潜水简介:
- 风险投资正在涌入食品和饮料类别，according to Tech Crunch。它对风险投资的分析显示，在过去一年中，该领域的初创公司获得了超过30亿美元的风险投资投资。这包括大量交易，较小的种子弹以及两者之间的所有内容。
- Alternative meat products are a growing trend — and investors are taking notice. More than $600 million in known funding has gone into the sector, Tech Crunch said. The report noted makers of plant-based versions of popular meat dishes also are attracting investors. Its research found two top funding recipients areSeattle Food Tech，它正在努力以合理的成本大量生产无肉鸡块，并且Good Catch，专注于无鱼类的海鲜。
- Venture capitalists also are interested in robot chefs, especially in the areas of pizza and salad creation. Tech Crunch citedChowbotics，餐饮服务机器人的开发商，其阵容包括Sally The Salad机器人，以及宣布一场1100万美元的A轮融资，以增长的趋势为例。此外，投资者仍然对希望用更少的糖或健康糖替代品制作零食的公司感兴趣。该报告说，没有人知道哪些早期食品初创公司会起飞，但是根据其发现，未来的餐食将很高，蛋白质含量很高，糖分低，并由机器人准备。
潜水见解：
当今的消费者不再感受到品牌忠诚度，并且经常避开产品，以支持提供新口味和令人兴奋的概念的较小食品公司。随着杂货店买家转向较小的新品牌，初创公司都看到了外部投资者的兴趣和希望采取行动的主要食品公司的风险投资武器。
One reason investors might be turning to food could be the large sums — and likely significant returns — acquisitions have brought in in recent years. Dr Pepper Snapple paid $1.7 billion获取Bai Brands在2016年底，建立了七年。百事可乐获得的启动凯维塔在2016年底以2亿美元的价格,而雀巢以多数股份Blue Bottlefor a healthy $500 million last year.
即使是早期初创公司也看到了希望建立联系而不承担更高收购成本的食品公司和投资者的兴趣。一系列主要制造商 - 包括Chobani,通用磨坊，雀巢和PepsiCo——正在VCvestments or launching their own startup accelerators to help small companies scale up. Eventually, thesestartups could make good acquisition targetsas well. Dr Pepper Snapple, which对许多快速发展的公司有少量投资such asAriZona, Fiji Water, BodyArmor and Vita Coco, had a similar stake in Bai before purchasing it.
“Those guys are all fast-growing companies and when it’s the right thing to do, as in the case of Bai, we’ll certainly evaluate [whether to buy them]," James Trebilcock, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Dr Pepper Snapple,去年告诉食物潜水。目前，“我们正在让这些企业家和背后的所有资本开发和建立这些品牌，我们正在利用分销网络的实力来获得它们。”
当然，风险是，随着最有吸引力的公司被吞噬，较小，重要的参与者仍然存在。投资者和大食品面临的挑战在于，因为他们迫切希望增长并希望吸引热门趋势，因此他们不会超额资产付费。
Still, industry leaders and investors should pay close attention to which trends take off. Funding companies looking to create meat alternatives, as well as “lab grown” meat, seems like a smart bet. While Tyson Foods is best known for its beef, pork and chicken, it has minority positions in plant-based foods maker超越肉和孟菲斯肉，一个细胞培养的肉类创业。
一些60% of consumers say they’re cutting back on meat-based products, substituting beef burgers in favor of plant-based alternatives.And a third of 1,000 U.S. and United Kingdom consumers whoparticipated in an online survey说，如果在餐馆或杂货店可用，他们愿意购买实验室种植的肉。消费者喜欢肉类和蛋白质，但仍然对健康，环境和动物福利感到担忧，使该行业的投资成熟。
谨慎投资于具有新想法的公司或无糖甜点选择的公司似乎也很聪明。Surveys show today’s consumers want to indulge in sweet treats, but are on the lookout for healthful options. This is whyHalo Top— the ice cream that seemingly came out of nowhere to dominate the industry through its promise of fewer calories, less sugar and higher protein — is among the young upstarts forcing its big-name, deep-pocket competitors to take notice.
Aside from the novelty factor, shopper desire for menu items prepared by robots seems less certain. Millennials are looking for a personal experience, which would seem to be the opposite of what a robot provides. But this idea might make sense if automation can trim significant labor costs, something onlookers likely will accept if it can result in a lower price.
食品初创公司肯定是他们的时刻，但是就像20年前的Dot.com胸围一样，并非所有人都会找到长期的成功。
