Food(Tech) Interrupted
A first look at covid-19 impact: is it accelerating, threatening or changing the future of food?
This report is our take on the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and its impact on the FoodTech ecosystem. Depending on their product or service, startups can be either affected or a solution to the current situation.
As we are still “living” it, this report does not aim to provide a definitive analysis but rather more some insights on what’s happening and how it may affect the evolution of the ecosystem.
We are observing three broad categories of foodtech startups when looking at their response to the crisis:
1- delivery startups, notably restaurant delivery, marketplaces and meal kits which are thriving but are targeted by concerned customers by the safety of their workers and the social utility of their operations.
2 – foodservice startups, providing hospitality businesses with payment and ordering services. These startups are basically put on hold, some switching to B2C, others facing dim perspectives.
3 – direct-to-consumer food startups for which the situation will really depend on how well funded they already are and how strong their underlying trends were. If everything’s ok for meat alternatives startups, it will be more complicated for far fetched concepts.
Many entrepreneurs, no matter how big their startups are, are finding incredibly positive answers to the current situation.
The European ecosystem is still in its infancy, but it is growing. Indeed, after a few years of decline, funding into food brands is finally taking off in the first half of 2020. Outside of the UK (the driving force of FoodTech in Europe), many promising startups are emerging in Germany, the Nordics, the Netherlands, and France.
This report was made possible with the sponsorship of Eutopia
We are a European early-stage investment fund dedicated to consumer startups with a purpose. Eutopia’s investment thesis is driven by current shifts in consumer behavior. We back founders who are rethinking the way we eat, shop, sleep, and feel through a “good for me, good for communities, good for planet” approach.
The team manages 160 million euros and has invested in 23 companies including Hari&Co, Feed, Gourmey, and Pazzi in the food industry.
