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DiGiorno and Stouffer's bring plant-based 'meat' to frozen Italian food
Nestle is expanding its plant-based 'meat' offerings to a category seldom covered in the meatless world: the frozen Italian food you buy when you'd rather not order in or start from scratch. It's introducing both a DiGiorno pizza (the Rising Crust Meatless Supreme) and a Stouffer's lasagna (the Meatless Lasagna) that use Sweet Earth's Awesome Grounds in place of ex-animals. While Nestle hasn't outlined their exact nutritional value, the mix of yellow pea protein, wheat gluten and multiple veggie oils promises the usual meat-like taste while delivering plenty of protein, fiber and, of course, reduced guilt.
Nestle claims its plant-based Awesome Burger is healthier than rivals
Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are about to have some major competition. Nestle's Sweet Earth is prepping the Awesome Burger, another take on plant-based hamburgers. The veggie mix (which includes yellow peas and wheat) should have largely realistic juiciness and taste, but promises to be healthier in some respects than its rivals. It'll have six grams of fiber versus the three you typically find in Beyond and Impossible patties, for example. You can also expect more more protein than a meat burger (28g versus a typical 20g), no saturated fat and lots of iron and Vitamin C.
Disney, Nestle pull YouTube ads in uproar over child videos
YouTube is still grappling with predatory comments on child videos, and it's once again facing the consequences. Bloomberg has learned that Disney, Fortnite creator Epic Games, Nestle and Oetker have "paused" spending on YouTube ads after video blogger Mark Watson shared a video showing how comments on videos with children were being used to enable an ad hoc softcore child porn ring. Commenters would flag videos where underage girls were performing supposedly suggestive actions, such as gymnastics, while YouTube's own algorithms would inadvertently suggest similar videos.
'Zero-waste' Loop delivers Coke and Häagen-Dazs in reusable packaging
A lineup of the world's biggest consumer brands are joining a zero-waste online shopping project that delivers items in refillable and reusable containers. Loop -- announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week -- is an online shopping platform that wants to save customers the hassle of recycling by adopting the age-old model of the milkman.
Suppliers and retailers will use blockchain to keep food fresh
IBM has joined with a group of food supply companies and retailers to use the computing company's blockchain tech to keep food fresh. Currently, it can take up to two weeks to track down the source of contaminated foodstuffs. But just like tracking cryptocurrency transactions all over the world, this consortium will harness IBM's enterprise blockchain services to give its members access to a constantly-updating ledger of food, from source to store.
Break me off a piece of that YouTube bar
Remember when Google teamed up with Nestle and went and named a flavor of Android after a four-fingered chocolate bar? Turns out it wasn't the last we'd see from this unlikely partnership. To celebrate 80 years since the KitKat went on sale, the two companies announced today that 600,000 "limited edition" packs will feature the name "YouTube Break" instead of the familiar KitKat logo in the UK. According to Nestle, it'll form just one of 72 different "breaks" that will feature on more than 400 wrapper designs. The plan is to produce 100 million packs, with the search giant only playing a small role. That said, YouTube will get involved, allowing smartphone owners to watch the day's top trending videos with a "OK Google, YouTube my break" voice search. If you didn't think things could get more sickly sweet, Google and Nestle just proved you wrong.
The food industry's next big hope is to sell you exercise in a can
In every business, from the Amalgamated Rubber Sole Company through to the halls of Nabisco, someone, somewhere, is dreaming of a pill that instantly makes you thin. Several already exist, but if you don't want to sit through that one worrying side-affect of Xenical or find a way to get a large quantity of Speed delivered to your garage, then a double-hander of diet and exercise is the only way to go. That's not something that will deter Nestlé, however, since the company is working on a foodstuff that, it's hoped, will help you to "exercise" without having to leave the couch.
Yup, robots are coming to take our retail jobs, too
Elon Musk may be terrified of self-controlling robots, but the retail industry is clearly hoping they'll save cash in the long term. Nestle, for instance, has purchased 20 copies of Softbank's Pepper robot as the new spokes-droid for its food business in Japan. If successful, then the food manufacturer could have up to 1,000 of the cute yet disturbing devices pimping Nestle vending machines across the country. It's not just limited to robot-friendly Japan, either, since Lowe's has announced that it's hired a robotic employee to help customers find stock in its San Jose Orchard Supply store. The OSHBot comes with a pair of displays, one to bombard you with offers and another to let you video conference with an in-store expert hiding in the back. That said, it's hard not to be concerned for all of the workers who could be handed a pink slip in favor of the Terminator's doe-eyed cousin.
Nestle's working on a kitchen appliance that creates custom vitamin cocktails
If Nestlé's new "Iron Man" project ends up a success, your morning routine could go like this: 1.) Take a shower. 2.) Eat breakfast. 3.) Brew your very own vitamin supplements. According to Bloomberg, the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences is developing a device (possibly like its Nespresso coffee-making machines) that can make supplements on the spot based on your body's needs. Since each dose -- which might come in powder or capsule form -- is tailored for you, NIHS director Ed Baetge says it's going to be more effective than anything on the market. Then again, it's worth remembering that there are many scientists who question the health benefits of vitamin supplements in the first place. Plus, there could be some very high costs involved in Nestlé's vision: For the vitamin-mixing machine to work properly you'll have to input your nutrient profile and, according to University of Minnesota researchers, knowing that profile won't be cheap. It'll cost at least $50 to analyze the level of each nutrient, and it could cost more than $1,000 for a complete analysis.
Weekly Roundup: HTC One Max review, PS Vita review, Apple confirms iPad event and more!
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Nestle may be hinting at Android 4.4 KitKat launch on October 28th
We know that Google is fond of puzzles, and it may be using a few of them to tease the launch of Android 4.4 KitKat. Nestle's @KitKat Twitter account has posted two musical references (embedded after the break) that suggest the OS could appear on October 28th. The first, "everybody dance now," clearly points to C+C Music Factory -- originally known as The 28th Street Crew. The second hint may be an allusion to Michael Jackson's This Is It movie, which reached stores on (you guessed it) October 28th. Don't plan your schedule around that day, however, as there are a few reasons to doubt the timing. C+C Music Factory released its "Gonna Make You Sweat" single on October 18th, and the album version of This Is It reached the US on October 26th; if these are teasers of any sort, they're not especially obvious. Still, we're fast approaching the October 29th anniversary of the launches for both Android 4.2 and the Nexus 4 -- no matter what, Google is due for both new software and the hardware to match.
Researchers devise coffee machine that can tell good coffee from bad
It looks like coffee technology could be about to take another leap forward, with Nestle researchers now touting that they've devised a machine that can tell the difference between good coffee and bad coffee -- espresso, in particular. Apparently, the machine has "nearly" the taste accuracy of a panel of trained espresso tasters, who, if this machine is any indication, may soon have to kiss their envious job goodbye (like so many others that have been forced to confront the cold hard reality of the machines taking over). While there's apparently still quite a bit of work to be done on the coffee tasting machine, Nestle eventually sees it being used as a quality control device for the entire coffee industry. [Via Single Serve Coffee]
Dewy's Adventure used to advertise bottled water
Advertising bottled water in Dewy's Adventure, which you spent $50 for? Not cool Konami and Nestle, not cool at all. Very much unlike the cold, refreshing taste of Slurm. See what we did there? Did you get the joke? No? Well, we're not really all that good at it, but you get the idea.[Thanks, k0sm1k!]
Nespresso Lattissima offers up one-touch cappuccinos and lattes
Stopping by your favorite java shop on the way to work each day can get relatively pricey (and frustrating if you simultaneously roll in with the other half of the city), and while the Nespresso Lattissima can't exactly read your mind, it apparently does one mean latte with just a single button press and a moment of your time. According to SingleServeCoffee, the stunning machine sports a "one touch fresh milk froth function" and also boasts an auto clean mode, detachable milk and water reservoirs, adjustable cup platform, and a twin pump heating system. Moreover, the device can reportedly crank out a cappuccino in "less than one minute," while a latte macchiato takes just 80 seconds. Slated to hit stores this fall, the mostly automated coffeemaker will come in a satin chrome flavor with integrated cup warmer for $799, while the less pricey red and black versions will save you a Benjamin at the expense of that built-in warming feature. Be sure to click through for a video that's so good, you can almost smell it.[Via SingleServeCoffee, thanks Jay]
