someone yesterday asked me what i thought about the food industry (i run kettle & fire, a bone broth company) after coming from tech.

truthfully, it’s amazing – the parts i’m involved with, at least. i love being in the same world as companies like purewod, perfect keto, misfit and kind, all working to improve the food system and create delicious-yet-healthy products. products that can ever so slightly improve people’s lives.

the rest of it? the portion of the industry run by the same 6 companies churning out awful products and cutting corners (margin!) wherever possible? i hate that part.

unfortunately, that’s where most of the industry lives. have a broth product? enjoy competing against 20 other companies for the same 18 feet of shelf space. when you get space on shelf, someone else doesn’t.

zero sum.

this dynamic leads to politics. i like you, let’s get you on shelf. i’m buddies with that buyer, let me open some doors for you.

tech is always at the frontier (the internet, AI, VR, etc) and frontiers have fewer politics. they didn’t call it the wild west for nothin.

all that said, this dynamic is starting to shift. grocery spend is slooooowly moving online, and with it enabling all kinds of new food companies that don’t have to play and network by the old rules. as this happens, i think we’ll see fewer politics, more innovation, and more niche food companies reaching their believers.

as food becomes more positive-sum, food will innovate faster. cheers to food becoming more like tech.