Finding What’s Real in Food Tech’s Next Chapter, with Larissa Zimberoff

Listen Now

Eat For The Planet is available on the following platforms

About the Guest

Larissa Zimberoff is an investigative journalist who covers how technology is changing the foods we eat. She is the author of Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valley’s Mission to Change What We Eat (Abrams Press, 2021), which was a finalist for the California Golden Poppy Award and has been translated into Chinese and Korean. She has appeared in films including Food, Inc 2.0 and Future Meat, a Korean documentary. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wired, The Atlantic and more. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and will gamely try any new food.

Larissa’s Substack, Technically Food

About this episode

In this candid and insightful conversation, journalist and author Larissa Zimberoff breaks down the current state of food tech with nuance, skepticism, and hope. Drawing from nearly a decade of reporting on the space—and her personal lens as someone with type 1 diabetes—she reflects on the sector’s early hype, recent struggles, and uncertain future. From vertical farms to plant-based meats and cultivated fats, Larissa explains why so many companies failed to scale, the damage done by the “ultra-processed” label, and why more startups should focus on ingredient innovation over splashy consumer brands. Still, she’s cautiously optimistic: about hybrids like cultivated fat-infused plant meats, the potential of mycelium, and the rise of culturally grounded, globally supported food tech. It’s a timely look at an industry 

Key Takeaways

  1. Balanced Critique: Larissa approaches food tech as a curious skeptic—supporting innovation, but always asking tough questions, especially around health and consumer impact.

  2. Ultra-Processed Perception Problem: The term “ultra-processed” has become inextricably linked with plant-based meat, making it harder to change the narrative.

  3. Failed Business Models: High costs, investor pressure, and unrealistic expectations doomed many startups, particularly in vertical farming and alt proteins.

  4. B2B vs. Branding: Many companies may have erred by trying to build consumer brands too soon, instead of focusing on ingredient tech and licensing.

  5. Cultural Relevance is Key: Western-style meat analogues can only go so far; success will require products that resonate with diverse food cultures.

  6. Hybrid Hopes & Mycelium Potential: Combining cultivated fats with plant-based ingredients may offer a tastier, more flexible alternative—and mycelium remains a promising low-processed option.

  7. Companies Mentioned: Mission Barns, Oishii, Plenty, AeroFarms, Sci-Fi Foods, Perfect Day, The Every Company, Upside Foods, Climax Foods, Black Sheep Foods, Impact Foods, Voyage Foods, Meati, Savor, Stockeld, Wayfare, Miyoko’s, Yo Egg.