Elsa’s FoodTech future a.k.a Drones coming to the rescue on Taco Tuesday
I envision a world in which every meal is cooked in cloud kitchens by robot chefs, tailored exactly to each person’s nutrition needs, and delivered by drones within a few minutes of ordering at the doorstep or window. Home kitchens would play a completely different role — one of entertainment and bespoke experiences, rather than utility.
The following are tech trends that I believe are key to realizing this vision:
#1 Personalization
This morning at Starbucks, the teenager in front of me makes his order in what sounded like the start of a rap song, “a grande no-ice oat milk decaf latte with 2 sugarfree hazelnut syrups and cream on top, please.” If in 2020, this is the world in which our future generation grows up, imagine the extent of personalization possible by 2050.
Examples of personalization & targeting today:
- Personalized probiotics
- Skincare/vitamins/workout recommendations
- Amazon’s personalized homepage
- Google ads, Facebook articles, Spotify playlists
- Online meal orders
The amount of data we constantly feed our apps and devices about our routines, personalities, social circles and health, has and will allow technologies to have a comprehensive understanding of our individual contexts.
Combined with the integration and cross-platform sharing of such data would result in a world in which our operating systems are not only our most capable personal assistants (the movie Her, anyone?) but best friends who know more than anyone else — heck, even ourselves — about us.
#2 Seamless logistics
The sharing economy has exponentially expanded the capacity of vehicles, and self-driving technology will possibly make the act of driving obsolete.
I believe when drones are finally able to cross the “regulation/safety/privacy chasm” and venture from their current utility as industrial equipment — for military, space, agriculture purposes— into everyday vehicles equivalent to scooters and cars, transportation would experience yet another transformation.
For the food space, this could not only significantly reduce delivery time and operational friction, but finally make sense of the unit economics of a plethora of meal prep/delivery companies. (NYSE: APRN, here I come..)
#3 Automation
My best friends include:
- An iRobot that saves me the trouble of having to (learn how to) sweep my floor
- Smart oven, Tovala, that knows exactly how long and at what temperature to cook my meals
- The manless 7–11 store in my block that stocks every breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, late-night snack item I could ever need
As a hopeless caffeine junkie and self-proclaimed home chef, to be added to this list of best friends are:
- Robot baristas that startups, including Cafe X are offering, for that contactless, zero wait-time coffee ordering and pick up experience.
2. Robot caretaker, Pepper, who cooks, cleans and keeps my parents company as I move to Philadelphia for my MBA.
These are just 0.99% of examples illustrating how automated and connected devices (a.k.a robots) are shaping and will continue to shape the convenient future that we all dream about.
Data and the cross-platform sharing of data, governments working with innovators to overcome regulatory hurdles, and the integration of logistics are all enablers of the 3 trends both individually and together. More importantly, ever-growing computing power, 5G’s widespread adoption, and the continued maturation of artificial intelligence, may soon call for the removal of “future” from this title.
Your thoughts
What tech trends are you excited about?