Tech Bites

Reportedly 100 million people visit a vending machine every day in America. Farmer’s Fridge vending machines are designed to make finding fresh healthy meals as easy as finding a candy bar. What started in 2013 with a single machine in a Chicago Food Court, has grown to more than 400 fridges in airports, hospitals, office buildings, and universities. On this episode of Tech Bites, host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with Farmer’s Fridge founder and CEO, Luke Saunders, about how critical algorithms and technology have been to the growth of the business and how the company pivoted during the pandemic to delivery and expanded retail.

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Photo Courtesy of Farmer's Fridge.

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Hungry for a chef-cooked meal, but reluctant to leave your apartment? There’s an app for that. CookUnity is a national meal-delivery service, offering dishes cooked by a collective of more than 50 chefs. What started in 2015 with the idea of becoming “Spotify for food” has evolved into a new alternative to traditional restaurant work for chefs, and another meal-delivery option for consumers. On this episode of Tech Bites, host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with Emily Peck, a plant-based chef, and nutritionist on the CookUnity platform. Episode 259 of Tech Bites is made possible by the generosity of Magic Mind, the world’s first productivity shot.

Photo Courtesy of Chef Emily Peck.

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Did you know Heritage Radio Network studio is made of two repurposed shipping containers inside Roberta’s Pizza in Bushwick Brooklyn? To celebrate the return to in-studio recording were doing an episode on shipping container technology. Tech Bites host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with HRN Head of Audio Production Matt Patterson about the studio. Talking about portable hydroponic container farms is Jake Felser, CTO of Freight Farms, and Udi Shamai, Co-Founder and CEO of Hyper Robotics, talks about self-container robotic pizza kitchens.

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Technology, 3rd-party delivery apps, and staying at home have shifted the restaurant hospitality experience from on-premise to online at-home. How can data and drip marketing help restaurants create and grow real-life relationships with their guests? On this episode of Tech Bites, host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with Abhinav Kapur, CEO and Founder of Bikky, the restaurant data and market company, and Alessandro Biggy, founder of the fast-casual Avocaderia restaurant group, about how an integrated and automated pipeline of data can impact a business’s bottom line.

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The food tech trend with the greatest velocity right now is NFTs: non-fungible tokens purchased with Ethereum, minted on the blockchain. If you’re looking to get into cryptocurrencies, but aren’t sure what a hot wallet is and how mint is involved, this show is for you. On this episode, Grant Friedman, Director of the Private Client Desk at Coin Cloud, takes Tech Bites host Jennifer Leuzzi through the process of creating a crypto wallet and buying a Dumpling Mafia NFT. Coin Cloud is the industry-leading digital currency machine (DCM) on the world's largest and fastest-growing network of 100% two-way DCMs, the next generation of the Bitcoin ATM. To learn more about the Dumpling Mafia limited edition Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), listen to Tech Bites episode 253 on your favorite podcast platform.

Jennifer Leuzzi is the Owner of this NFT.

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In 2021 restaurants had to navigate supply chain disruptions, the COVID-19 Delta variant, and unprecedented worker shortages slowing recovery. How did the industry fare and what is on the horizon for 2022? On this episode of Tech Bites, host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with BentoBox Founder and CEO Krystle Mobayeni about their 2021 restaurant trends report. It analyzes data from 7,500+ restaurants worldwide, on how people are dining out, what they’re ordering and how restaurants are using tech to find efficiencies and increase profits.

Photo Courtesy of BentoBox.

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Meet the Forbes 30 Under 30 Food & Drink class of 2022. The annual list identifies and applauds young innovators and entrepreneurs who are redefining the way we eat, drink and think about food. On this episode of Tech Bites, host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with Forbes Under 30 editors Chloe Sorvino and Kristin Stoller. Two of this year’s winners talk about the impact of being on the list: Amy Zhou, Director of Operations at Michelin-starred COTE in New York City and Miami and Co-Founder at Wine Empowered, and Alexis Nikole Nelson, forager, cook, educator and social media sensation @BlackForager.

Photo Courtesy of Forbes.

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The food tech trend with the greatest velocity right now are culinary and chef-driven NFTs: non-fungible tokens purchased with ethereum, minted in the blockchain. On this episode of Tech Bites, host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with Chef Shirley Chung of Ms. Chi Café, writer Andy Wang and Grant Friedman, Director of the Private Client Desk for Coin Cloud, about the creation of their digital NFTs and their real world food events. The Dumpling Mafia was born in 2017 when Chef Shirley, with friends Andy and Caryl Chinn, went on a dumpling crawl in the San Gabriel Valley. As they ate and posted food photos, they coined the hashtag #DumplingMafia. Their social media followers have repeatedly asked how to join the Dumpling Mafia. The limited edition Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) digital collectibles were created by native Angeleno artist Narrator. The NFT’s are minted in partnership with Coin Cloud, the industry-leading digital currency machine (DCM) on the world's largest and fastest-growing network of 100% two-way DCMs, the next generation of the Bitcoin ATM.

Photo Courtesy of Dumpling Mafia NFT.

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Following Tech Bites tradition, the last show of the year is a look into the future of trends and innovations. What do some of the top women in food tech see for 2022? Tech Bites host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with Dr. Jasmin Hume, Founder and CEO of Shiru, a biotechnology company addressing a critical need in the food industry by providing access to more sustainable and healthy ingredients. Shiru is fueled by data-driven discovery, combining machine learning and fermentation to uncover functional alternative proteins from nature. Joining the discussion are two of Shiru’s board members: Deena Shakir, Partner at Lux Capital, a multi-stage venture capital firm with $4B under management, and Mary T. Clarke, Senior Vice President of Innovation for the Taste & Beyond division of Firmenich, the largest privately-owned company in the flavor and fragrance sector. This episode of Tech Bites is made possible by the generosity of Rt. 11 Potato Chips.

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On Tech Bites, the penultimate episode of the year is always a look back. On this episode of Tech Bites, host Jennifer Leuzzi talks about 2021 with returning guest Rachael Nemeth, co-founder, and CEO of Opus Training, a mobile-first learning platform that delivers chat-based micro-training to address the 80% of the workforce that does not sit at a desk with a computer. In a business where the immediacy of information is critical to success, Opus Training has a unique perspective on how the hospitality industry is navigating the ongoing challenges of doing business in the current pandemic economy.

Photo Courtesy of Jesse Whiles.

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