The Feed

Pradeep Elankumaran is the Co-Founder and CEO of Farmstead, a same-day online only grocer that delivers a selection of 1500 fresh items at a fraction of the cost of its competitors. As online grocery penetration reached 10% of the total trillion dollar spend in the US, Farmstead is helping traditional brick and mortar grocers open up new delivery hubs that can fulfill 2,000 delivery slots per day. That’s over 13 times what an average store can currently handle. We chat about everything from the rise of GoPuff to leveraging AI to reduce food waste as we cover the current state of this highly essential industry.

Jaydeep Barman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mumbia-based Rebel Foods, The World's Largest Internet Restaurant with 320 ghost kitchens in three continents powering over 26 native and third-party brands like Wendy's. Founded in 2011 as Faasos, a QSR biryani chain, the startup quickly saw most of its sales go towards delivery with 73% of customers reporting having never visited a store. After realizing that the e-commerce revolution that occurred in books and travel would soon hit food, Faasos quickly pivoted to what is now known as the ghost kitchen model.

Matt Schwartz is the co-founder and CEO of Afresh, an AI-powered merchandising and ordering operating system helping grocers save 100s of billions of dollars caused by food waste, inventory shocks, and online order fulfillment headaches within this trillion dollar industry. This was a really engaging discussion about the legacy technology that grocers have relied upon for decades and the trickle down effects when it comes to providing consumers with fresh, nutritious food that doesn’t go bad by the time it makes it to the fridge. Be sure to stay tuned to the end where Matt talks about his ideas for the grocery store of the future and his perspective on Amazon Fresh. Check out the intro song, "It's the S" by Great Ghost: https://spoti.fi/2Yfq1Qv

Frank Beard is a retail consultant, speaker, and writer who is a thought leader in the convenience store space and Sam Polk is the CEO of Everytable, a retailer of pre-prepared meals whose mission is to make nutritious, delicious food accessible and affordable in every community. 93% of Americans live within a 10 minute drive of a convenience store, making them incredibly attractive real estate. In this episode, we explore ideas around healthy grab-and-go meals, electric vehicle charging, food delivery, and curbside pickup from these last-mile hubs. Intro song: "It's the S" by Great Ghost: https://spoti.fi/2Yfq1Qv

Darcey Macken is the CEO of Planterra Foods, a fungi-based protein subsidiary of JBS, the largest meat processor in the world. In this conversation we discuss why fungi-based proteins are the next wave of the plant-based revolution, how consumers are making decisions about them, and peel back some of the controversies surrounding the factory farming practices of its parent company. Intro song: "It's the S" by Great Ghost: https://spoti.fi/2Yfq1Qv

Stas Matviyenko is the Founder and CEO of Allset, a contactless, pickup-only marketplace and order ahead technology solution for local restaurants. In this episode we dive into why major delivery marketplaces like DoorDash and Grubhub aren't optimized for pickup or QR ordering, the impact of delivery fee caps on the industry, and the explosive growth of pickup amidst the pandemic. Intro song: "It's the S" by Great Ghost: https://spoti.fi/2Yfq1Qv

Michael Lastoria is the Co-Founder & CEO of &pizza, a 40-unit pizza chain that recently announced that it will ensure a $15 minimum wage for all employees by 2022. We sat down to talk about everything including the future of livable restaurant wages, suburban expansion, and what lessons fast casual can learn from old school QSRs. Intro song: "It's the S" by Great Ghost: https://spoti.fi/2Yfq1Qv

Rahanna Bisseret Martinez is an Oakland-based 16-year-old Top Chef Junior alum with experience at four Michelin starred restaurants. Matt sat down with Rahanna to discuss how black voices can be amplified within food media and the current state of diversity within the greater food ecosystem. Check out Rahanna's latest recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/cooking-projects-to-entertain-kids/

Richard Sprague is a veteran technologist from Apple and Microsoft who has done over 600 microbiome tests using skin, nose, and fecal samples over the last six years. His fascination with his gut microbiome has led him to start Personal Science, a personalized nutrition project to help people discover their ideal diet by helping them track their glucose responses to doctor-prescribed meals. We speak with him about the future of gut microbiome testing and personalized diets that are projected to become a $64bn market in the next two decades.

Bill Stenger is the Director of Food Solution for Knapp North America, the automation partner for Takeoff Technologies which was recently dubbed a Technology Pioneer in the grocery microfulfimment space by the World Economic Forum. Microfulfillment is a disruptive new technology that reduces labor and last-mile delivery costs associated with online grocery by creating small automated warehouses on the back of existing retail stores. We cover everything from consumers’ shopping preferences during the pandemic to Amazon’s suburban strip mall grocery strategy.