Not That NRA

What I talk about when I talk about the latest in restaurant tech, the new era of Goldfish (crackers) and a plant-based bacon taste test.

Welcome to all of my new subscribers. This is my monthly paid newsletter, which means you can read the tidbits at the top. To keep reading, please subscribe. You can cancel at any time. Click here to read my last newsletter, which was open to everyone and go out biweekly. (Blah-blah-blah the boring stuff.) On with the better stuff.

I’m just here for the tidbits:

1. Nestle is launching a “portion aligned” brand of prepared meals (yes, including pizza). It’s called “Vital Pursuit” and is targeted at folks taking Wegovy or Ozempic. Nestle states it will be high in fiber and protein. There’s no website, no Instagram account and products aren’t available. Oh the things capitalistic, money-grubbing corporations will do for media. I always say: Don’t get press until you’re ready with something to sell.

2. Mike Lee is a man after my own heart with this very long, dense write up about ultra-processed foods. At the tail end he gets to what he thinks we could or should do. This is actually the best part, so if you can’t read the whole thing, skip to the last quarter.

3. The Washington Post taste tested plant-based bacon but (horror) uses real bacon as the measure of success. What a high bar!!! Longtime veggie stalwart MorningStar Farms came in second to bacon. In a great win for mycelium, Myforest Food’s came in third. When is someone gonna make an eggplant-mushroom bacon for me?

   

   3rd Place in the bacon tasting went to MyForest Foods mycelium bacon. If you try it, let me know what you think.

4. “We are really a fish-shaped snack that can play across different occasions.” (Lawd.) So says the brand manager for packaged foods at Campbell’s. He goes on to explain in this fun read why the company invested R & D in the iconic snack over the last four years. It’s irritating to read about how a company wants to exploit my love of crunchy, salty snacks but also fascinating to peak at their process.

5. Did you see the NYTimes headline about PFAS? “Lawyers to Plastic Makers: Prepare for ‘Astronomical’ lawsuits.” I love this so much. The problem? Even the things we think are good, probably aren’t. Civil Eats wrote this lengthy piece on ways reusable to-go containers were making waves in restaurants, campuses and offices. Problem? Most of the stuff is plastic. Number one when using plastic — although in general you want to avoid it — is not to put hot foods in plastic. Number two, don’t put foods high in fat in plastic. Hrm. We have a problem. A big problem. Huge.

Where you can find me:

1. The Spoon is hosting a Food and AI Summit on September 25th in Berkeley, CA. I hope to be there.

2. I have a piece on getting plastics out of your kitchen running in Sierra Magazine this Monday. Next week, I have a long profile running in The Information. I continue to research vegan cheeses and my fridge is officially full of oat slices and pea spreads.

On with the show. Today’s newsletter is about the NRA’s recent industry trade show in Chicago, which was a mix of techy robots and techy plant-forward foods.