terms of market maturity, with an increasing number of companies scaling beyond U.S. benchmarks of reach and growth. Notable deals in 2015 included the merger of China’s competing firms Meituan and Dianping (“akin to a mix of Yelp, GroupOn and food delivery”), reportedly now valued at $18 billion, as well as the massive stockpiling by Ele.me which closed two rounds (Series E and F) totaling $980 million, in addition to an undisclosed strategic investment from Chinese ridesharing leader Didi Kuaidi.

Earlier in the year, Germany’s Rocket Internet made a substantial strategic move to “create the biggest Internet-based food-ordering service outside of China,” and thus formed the “Global Online Takeaway Group.” I definitely recommend spending some time with Rocket Internet’s presentation discussing its investment thesis in the food sector (automatic download of pdf) to gain a clearer understanding of the vision behind the consolidation – some useful industry stats in there as well.

The online ordering and delivery segments represented a significant portion of the global consolidation over the past few years, with Rocket Internet and its portfolio companies (plus others such as Zomato, Just Eat and Grubhub), gobbling up a number of regional players. As with most roll-up M&A plays, now these teams will need to deal with the complexity of their newly acquired networks, and we will likely see some moments of reckoning in 2016 (some have already occurred).

*Given that most small deals are not translated or reported by the international press, the global data represented in this report is not comprehensive, and weighted towards larger/later stage deals.

Over $2.3 Billion Private Capital Invested into the U.S in 2015

The U.S. food tech and food media industry continued to mature in 2015 as investors made their biggest bets yet, with larger and later stage deals increasingly prevalent. We saw a notable shift towards expansion and scalability for the leaders of the pack with 36 percent of all deals sized at $10 million or greater (up from 32 percent in 2014), and 22 percent of deals sized at $20 million and above (up from 17 percent in 2014).

Note: Data for U.S.-based companies only, and reflects the sectors found in the Food Tech and Media Industry Map. Investment data does not include any M&A data or public market offerings.

“On-Demand” + “Convenience” Economy Drove Momentum

With 142 private company fundings totaling over $2.3 billion, 2015 brought in slightly fewer overall deals and dollars than the previous year (there were 157 deals raising $2.6 billion in 2014). That may sound surprising to readers, as the persistent press coverage and stream of high-profile deals seemed to push 2015 into the highest level of food tech mania.

That is likely due to the mounting prevalence of startups and companies aiming to serve our every need through the “On Demand” + “Convenience” Economy, which drove a significant portion of the activity throughout the year (representing approximately 44 percent of 2015’s total U.S. food tech funding versus 29 percent in 2014). Within the sectors that broadly represent this sizzling subcategory (Online Grocery, Catering Marketplaces, Meal Delivery, Experiential Marketplaces, Online Ordering/Delivery, Food eCommerce), just over $1 billion was raised in 2015, up 34 percent from the $760 million of funding in 2014.

In the latest 2016 Food Tech & Media Industry Landscape (at the top of this report) I have clustered the boxes for the “On Demand” + “Convenience” Economy and outlined them in light blue. Notice the lack of M&A activity in these sectors. This will change in 2016.

The post 2015 Food Tech Media Funding & Acquisition Trends Report appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

A new infographic, produced by mobile payment summit CONNECT 2014 and mobile payment startup Isis, illustrates the huge opportunity for restaurants to use mobile technologies to increase sales. Leveraging data from Google Shopper Marketing Council, Technomic, the National Restaurant Association and other sources, the graphic shares some fascinating statistics.

For example, 83 percent of smartphone users surveyed use their phones to make dining decisions while traveling, and 46 percent have tried a new menu item based on a mobile ad. People are also increasing interested in paying for meals electronically. Of those surveyed, 40 percent say they would like to for quick service meals via a mobile or wireless device, and 55 percent say they want mobile payments.

And restaurants are slowly but surely starting to catch on. Currently, 95 percent of independent restaurants do not have a mobile site and only 16 percent of restaurants have mobile apps. But 50 percent of limited-service restaurants say they plan to invest more resources in customer-facing technologies, like tablets and smartphone apps. Which is smart since, according to the infographic,  mobile payment users spend twice as much through digital channels.

Looks like it’s time for restaurants small and large to start exploring the expanding mobile app ecosystem.

The post Infographic of the Week: Why Restaurants Are Investing in Mobile Payments & Marketing appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

What originated as a product category designed to meet the needs of those with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, has now become a behemoth $10.5 billion industry. Experiencing nearly 50 percent growth from 2011 – 2013, everything from gluten-free flours and crackers to protein bars and frozen meals are getting more and more shelf space each year, as consumer demand increases. In fact, from 2012 to 2013 a whopping 1, 500 new gluten-free products hit the market.

Created by specialtyfood.com, the infographic below leverages data from a report by Mintel International to shed light on just how much the industry has grown.

The graphic highlights some interesting consumer trend data as well. For example, 56 percent of consumers prefer to buy gluten-free foods at natural food stores, and almost a third choose to eat gluten-free to help with weight-loss, it notes. Additionally, more than 1 in 10 consumers reported that a gluten-free purchasing app would help impact their purchases (Technologists, let your gluten-free app wheels start spinning).  Check out all of the facts and figures of the gluten-free empire below.

The post Infographic of the Week: The Rise of Gluten-free appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

The future of meat production is going to require extraordinary innovation. Our global population is predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050, both demand and prices for meat are set to double, and analysts predict demand will outpace supply. The Meat Atlas, a new report and graphic guide produced by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, leverages data to highlight the devastating effects of global meat and dairy production, on everything from from water pollution to obesity.

Focus on meat production is quickly becoming more widespread. Just last week, McDonald’s announced it will source “sustainable” beef in 2016, though it has yet to determine its definition of sustainable. And alternative protein food startups continue to garner investor (and press) interest, offering everything from plant-based meat alternatives to meal replacement shakes. And let us not forget Mark Post’s globally publicized, google-backed cultured beef burger...the list goes on and on.

And finally, last year, we hosted Hack//Meat, a hackathon in which we brought together technologists, farmers, creatives and policy experts to to prototype solutions to sustainable meat challenges. Our concurrent blog series, Hacking//Meat, invited leading experts in the field to explore how information and technology can be used to “hack” a better future for meat.

Newbie on the food innovation front lines, The Meat Atlas, aims to empower people world-wide to cultivate a more sustainable food future. The Atlas illustrates the need to re-engineer status quo production methods, due to their reliance on scarce land and water resources. It also advocates for limiting corporate control of food in order to reduce its societal and environmental impacts. 

We have highlighted a few of the most intriguing graphics from the report below. You can download the entire collection and read the full report here.

Chickens rule the roost in terms of  international animal slaughter, far surpassing the number of cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and fowl combined.

The percentage of livestock farmer income from government subsidies in industrialized countries has decreased across the board, with percentages falling between 5 and 15 percent during 2010-12, down from 45 and 40 percent for milk and sheep respectively from 1995-97.

In developing countries, a staggering number of farmers live below the respective rural poverty line and under $2 dollars a day. South Asia alone had 328 million living on those wages and India had 258 million in 2010. Additionally, all regions except Central and South America, China, and East Asia saw increases in poor livestock keepers.

We love our chicken, beef and pork (in that order) in the US. Beef is by far the most resource intensive, over three quarters of the land needed to produce a single hamburger is required for the cattle itself, as opposed to about 3 percent for its soy feed. Factory farmed chickens naturally have a much smaller land footprint, with over half of that space allocated for the animals and about one third to their soy feed.

While meat consumption is on the rise in developing nations like China, in the US it is generally slowing down, the data indicatesThe report estimates that excluding pet food and waste (a challenge that many are trying to tackle), in 2014 US meat consumption will be down to what it was in 1975.

The post Infographic of the Week: Facts & Figures of Global Animal Production appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

But the business of operating a food truck is not without unique challenges, as Intuit’s infographic included below underscores. While traditional restaurants can cost between $125,000 and $500,000 to open, food trucks range between $30,000 to $80,000. But factors like fluctuating gas prices, truck maintenance and permitting costs can drive up the cost of keeping a business going. Additionally parking tickets, insufficient mobile storage and weather unpredictability are factors to keep in mind.

On a more uplifting note, the infographic highlights the “brand on wheels” aspect of food trucks and commends the social media-savvy reputation that food trucks have garnered. An overwhelming majority (85 percent) of customers who follow their favorite trucks on social media check for updates every week, it notes.

via: Good Luck, Truck: The Realities of Starting a Mobile Restaurant [INFOGRAPHIC]

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Guest post by Chris Holman, co-owner of Nami Moon Farms. The views expressed here are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the views of Food+Tech Connect.

I’m often fascinated by the prices I find at the local supermarkets. Why? Well, before I was farming, it was just a price. I knew it was cheap, but I had no idea how cheap it was when compared to the cost of production for a farm like ours. So nowadays I see the same prices, but I do a little mental math, compare it to an average and then wonder how this product could be SO cheap. Like much of large-scale agriculture, I find it to be fascinating, unbelievable and more often than I’d like…horrifying.

The other day, I was in a local grocery store and I noticed their turkeys. So, I grabbed my cell phone and took this photo:

$1.38 per pound! Wow. These turkeys were all around 11-12lbs, so that meant you could purchase one for around $16.00. That’s a great deal. How is it possible though? I started to think through everything required to raise a turkey on our farm, and here’s a summary of my thoughts. Before I get into that, I should note a couple of things. First, the costs I’m calculating below don’t include anything related to the infrastructure required for raising a turkey (i.e. a pen of some sort, shavings, waterers, an area for them to roam, etc). They also do not include any labor costs. I’m looking only at the basic costs of producing Thanksgiving turkeys. Two, I’m assuming approximate pricing here based on some knowledge I have personally, some research and the website for Purely Poultry, which is a company located in Fremont, WI. There are some small differences in pricing depending on which hatchery you work with, how they ship, etc.

Anyway, there are a few major stages to raising a turkey. In our first year, we raised 50 turkeys, so I’ll run with that number and pretend that I’m just an average person looking to raise turkeys for myself, my family and friends. Any left over will be eaten by the same people or sold to others by word-of-mouth. By raising this many, I’ll be able to benefit from some small price breaks. Raising only five, for instance, would be a little more expensive.

Stage 1: Purchase 50 turkeys and ship them to your location
Stage 2: Brooding: Keep those turkeys warm with at least one heat lamp
Stage 3: Feed those turkeys
Stage 4: Slaughter those turkeys

STAGE 1

If I raised conventional, broad-breasted white turkeys, they would cost $6.24 each plus shipping. Shipping would be $20 regardless of which type you purchased. If you wanted broad-breasted bronze turkeys, the price goes up to $6.37 each (+$20). If you wanted heritage turkeys, the price goes up again to $9.60 each (+$20).

Grand Total: $332 or $6.64 each for the white conventional ($500 or $10 each for heritage)

STAGE 2

If I used our current brooder box, it requires one 250 watt bulb to create a 4′ x 4′ area that has a temperature of 100-105F. 105F is a little high, but the birds can moderate their own temperature by leaving the area for a bit and coming back. Anyway, all I need is that one bulb for my 50 turkeys. If I run that bulb for 24 hours a day for a couple of weeks, the cost would be somewhere around $8.00. If I divide that into each turkey, it costs $.16 per bird. Not too bad.

Grand Total: $.16 each

STAGE 3

Feeding turkeys will be one of the most expensive stages because they are bigger birds, you raise them longer than most birds and the conventional variety grows pretty quickly–so they eat quickly too. If we assume that a conventional, broad-breasted turkey will take 4-5 months to raise, we’re looking at around 75lbs of feed or ~1/2lb of feed per day on average. A heritage turkey takes 6-7 months–or longer–so we’re looking at around 125lbs of feed for them. You can lower this a bit by putting them on pasture, but there will also be times that they’re going through a growth spurt, and they’ll eat a lot more. The cost of feed can vary a lot too, depending on how you do it, but I’ll assume $.25/lb for feed. Organic can cost a lot more, higher protein gamebird starter–you start them on this for a couple of weeks to a month–also costs more, but $.25 is our ballpark figure for this exercise.

Grand Total: $18.75 each for conventional, $31.25 each for heritage

STAGE 4

Processing can vary too, but in general it will cost $7-$9 for a non-huge turkey.

So, here’s what I’m looking at in my head:

$6.64 + $.16 + $18.75 + $7 = $32.55 each for 50 conventional turkeys or $1,627.50 for them all
$10.00 + $.16 + $31.25 + $7 = $48.41 each for 50 heritage turkeys or $2,420.50 for them all

If we divide that into a 12lb conventional turkey, that’s $2.71/lb, and it’s $4.03/lb for a heritage turkey. This is the basic cost of production and break-even price.

Then I look back at $1.38/lb.

…..

Again, I haven’t included any infrastructure, transportation or labor costs in these figures. If we did this, the price per pound should go up for both a conventional and a heritage turkey.

Our farm charges $4/lb for a conventional turkey and $5 for a heritage turkey. So, if our farm sold these birds, we would sell that 12lb turkey for $48 or $60. If my cost of production is $32.55 and $48.41 respectively, then the money we make beyond the cost of production is $15.45 for each conventional turkey and $11.59 for each heritage.

$15.45 x 50 = $772.50 total
$11.59 x 50 = $579.50 total

Now, as a farmer (or anyone running a business), you have to ask yourself, “How much do we pay ourselves for–in this case–raising turkeys for 4-7 months?” They require some work every day, and some days are more work than others. Then there is the fuel we use to transport the birds, their feed, etc. Then there’s just the cost of equipment. That’s long-term equipment like fencing, feeders, waterers, range shelters and short-term or one-use equipment like wood shavings. There’s also insurance, licensing, and “the farm” in general.

Just for fun, let’s add some of those costs of production.

It’s 30 miles to our processor, one-way. So that’s 60 miles I have to drive to get them to the processor and come home. It’s 10 miles to the feed mill, and if I only go there once in 4 months, that’s 20 miles for a round trip (the odds of one trip are VERY low). So 50 miles in a truck that gets 25 miles per gallon is 2 gallons of fuel. Over the course of the 4 months, we’ll use another 5 gallons (at least) with our ATV, which we use to haul feed, supplies, etc. out to pasture. So, 7 gallons and I’ll assume that people come pick their birds up. Right now, gas is $3.20/gal, so let’s subtract $22.40 from our previous earnings. Now we have $750.10.

If I only use bagged wood shavings, I’ll want 6 bags for the time that the turkeys are in the brooding area. So, that’s another $30. Now we have $720.10.

This is not accurate, by any means, but let’s project “the farm” out long enough that the equipment, land, buildings, etc. needed to raise them and future birds would cost $.50 per bird. Now we have $695.10.

If someone spends 30 minutes per day with these turkeys on average, that ends up being 60 hours if we keep them for 120 days. Let’s pay that farmer minimum wage for his or her work, so $7.25 per hour. That’s $435 dollars.Now the farm has $260.10 left, or $5.20 per bird in net profit.

It’s really important to take a second here and point out that a lot of farmers do not pay themselves for their labor. Instead, the net profit all goes into the farm. While I realize that the farm is ‘ours’, it is a separate legal entity and it is a business. Most businesses need to pay employees to succeed, and in the case of a farm, it’s usually the farmers who are the employees. So, if you never pay yourself anything for your labor, your numbers can look better here. Granted, it’s only the numbers that look good and you are subsidizing them with your life.

We are paying our farmers in this exercise though! If the farm sells one turkey for $48, and it then gets to keep $5.20 of that after the costs of production…..that’s a profit margin of just under 11%. In my book, that’s not as good as it should be for a living wage, successful farm, etc. Still, what’s a good profit margin? If we say that 20% is a profit margin we want, then I need to make $9.60 per bird. The difference from the $5.20 I was making is $4.40 and that divided into 12 pounds is $.37 more per pound that I need to charge. So, I should be charging around $4.37/lb to be in an ok situation. That means your turkey now costs $52.44 instead of $48.00.

I don’t want to belabor the point here, but this also assumes that we start with 50 turkeys and end with 50 turkeys. The odds of this happening are relatively slim, and the ‘expected’ losses tend to be in the 2-4% range. So we’ll expect to lose 2 birds. Predators, the weather and random acts of death being what they are, we’ll most likely lose at least 4-5 birds. Those birds will die at different stages, so the losses will vary for each one. Having said that, we won’t spend as much on them either because they’ll be gone. Losses early on are far more, um, affordable let’s say, than losses toward the end when you have all of this time, energy and feed wrapped up in each bird. I want to make sure we include this in the thought process, but I won’t include them in the overall calculations for this exercise.

Anyway, a 10.9% profit margin for the farm isn’t great, and in that scenario I had to spend all of that money in order to make my $5.20 per turkey ($260)—and we still haven’t included *all* of the costs of production here.

In closing, if I tried to compete with that store-bought turkey and charged $1.38/lb, I would lose $36.44 per turkey or $1,822 dollars. Trying to compete with that turkey is obviously not something that a farm like ours can do and be financially sustainable (the most important definition of sustainable in my book), but given the general perception of food within our culture today, we are competing with it whether we want to or not. That is, the food we produce is often seen as expensive, it travels from afar (i.e. from here to the Fox Valley or Madison) instead of the food large-scale, industrial companies are producing being seen as cheap and traveling GLOBAL distances (i.e. thousands of miles). As you can imagine, it’s quite easy to be frustrated by that, but ultimately this is not a post about the illusion of cheap food. This post is about arming you with the basic knowledge about the production of food so that you too can look at a price like $1.38/lb and wonder how it is possible. Some of the answers are wrapped up in the economies of scale and that’s why a lot of farms get big, but there are other answers that should alarm us. That is, if we are ever given the answers to our questions, or if we ever ask them. This is also a very good example of how farm(er)s can lose a lot of money in a hurry. If you’re not charging enough, you lose. It doesn’t matter how great you are at farming or how amazing your products are. We did ok in this exercise, which approximates reality, but it’s not great…and we’re still only paying minimum wage. Not many employees want to farm for that .

This article originally appeared on Nami Moon Farms.

The post The Price of a Thanksgiving Turkey appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

The advent of artificial food dyes has resulted in a bevy of out-of-this world-looking products, like electric colored yogurt sticks, pastel sandwich cookies and numerous nearly-neon candies, mostly marketed to children. And the color allure is working: Americans now consume 5 times more food dye than they did in 1955. And while the British government and European Union are working to stop the use of such dyes – because of their health implications – in the US, these dyes remain prevalent and their labeling opaque. For example, in the US Nutri-Grain bars contain dyes to mimic colorful, healthful ingredients, but in Europe they use ingredients like beet root and paprika extract to provide the color, rather than dyes.

Produced by Special Education Degree, the infographic below, titled “Colors to Die for: The Dangerous Impact of Food Coloring,” paints and beautiful and haunting picture of the rainbow of toxins and health risks associated with dyes in our food. On a brighter note, the infographic also sheds light on the natural dyes that can replace their artificial counterparts, including beets, saffron, red cabbage and turmeric.

Source: Special-Education-Degree.net

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The restaurant industry has typically focused on executing menu consistency and promotion to get customers in the door. Though it is plausibly the most important piece of their business, most restauranteurs don’t create product roadmaps for menu development. But whether you’re a large company or a small business, menu R&D should be part of your overall business strategy. While there are basic principles and practices for menu R&D, which apply to all foodservice models, there’s a shift that’s starting to happen. And this shift is giving independent restaurants an R&D advantage over their corporate counterparts.

Traditional R&D

The traditional menu R&D model is a non-linear, systematic process. Teams ideate culinary concepts and convert them into menu models, which are then prototyped and tested for quality and feasibility. The concepts that pass are then scaled up to launch at the restaurant and multi-unit level. Generally, everything that originally made the product unique is gutted, and what’s left is a soulless widget optimized for systemization. This traditional Harvard MBA model focuses on process rather than the customer.

New R&D

The new menu R&D model is iterative and focuses on adding value and creating awesome products. Teams are diverse, and their end goal for any product, category or strategy is to drive consumer lust and craveability. They collaborate throughout the entire process and leverage collective knowledge and insight to better navigate business challenges and create game-changing products. No silos, no one man shows, in this new R&D model eclectic small teams work together to complete a mission without being constrained by cost or feasibility.

So, let’s break down this new process.

1. Idea generation out of the office

Great ideas don’t happen when you’re trying to generate “great ideas.” They happen when you’re doing something that is in completely different from your core work. Get out of your restaurant, far away from it.

The future of your business depends on basically two abilities: coming up with great ideas to expand your business and being good at implementing those ideas. It’s that simple. There are thousands of books, speakers and articles about idea generation and innovation, but there are not a lot on how to effectively execute those ideas. They are theoretical and may make sense in a controlled lab or classroom, but rarely correlate with real time product onboarding and all of the variables associated with it. Many large food companies adopt these types of models and have difficulty with execution. They are too clunky and standardized to get any real innovation accomplished. If great ideas are not aligned with an initiative or competitive strategy, they get thrown on the shelf to collect dust. This is where independent restaurants have a huge competitive advantage over the big guys.

So here’s what you do: Come up with an extreme and irrational concept.

Shooting for the stars helps you think strategically and laterally. If you don’t start big you run the risk of thinking too safely and coming up with products of little or no added value. By conceiving big, and sometimes irrational, ideas you just might that something really special and unique makes sense. It doesn’t matter how you get great ideas, just figure out how you and your team can come up with them.

For me, it’s always when I’m running or drinking a great craft beer – times when I’m detached from work. Tell everyone to go out and think, create and dream big. Don’t expect them to sit at a table with you and develop; that never works. Listen to someone that feels restless about their idea. If they can’t seem to drop it, you need to fast track it. Most great ideas are the one’s that make us restless and anxious.

2. Understand the value and make it extrordinary

Usually at this phase, bigger companies will want to screen or concept test. But, since you’re trying to create amazing value for your customers, you should make the product better even before it’s put into a concept test.

After you come up with a great idea ask yourself and your team how you can make it more extraordinary. This is the point in the idea process where you can take it into a totally different and more profitable area. If you don’t get the “this is one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard” from a few of your team members, you haven’t hit the “insanely extraordinary” mark.

3. Concept screen with your guests, but don’t listen to anything they have to say

Most of today’s large scale innovation process integrates more sophisticated market research technology with a pre- and post-audit by too many people. Focus groups, sensory studies and surveys – don’t listen to any of them. To drive that point home, check out this Guy Kawasaki presentation about the 12 things he learned from working at Apple. If you listen to people, you will get normal. That’s fine if you want a normal restaurant. If you don’t, read on.

After you’ve created this insanely extraordinary product, stage it with your team, friends and family and guests. Gather feedback, suggestions and comments. Forget about analytics, data charts and screening techniques. Ask them: “was this menu item insanely awesome?” If the answer is no, dump it and move on. If you don’t, your amazing idea will be muddled down by everyone until it’s crafted into a plate of normal. If they answer yes, decide if you think it’s revolutionary and is worth landing on your menu. Read Malcom Gladwell’s New Yorker piece on Steve Jobs for inspiration on how you can position new ideas and monetize them on your menu.

4a. Remove or change something off your menu

This is in many ways the opposite of the first step. After putting so much creative thought into ideating, take this opportunity to simplify and revamp legacy menu items. What could you strip away or change on your menu to create something more unique and craveable?

4b. Steal a competitors idea, change it and add it to your menu

Steve Jobs was known as a tweaker, and Gladwell notes this quality was Steve Jobs’ true genius. He would take great ideas from the competitive landscape and then perfect them. There’s great products and menu items all around us. Grab one that has resonated with you and your team and tweak it. Make it better. Make it awesome. Make it yours.

5. Reverse optimization

This step goes against the traditional logic of ‘how can you make the process or product easier and cheaper to execute?’ In this model, you want to make the product unique for your employees and guests, which often means making it a little difficult to grasp and execute. In a typical optimization model the goal is to find the values of controllable factors determining the behavior of a system (menu process) that maximize productivity or minimize waste. This is not the formula you want to use to create awesome products. Easy things become commonplace, but true craftsmanship always has a difficult, often painstaking approach. This is where independent restaurants can set themselves apart from large companies. You can be nimble, boutique and not have the burden of a large infrastructure to tell you why you can’t do something.

Remember, menu innovation is not simple to manage, nor is it simple to implement. Our country doesn’t need another restaurant, food retailer or mobile app. We have way too many in the marketplace. The only thing that’s going to set your concept apart, is if it’s insanely extraordinary.

The post Product Roadmap: How Restauranteurs Can Establish Dynamic R&D Models appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

I’ve compiled all the references in this happy link cloud. Feel free to click through to verify or improve the accuracy of the data.

I thought the comparison was interesting because one might expect that these two would collaborate to make each other successful, which would mean a healthy workforce and healthy society. It doesn’t seem like that’s the case today.

Then I came across this quote that was offered in the course that summarized things:

There is no connection between food and health. People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are healed by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.

It follows that there is no connection between healing and health. Hospitals customarily feed their patients poor-quality, awful-tasting, factory-made expensive food and keep them awake all night with various expensive attentions. There is a connection between money and health. – Wendell Berry

The second part of the quote is being worked on today, through the Healthier Hospitals Initiative(@HHIorg) – Kaiser Permanente is a founding member. The first part of the quote seems like the next frontier, do you agree?

Thanks, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (@livablefuture) for supplementing my medical education with education about health.

The post Comparing US Food System & Health Care Stats appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

But this cut has far wider implications for the overall economy, too. In addition to food security, SNAP spending stimulates local economic activity, which results in more jobs in the farm, production and retails jobs. In fact, it provided $4.3 billion in additional economic stimulus in 2009. Extensive research has been conducted by organizations like Food Research and Action Center, the CBPP and the USDA, which show that effects of the program are far-reaching.

Last week, Mother Jones, in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN), published the infographics below, which highlight how SNAP benefits all Americans, not just the poor.

You can read more of Mother Jones’ dive into the hidden benefits of SNAP and view all of the infographics here.

The economic activity generated by every SNAP dollar is nearly double the SNAP dollar.

SNAP spending stimulates agricultural production; Every $1 billion in spending generates 3,300 farm jobs.

Food stamps help improve childhood health and nutrition, including increased intake of iron, zinc and vitamin A, as well as decreased risk of obesity and diabetes later in life.

Over the past four years, nearly 16 million people have been lifted out of poverty due to SNAP. Since the program’s stimulus boost in 2009, food insecurity for SNAP-eligible households decreased by 2.2 percent, while “very low food security” decrease by 2 percent, and spending on food increased by 4.8 percent, according to the USDA,

Who benefits from food stamps? Almost 1 in 7 adults received them in 2012. Half of all adults will receive them from the ages of 20-65 and half of all children will receive them during childhood, according to the Food Research Action Center.

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But, if passed on November 5th, Proposition I-522, a citizen’s initiative in Washington, could make it the first state to mandate clear labeling of genetically engineered ingredients on food packaging. Organizations in support of the proposition have spent roughly $6 million in hopes of getting the bill passed. Agribusiness and Big Food have put up $17 million to defeat it, making it the most expensive initiative campaign in Washington’s history.

The infographic below, created by The Cornucopia Institute, details the financial expenditures of the corporations and organizations that are supporting and opposing I-522. The information comes via the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), which recently released the names of new donors after Washington’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit demanding that it disclose the names of secret donors. And there are some surprises on the opposition side. The parent companies of organic brands like Green & Black – owned by Mondelez Global – and Cascadian Organic – owned by General Mills – have lobbied against mandatory labeling. Stonyfield, Annie’s and Nature’s Path are a few of the leading supporters of I-522.

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The beautiful and eye-opening infographic below, created by Online Nursing Programs, highlights just how severe the addiction has become. It points to how much sugar our favorite foods actually contain, as well as the health risks that come from refined sugar–from acne to obesity.  And if the 1,700 percent increase in sugar consumption from 1822 to 2000 doesn’t quite drive the point home,  the infographic also suggests that due to the way it effects the brain, sugar can be equally as addicting as cocaine.

The good news is that consumption of soda, the number one source of added sugar, recently decreased among children and adults. And while the obesity epidemic has rapidly swallowed our nation, recent statistics also show decreased rates of childhood obesity, which could indicate the start of a larger, much-needed shift in public health, one that diminishes our nation’s collective sweet tooth.

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Food MythBusters’ latest video, ‘The Myth of Choice: How Junk Food Marketers Target our Kids,’ uncovers the gritty details behind food advertising and empowers families to fight back. It highlights the staggering power that food companies have over our children, from biological persuasion -high concentrations of fat and sugar not found in natural foods are highly addictive to children – to psychological persuasion – using cartoons and certain colors that are proven to get kids’ attention.

The film also celebrates people and organizations that have been successful at combatting big food, such as a grocery chain owner who took all kids’ products with cartoon advertising off his shelves, and the city of Quebec, whose fast food advertising to kids ban reduced fast food consumption by 13 percent.

You can learn more and take action against food marketing to kids here.

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