In a short time, foodtech has evolved from a sector driven by startups to an ecosystem with different players. It attracted mass investment in 2018 with record fundraising ($16.9 billion according to AgFunder, nearly half of which in the United States) and many startups reached the unicorn status.

Thus, Food Tech represents an immense potential for manufacturers and food retailers. Like Cognition Standard or Trigo Vision, startups offer the use of visual recognition, cameras and AI to automate many tasks such as store data collection and analysis. In general, startups bring new solutions to large retailers such as Walmart or Kroger to compete with the emergence of Amazon Go and other cashless stores.

Other players such as agriculture, food or logistics and delivery will soon benefit from the contributions of robotics thanks to the solutions devised by startups and some giants such as Amazon or Alibaba. Robotics will also revolutionise the foodservice sector with the use of robots in the kitchen or as bartenders.

Many startups today are crafting solutions using new technologies to make farms more productive, efficient, and sustainable, and to help small farmers increase their yields and incomes. Ideas are spreading to redevelop urban spaces. For exemple, Agricool has designed the first organic farms in Paris and InFarm, a Berlin-based startup, has developed a vertical indoor farming system that can be implemented in supermarkets, restaurants, local distribution warehouses, or even schools.

Veganism is no longer a fringe interest. Experienced entrepreneurs are spotting opportunities in the burgeoning vegan food market. On one hand Raw Halo has created a range of yummy chocolate bars and on the other hand Impossible Foods is paving the way for faux meat and has  just announced a new $300 million funding round, putting its total capital raised at $750 million for, according to Reuters sources, a valuation of $2 billion.

Foodtech also brings the hope of reconciling the food industry and consumers. After suffering from various crises of confidence (infant nutrition in China, rotten meat in Europe, etc.), manufacturers are stepping up initiatives to restore consumer confidence, in particular by trying to provide answers to their need for information and transparency. On their side, Startups like Yuka are bringing a new bringe of mobile apps to help people enhance their lifestyle and nutritional habits.

While foodtech is a growing trend around the world, there are specific areas where Israel especially stands out. In particular thanks to the Israeli government that has just opened a food technology incubator in which it plans to invest more than 28 billion US dollars over the next 8 years.

In 2017, Hebrew University in Israel unveiled a concept for using a 3D printer to create, design and print a meal. The concept, though several years away from being implemented, already has a basic ingredient: nano-cellulose, a natural, edible fiber that could be altered to specific textures and bound to other substances like proteins, carbohydrates and fats to create real, fully cooked and quite delicious meals.

In Israel, many startups want to change consumption patterns, such as Aleph Farms who reproduces cells, creating first lab-made steak  or Jet Eat who claims to have duplicated the texture of meat using plant-based formulations and 3D printers.