Tech is changing the way we eat. You may not think about it too much, but many of the meals we take for granted today probably wouldn’t have happened a couple of years ago. Technology has changed everything from the way we grow our food, to the way we find a new restaurant, to the way we make home-cooked meals for our families. While many of the companies working on using tech to revolutionize agricultural production are headquartered in the Midwest, New York City hosts many of the consumer facing food tech companies. Here are some NYC tech companies that are changing the way we eat:
Then: Before Blue Apron came around there was a thing called a cookbook. You’d flip through until you found a recipe you liked, then copy down all the ingredients you needed to purchase. After a trip to the store, where you were forced to buy far more of the ingredients than the recipe called for, you’d do your best to follow along with the step-by-step recipe. Hopefully you knew what terminology like blanching or coddling meant.
Now: Blue Apron has cut out a lot of the steps between you and food, while leaving in the fun bits of cooking. Get on their site, sign up, and they’ll ship meals to your door with all the ingredients you need — pre-measured. Every recipe comes with a video that provides step-by-step instruction using normal words that non-Anthony Bourdain types can understand. Your kids, raised on Blue Apron Fridays, are probably not even going to know what a grocery store is.
Then: After work, you’d drag yourself to a grocery store and get all the necessities of life. Things like milk, bread (this was before we knew to fear gluten) and eggs. You’d wait in a long line, because everyone else in the city was doing the same thing, at the same time. You’d then lug all that heavy stuff home. Inevitably, you’d forget something, requiring another trip to the store immediately after you finally made it home.
Now: While your boss is looking the other way, you can get all your groceries on the FreshDirect website from the comfort of your ergonomic desk chair. It’ll show up at your door at a time of your choosing a couple days later. No lines, no rude grocery store clerks and no lugging required.
Then: Before Seamless, you used to have to actually call restaurants to have food delivered. You’d get put on hold, then scream your order to someone working in the kitchen of a incredibly loud and busy restaurant. Inevitably, half of your order would arrive incorrect, or they’d write down your address wrong. If you wanted to pay by credit card you had to trust the person on the other line with your credit card number. In those days, it was common for people to dedicate an entire kitchen drawer to store takeout menus.
Now: Today, you can order just about any sort of food you want from the Seamless app or website. Every restaurant’s menu is on the site, along with ratings and suggestions based on your previous orders. You don’t have to know a restaurant’s phone number, or whether they deliver to you, and you certainly don’t have to speak to anyone.
Then: Back in the day, you found out about new restaurants from friends or this thing called a newspaper. You’d judge your friends based on their taste — not because you were being pretentious, but because if they had good taste, you could trust their restaurant suggestions. If they raved about the sliders at Applebee's, you’d know to steer clear of any other place they might suggest.
And then there was the hassle of getting a reservation. Once you found the restaurant you wanted to eat at, you'd have to call them during their business hours. If the line wasn't busy, you'd put on your most professional, grownup voice, and ask for a reservation.
Now: Today, services like Munch Ado make it so you don't have to rely on your friends to find a good spot to eat. Instead, you can rely on the collective taste of thousands of strangers — certainly not all of whom can be wrong. They've also taken the headache out of getting a reservation, making it as simple as a click of a button.
Know of a company that deserves coverage? Let us know or tweet us @builtinnewyork.
