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Soylent on the latest Vice piece

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Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#131

Post by mdisraeli »

I am actually excited by their move to an established manufacturer. A good manufacturing partner will be well placed to help them deal with FDA approval, which will be required.

However, they big challenge they will eventually face is the existing nutritional product manufacturers. At the moment, Soylent is not viewed as a serious competitor, but it is worth remembering that if they prove that a market exists, Abbott, Nestlé and the like both have the marketing clout and some rather clever tricks to muscle in on the market.

But the saddest thing of all? Despite companies like Soylent, Abbott, Nutriset, Nestlé, etc, clinical malnutrition is still a serious issue. Proper nutrition is essential to successful treatment to many issues (cancer being one), yet it is still commonly neglected by clinical staff and administrators :( And most people don't even know about the risks and that different options exist for different needs!

(Disclaimer: family work in the industry)

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#132

Post by djur »

MarcusVorenus wrote: post #124
dragonwriter wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Delicious unhealthy cheeseburger or a tasteless but healthy goop in a can? I choose -- false dichotomy. Plenty of healthy and not tasteless quick meal replacements that already exist.

Such option was not presented in the hypothetical scenario. It'd be trivial anyway to make the tasteless goop tasty with some flavorings.

If you think it is "trivial" to make a bland substance taste good without substantially changing the nutritional makeup of that substance, there are a lot of diet food companies who would like to have a chat with you and make you fabulously rich. Jamba Juice would like to know the secret, too.

Most things that innately taste good -- stuff that you could drop in a blender and drink and it'd still be agreeable -- are fatty, salty, starchy, sugary, or some mix of all these. Healthy and good-tasting food requires pleasant textures and careful composition that allows a small amount of fat, salt, starch, etc. to enhance the flavor of the whole meal.

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#133

Post by sneak »

thinkalone wrote: post #25
tptacek wrote: post #2

Wow. Exactly the right response. I would never have paid any attention to Soylent's agreement with a large HACCP-certified manufacturer before, but Vice's story actually made that relevant to me. They might actually pick up customers from this shitstorm. Argh! But, well played.

What shitstorm? The Motherboard piece was overall positive, and didn't have the tongue-in-cheek holier-than-thou tone that most articles about Soylent have had.

> When I'd received my first shipment of Soylent in New York, it arrived in the office in a white UPS box—and the yellowish crust-dust was packed into barely-sealed Ziploc bags.

How is something barely sealed? It is either sealed or it isn't.

They're trying hard to play up the amateur hour part, and that bit with the doctor's "I don't recommend it" where she lists the social aspects of food after she was holding an existing commercial meal replacement drink was pure sensationalism.

Even for an opinion piece, they could stand to be quite a bit more fair. The video said nothing of the bag puncture (only the mold), or the fact that the hand assembled soylent was a limited promo batch and not the final product.

Also, the clinical trial demand (something we require none of at the grocery store) at the end seems simply silly when he breaks his fast with FRIED CHICKEN, something for which we already have plenty of data to indicate that it's bad for your body. You don't get to say "I'll try it once it's held to standards that I hold no other food to" while eating things out of a deep fryer without looking like a total jackass.

It's a smear piece. I expect better from Vice.

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#134

Post by gfodor »

DanBC wrote: post #106
gfodor wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ensure tastes like shit. If Soylent tastes reasonably OK, and has stronger guarantees that it can be a true meal replacement than supplements like Ensure, then sign me up.

> Ensure tastes like shit. What, all different flavours of Ensure? All different styles of Ensure? > supplements like Ensure, Ensure is a sole source of nutrition. Your ignorance about the product speaks volumes.

I drank ensure pretty much every day for about 15 years due to health issues. Every flavor tasted terrible, and it was always presented as a supplement by my doctor. Maybe it's better now this was 10-15 years ago

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#135

Post by microtherion »

jw_ wrote: post #34
jonnathanson wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally speaking, I think the B2B market makes a lot of sense for Soylent. Especially sales to the military, space agencies, and maybe even white labeling for big food companies. In the consumer space, sure, you have some "Valley geeks" who see food as more of a burden to be solved than a source of enjoyment or socialization. But you've also got folks like athletes, both professional and amateur (a much bigger con…

Military organizations already spend a lot of time and money on food, given its overwhelming importance in things like fighting wars. I suspect "Valley nerdchow-paste" is not going to do a lot to raise morale.

Indeed. Military organizations have learned over several millennia that serving unappealing food to heavily armed and lethally trained people is bound to lead to suboptimal outcomes.

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#136

Post by aianus »

lambda wrote: post #130
aianus wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to chew rice and beans. It's still easier and faster to gulp down some slop.

Given how much of a problem some people here seem to have with normal food (though it only seems to have happened after seeing the Soylent marketing materials, I didn't know anyone who complained about how much trouble eating was before the Soylent hype), it's hard to tell if you're being sarcastic or serious. I suppose I've just run up against the Silicon Valley Hype Machine version of Poe's Law. Given how bad the h…

I've been complaining about how much trouble eating was since I realized I was underweight maybe 6-7 years ago. I've narrowed it down to some kind of mental problem that makes me chew 3-5x longer than other people. I therefore get full 3-5x sooner and it's hard to eat enough calories.

I've tried supplements and eating very dense foods (lots of grease and carbs) with lukewarm results but if Soylent works as promised, it'll basically change my life.

That said, my comment was meant to be humourous and I totally understand how people who don't have problems with normal food might view Soylent. It's the ultimate first-world problem.

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#137

Post by sneak »

rdl wrote: post #120
hawkharris wrote: post #84

Many startups put the word "utilize" in their press releases to sound fancier and more official: "This...prompted us to utilize more robust packaging." You can always say "use" instead of "utilize" to avoid buzzwords and sound more conversational. In fact, there are only a few specific cases (mostly in science writing) where "utilize" is necessary: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/use-versu...

This is also incredibly common among company/field grade military officers trying to appear "educated". I use "use" when something is put to its intended or designed use; I use a shirt by wearing it. I utilize a shirt by wrapping it around my arm, as a pressure dressing, to stop bleeding.

Just use "use".

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#138

Post by sneak »

contextual wrote: post #10

Soylent will likely become a billion dollar global enterprise, and even "disrupt" the food industry. It will also ultimately be a failure and frowned upon in modern society. Why? Because a Soylent-saturated world would rob families and loved ones of the ritual and benefits of eating together. Eating together civilizes people. It's emotionally and socially edifying. Studies show that families that dine together stay t…

> It will also ultimately be a failure and frowned upon in modern society. Why? Because a Soylent-saturated world would rob families and loved ones of the ritual and benefits of eating together.

I'm curious how even eating Soylent for 90% of one's meals would perform this "rob[bing]" of which you speak.

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#139

Post by aianus »

timr wrote: post #121
nostromo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nascent shitstorm was the story PandoDaily wrote that cherry-picked the mold and rat incidents from the Vice piece to make the content more salacious than it otherwise was.

Dude, say what you will about PandoDaily, but it is not OK to have rats running around in a food prep facility. The health department in SF will shut down restaurants for less.

Ever since watching the "Cities" episode of Human Planet I've assumed most restaurants have pest infestations to varying degrees. Is that not the case?

Re: Soylent on the latest Vice piece

#140

Post by adventureartist »

timr wrote: post #121
nostromo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nascent shitstorm was the story PandoDaily wrote that cherry-picked the mold and rat incidents from the Vice piece to make the content more salacious than it otherwise was.

Dude, say what you will about PandoDaily, but it is not OK to have rats running around in a food prep facility. The health department in SF will shut down restaurants for less.

I hope you realize there are more rats in more restaurants and food factories than you think, and that health departments nationally, while quick to cite, fine, and demand changes to your pest control, really understand that rodent problems happen, and don't shut you down for a rat. Rat infestation... yes.
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