July 21, 2017

Campbell Soup Acquires Pacific Foods, Organic Option

Posted on July 21, 2017August 23, 2019 by Staff Writer

One of America’s largest food brands, Campbell Soup Co. has purchased organic soup firm Pacific Foods for $700 million.

A future with Campbell means we can maintain what we value while accelerating growth of the brand…, reaching more people while increasing our impact on sustainable agriculture.

Pacific Foods is renowned for producing organic soup, broths, meals, shelf-stable plant-based beverages and side dishes. Campbell’s will keep the Pacific branding, according to Food Business News.

The acquisition, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, signals the global consumer switch to healthier foods.

The latest official figures state that Americans spent $43.3 billion on organic food and beverage in 2015, and this figure is set to increase beyond the $50 billion mark in 2017. Analysts point out that organic products are becoming big business not just in America but worldwide.

Campbell Soup Co. posted a turnover of $7.96 billion in 2016, compared to the organic firm which generated $218 million in the last fiscal year. The former is hoping the latter will increase its footprint in the ever-growing organic foods and beverage sector.

According to data from Information Resources, organic foods have had an annual growth rate of 15.3% over the past four years.

Pacific Gives Campbell Soup a Position in Organic Market

“This acquisition is consistent with our purpose, ‘Real food that matters for life’s moments,’” Denise Morrison, president and CEO of Campbell Soup, said. “Pacific is an authentic brand with a loyal consumer following. The acquisition allows us to expand into faster-growing spaces such as organic and functional food.

“Moreover, Pacific Foods is an excellent fit with Campbell — strategically, culturally and philosophically. It advances our strategic imperatives around real food, transparency, sustainability and health and well-being. Culturally, Campbell and Pacific Foods share similar values and a commitment to a purpose-driven approach. Philosophically, both companies believe in making food that we are proud to serve at our own tables using simple, recognizable ingredients,” Morrison added.

The American soup giant says it plans on expanding its organic arm, increase distribution, pump more money into marketing and invest in research and development.

While, Pacific Foods also sees room to grow under the new deal. It already employs 540 workers and operates a certified organic manufacturing plant in Tualatin, Oregon, and expects the firm to expand under the take-over. Co-founder and CEO Chuck Eggert will remain in his position with the company.

“We’ve spent the past 30 years focused on making nourishing foods with an emphasis on simple, organic ingredients and authentic, rich flavors,” Chuck Eggert said. “Looking ahead, a future with Campbell means we can maintain what we value while accelerating growth of the brand in a way that we couldn’t do alone, reaching more people while increasing our impact on sustainable agriculture.”

Experts state the acquisition is an important one, because it’s one of the first main indicators that consumers are switching more toward health and wellness products in the United States.

Create Your Own VR World with Google Blocks

Posted on July 21, 2017March 6, 2020 by Staff Writer

It will soon be possible to build your own world. Blocks, a new virtual reality (VR) app developed by Google, will allow users to immerse themselves within a 3D existence.

Digi-Capital’s Augmented/Virtual Reality report 2017 states that the AR/VR market will generate around $108 billion by 2021, and is one of the fastest developing industries in the world.

Google claims they have created the commercial answer to a working knowledge of 3D modeling software. It doesn’t take a computer genius to use Blocks, it’s made with the everyday user in mind.

Creators have developed six simple functions: Stroke, Shape, Paint, Grab, Modify and Erase so the user can come to grips with building and modifying the world around them. By using these functions, users can create both simple and intricate models that can be used in other applications.

Blocks links to either the Oculus Rift VR or HTC Vive headsets to transport the participant into a 3D planet, with the ability to create objects which can be transported to other realms.

According to Google, developers will be able to easily transport the models they create to other VR or augmented reality (AR) applications, or be shared on websites and social media.

Google Blocks; Easy to Build VR Worlds

“Right now, the time it takes to handcraft 3D objects is so cumbersome, it’s almost impossible to do,” Jason Toff, Product Manager for Google’s VR creativity efforts, said. “What we’re doing is saying, OK, rather than having to learn about specularity and textures and lighting, let’s just boil it down to the most essential colors and shapes and see how far you can get.”

According to one Wired.com writer, users can go far with this app. A VR virgin can confidently design a decent snowman in about 90 seconds, after a brief tutorial. “It’s a blast to use, and yes, like Tilt Brush, it’s an excellent introduction to VR,” the writer states.

Experts say Blocks can become one of the most important commercial AR/VR creation tools on the market, that can extend across brands, applications, software and technologies.

Animated GIFs are becoming one of the most important parts of social media today, and Blocks can even help create those, according to Small Business Trends.

Digi-Capital’s Augmented/Virtual Reality report 2017 states that the AR/VR market will generate around $108 billion by 2021, and is one of the fastest developing industries in the world. It’s a market that is growing and businesses are taking advantage of not only generating revenue but also creating groundbreaking technologies.

In the future, content will play a crucial role in the success of any application. The best, latest and innovative designs will push humanity forward and the wonders we can create at the touch of a button will become almost unimaginable.

VR and AR applications have already become big money makers, not only in the commercial and games sphere but also in business and government sectors. They can also help provide organizations with training facilities, security support, advertising and much more.

It takes Bold Ideas like these to push innovation forward and to create a better more sophisticated world, so that we can create worlds of our own.

AI Charts the Retail of the Future

Posted on July 21, 2017July 15, 2024 by Staff Writer

The AI-Enhanced Shopping Experience

Investors and retailers are betting that the more pleasant and personalized the shopping experience, the more likely the consumer will buy. And that is what merchants and investors want—happy shoppers busily buying—keeping those goods and services flowing.

FINDMINE’s “Complete the Look” technology creates complete outfits around each product purchased resolving any uncertainty about “How do I wear this?”

Enter artificial intelligence (AI). Investors are already betting big on AI startups, $4.9 billion in 2016. This year, a good chunk of investment is going towards startup technology to make shopping easier and more personal for the consumer and more profitable for the merchant.

Developers are creating smart technologies to both enhance the shopping experience and optimize the supply chain to give shoppers what they want when they want it.

These technologies employ AI to do things like data mining that combines data collected from transactions across all channels (desktop, mobile, email, etc.) with consumer activity throughout the day (think web surfing and Facebook posting) to create a rich profile of the customer. This profile enables an e-commerce merchant to send a highly personalized ad directly related to an AI predicted want or need. The ad arrives in real-time via the social media platform the customer is engaged in. The AI learns more about the consumer with every purchase, perfecting the profile.

Other technologies are using machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) to improve search engine capabilities. The enhanced search capabilities make it both easier for shoppers to find what they want and for the retailer to offer alternatives. As a consumer searches for products or services, the AI learns how the individual communicates—what words he or she uses—and adapts to provide more relevant results.

For brick and mortar stores and warehouses, AI startups are providing technology to streamline the supply chain for the merchant and optimize product placement for suppliers.

Recent AI Startups Personalize the Shopping Experience

For both online and brick and mortar stores, AI startups are developing technology to personalize the shopping experience. As the consumer shops online, the personal assistant delves into its trove of information in real-time to offer exclusive personalized offers that appeal to the shopper’s tastes and preferences.

The startup company Mona has created a personal shopping assistant in the form of a smartphone app. Mona serves a database of over 300 retailers. As you shop the Mona platform, she learns your style taste, brand preferences, and price point. Mona searches among the retailers in her system to offer you the best price or promotion.

Two startups offering real-time product targeting are Dynamic Yield and Reflektion. Reflektion provides a neat twist by allowing the shopper to attach a photo to any search query. The photo combined with natural language processing instantly provides more accurate results, reducing the amount of time it takes for the customer to find what he or she wants. And lessening the chance the shopper will move on to another site.

ViSenze is a startup company that also employs visual search technology. A shopper can take a photo of an item in a retailer’s store and search the retailer’s online stock to shop for similar items. The engine provides alternatives for out of stock items to induce a sale.

Machine learning enables real-time pricing and incentives, wherein shoppers are motivated to buy through real-time price adjustments, reward offers, and alternative buying options. The startup Granify provides an online retailer with a platform that monitors over 400 attributes per second to predict the customer’s next move as the shopper searches the retailer’s website. Should the AI sense hesitation (interpreted as an objection), the system will provide a message or incentive to overcome the objection to and trigger a purchase.

AddStructure is a startup using natural language processing to improve and personalize e-commerce searches. AddStructure addresses three levels of a search—first finding the merchant’s website, then finding the product on the site, and lastly, finding the most relevant product on the website for that particular shopper. From the original search query (on Google or Firefox), AddStructure’s engine cross checks the search query with the merchant’s inventory data and the consumer’s profile to generate a personalized landing page for the searcher.

In an article in the January issue of Stores Magazine, William Underwood, AddStructures co-founder, stated, “We want shoppers to be able to go to an app or a website and say what they’re looking for. Our technology understands their priorities and delivers the best possible results — making it quick and frictionless to transact.”

Other startups such as FINDMINE focus on sizing and styling to offer products to build a consumer’s wardrobe while increasing the merchant’s sales. FINDMINE’s “Complete the Look” technology creates complete outfits around each product purchased resolving any uncertainty about “How do I wear this?”

Many of the startups use AI in multi-channel marketing — creating targeted marketing campaigns across desktop, mobile, email, and other digital channels. For example, Thirdshelf enables retailers to quickly create and send a personalized email or SMS offer to entice customers back into the store to add to a recent purchase. This solution also provides the retailer with reports on the sales impact of offers and loyalty programs.

The Brick and Mortar Dilemma

Almost daily we read about the demise or soon demise of some iconic retail store (think Sears or Kmart). To remain competitive, brick and mortar retailers are going to have to embrace technology to attract and retain customers.

In a recent report issued by Springboard Retail, survey results from 400 customers revealed information critical to retail survival: 70% of shoppers would revisit a store because of personalized experiences. 71% would rather go online to avoid in-store delays and hassles. 75% of buyers want to know what’s in stock before entering a store.

Startup companies are coming to the rescue. Companies like Plexure are using both digital and physical store analytics to help retailers better understand their customers. Plexure’s CRM platform enables marketers to connect brands with consumers while the shoppers are in the store, in real-time.

Manthan winner of the 2017 Amazon Web Services Innovation Partner of the Year Award, uses customer analytics and Amazon Alexa and Lex technologies to provide personalized interactions based on customer behavior.

Another useful tool for retailers integrates digital and physical store analytics with beacon technology to track a shopper’s physical location. Invisible Media uses mobile cloud data and customer physical location information to “create a 360^o view of the customer.” In real-time, the decision engine processes multiple data inputs and device signals to discern user interests and predict future purchase. The retailer can hit the customer with a customized message or offer at just the right time on the right channel.

Recent Startups Optimize Retail Inventory and Pricing

AI startups are employing in-store visual monitoring, robots, and analytics to streamline the supply chain and optimize product placement, as well. New technologies predict customer behavior, supply stores with in-demand items, eliminate slow-moving stock, and provide better pricing strategies, to maximize retail sales and profit.

COSY provides smart software and in-store visual monitoring for brick and mortar stores to optimize inventory management for brick and mortar stores. COSY’s SCOUT technology platform uses artificial intelligence, machine vision, and robots to streamline the stocking process Robots survey retail store floors to keep an accurate stock count. Accurate counts and visuals help minimize stock-outs and maintain intended product placement to promote increased sales. Suppliers use real-time analysis of photo and visual content of the store shelves to track how their products are stocked and promoted.

Investors are betting that Blue Yonder, a German Big Data platform, has the AI solution to provide retailers with predictive merchandising and price optimization. Analyzing vast accumulations of data from multiple sources, including data on customer demographics, weather, inventory levels, product characteristics and demand, competition, and competitor pricing, Blue Yonder optimizes purchasing, stocking, pricing, and product offerings across stores and e-commerce.

Whether online or in-store, thanks to highly personalized targeted marketing, shoppers are in for a 360^o, potentially 24-hour shopping immersion. It’s difficult to fully comprehend the bold impact AI will have on our already highly consumerized society as new technologies grow.

Future Of Food: 20 Startup Companies Innovating Food Production

Posted on July 21, 2017August 7, 2024 by Staff Writer

More than 7 billion people inhabit Earth. Because the population continues to rise, companies are searching for ways to provide the people of the world with the physical necessities they need to lead healthy fulfilling lives. A variety of organizations are gearing up for what the future of food may bring.

Trace Genomics uses artificial intelligence techniques that are common in data science and fraud detection in order to identify genetic mutations and microbes.

Food is of course the big one. For over 200 years it has been accepted dogma that food production expands arithmetically while populations expands geometrically. Of course this entire 200 year span clearly demonstrates that at least this one piece of dogma is false. Since roughly 1800, food production has increased phenomenally, making it possible to feed the people of the world even as population increased by 7 times.

Yet today, we still have problems with local food production and distribution. 21% of the developing world is in critical need of food. The reasons for lack of food in some regions are many, and include; social, environmental, economic, and destabilization factors.

20 Startup Companies Innovating Food Production

The following companies are searching for alternative proteins. They are designing new protein sources based on a somewhat likely assortment of plant-based sources, including; algae, insects, and row crops.

Beyond Meat – located in Los Angeles and is a producer of plant-based meat. In 2009, Ethan Brown discovered the company. It has disclosed funding of $40.5 million. Beyond Meat’s investors are Obvious Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Tyson New Ventures, 301 Incorporated, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. In 2013, Beyond Meat products became available at Whole Foods Markets nationwide.
Impossible Foods – located in Redwood City, California. It creates plant-based substitutes for meat and dairy products. Patrick Brown is the CEO of the company, rumored to be worth $183 million. Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures, and Horizons Ventures are its investors.
Ripple Foods – located in Emeryville, California. Ripple creates non-dairy milk that is low in sugar and high in protein. Adam Lowry is the CEO of Ripple Foods. It has known funding of $43.6 million. Prelude Ventures, Google Ventures, Blueberry Ventures, and Khosla Ventures are its investors. All Ripple products have just as much protein as milk.
New Wave Foods – from San Francisco, California is number one when it comes to sustainable seafood production. Dominique Barnes is the CEO of the company. Its disclosed funding is $200,000. Indie. Bio, New Crop Capital, and Efficient Capital are its investors. New Wave Foods aim to make food that is healthier for humans and at the same time better for the environment.
Spoiler Alert – This technology company is located in Boston Massachusetts. It helps food farms, nonprofits, and businesses to better manage their unsold food inventory. Ricky Ashenfelter is the Co-Founder and CEO of the company. It has a disclosed funding of $2.8 million. LaunchCapital, Fresh Source Capital, and Acre Venture Partners are its investors.
Imperfect Produce – in Oakland, California, is the number one home delivery and consumer brand service for produce that is less than perfect. Ben Simon is the CEO of the company. It has a disclosed funding of $9.8 million. Maveron is the lead investor in Imperfect Produce.
Full Harvest – is located in San Francisco, California. It helps growers get the most out of their harvest and deals with farm excess and surplus. Christine Moseley is the CEO of the company. It has a disclosed funding of $2 million. Radicle, Wireframe Ventures, and BBG Ventures are its investors.
Apeel Sciences – is in Santa Barbara, California. It develops products from the extract of natural plants and reduces reliance on pesticides. James Rogers is the CEO of the company. It has a disclosed funding of $40 million. Tao Capital Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, S2G Ventures, and Upfront Ventures are its investors.
Farmers Business Network – is in San Carlos, California. It connects farmers in order to gain insights and share knowledge regarding their inputs, practices, and farms. The company is a farmer-to-farmer agronomic information network. Amol Deshpande is the CEO of the company. It has a disclosed funding of $79.6 million. DBL Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Google Ventures are its investors.
Blue River Technology – from Sunnyvale, California, this tech company develops robotics to create intelligent solutions for agricultural industries. Jorge Heraud is the CEO of the company. It has funding of $30.8 million. Innovation Endeavors, Khosla Ventures, and Monsanto Growth Ventures are its investors.
Abundant Robotics – in Hayward, California solves huge and important dilemmas in the agriculture industry. Dan Steere is the CEO of the company. It has disclosed funding of $10 million. KPCB Edge, Yahama Motor Ventures, Comet Labs, and Google Ventures are the company’s investors. Abundant Robotics lead the way in automation of difficult, manual farming labor.
Prospera – in Tel Aviv, Israel, develops computer vision technologies that analyzes and monitors plant stress, growth, and health. Daniel Koppel is the CEO of the company. It has funding of $7 million. Hishtil and Bessemer Venture Partners are the primary investors in the company.
aWhere – in Broomfield, Colorado, analyzes agricultural. John Corbett is the CEO. aWhere has funding of $12.4 million. Aravaipa Ventures, Elixir Capital, and AgFunder are investors.
Hortau – is located in San Luis Obispo, California. Founded in 2002, it specialtizes in web and wireless-based irrigation management. Jocelyn Boudreau is CEO. It has funding of $71.5 million. Telesystem, Avrio Capital, BDC Capital, and Advantage Capital Partners are its investors.
Trace Genomics – from San Francisco, California, provides advanced management and prevention of agricultural diseases. Trace Genomics uses artificial intelligence techniques that are common in data science and fraud detection in order to identify genetic mutations and microbes. Diane Wu is the CEO, of the company with funding of $4.1 million. Refactor Capital, Fall Line Capital, and Illumina Ventures are investors.
Memphis Meats – is based in San Francisco. It produces meat with the aid of biotechnology. Memphis Meats plans to grow sustainable cultured meat. Dr. Uma Valeti is the CEO of the company. It has funding of $3 million. SOSventures, New Crop Capital, and Indie.Bio are its investors.
Modern Meadow – is located in Brooklyn, New York. The company is trying to develop new approaches to growing animal products, through biofabrication.. Andras Forgacs is the CEO of the company. Modern Meadow has funding of $53.4 million. Horizons Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Artis Ventures, and Collaborative Fund are its investors.
Perfect Day Foods – is located in Cork, Ireland. It is reinventing the way milk is industrially produced. Ryan Pandya is the CEO of the company. It has a disclosed funding of $2.1 million. SOSventures, Horizons Ventures, and Indie.Bio are its investors.
Geltor – in San Leandro, California, wants to replace animal derived gelatin with a vegan, animal free version. Alexander Lorestani is the CEO of the company. It has a funding of $2.7 million. New Crop Capital and Indie.Bio are its investors.
Ginkgo Bioworks – is located in Boston, Massachusetts. It designs custom microbes for customers across different markets. Jason Kelly is the CEO of the company with funding of $161.2 million. MassVentures, OS Fund, and Data Collective are its investors.

By the year 2050, approximately 9.6 billion people will need to eat every day. Creative bold actions today will make that goal possible.

Day: July 21, 2017

Campbell Soup Acquires Pacific Foods, Organic Option

Pacific Gives Campbell Soup a Position in Organic Market