Silo: The Food Storage Solution
It’s a big day in the world of food storage and preservation. Launching to the world on Kickstarter today is Silo, a countertop deep vacuum system for creating airtight food storage with the touch of a button.
Silo is a Tel Aviv based startup, who are taking food storage to the next level. Their product sits on the counter, and seals its BPA-free containers using patented one touch technology. Silo also comes with voice control thanks to Amazon’s Alexa, making Silo the Alexa hub for the kitchen. The unit also incorporates Wifi connectivity and freshness sensors, all connected to their cloud-based ecosystem and their accompanying app, which allows users to keep track of their consumption and track inventory, as well as providing storage suggestions and grocery lists, and the ability to ask Alexa if the food is still good to eat, or how much life is left in it. Users can simply tell Alexa what’s in the container they are sealing, and it is tracked from there. It appears to be more than just a vacuum sealer with this long list of features.
Vacuum sealers aren’t new. Many of us have been vacuum sealing our food in bags and jars for some time, and storing our food in the fridge or freezer. Historically, vacuum sealers have sealed containers from the top using a hose or hand pump system, or have sealed food in plastic storage bag adding to the issue of single use plastics. Silo offers a different way, using their carefully designed containers which seal from the bottom. According to their press release, sealing from the bottom allows them to store liquids and fine grains, without clogging. Food can last up to 5x longer than normal. They offer the containers in various sizes, all of which are dishwasher and microwave safe.
“Air is good for humans — but bad for food. By sucking out the air, Silo creates an inhospitable environment for bacteria, significantly slowing down nature’s spoilage timeline. With Silo, you can keep produce, meat, fish + bread fresh for up to a week longer than typical plastic containers.”
The addition of Alexa is fantastic, with the majority of Amazon Echo’s being kept in the kitchen. Building this feature into the Silo means it has more than one use, as it can also be used to control other cooking apps and to set cooking timers, as well as serving its food storage function. The kitchen counter is prime real estate, so any feature that makes a product more useful is going to help it win that space. This should play a big part in the success of Silo, which launches today on Kickstarter, with scale manufacturing expected to start in Q1 2019, and the first units expected to ship in July of 2019.
I expect this to be a very popular system. Not only does it serve a very important purpose by cutting down food waste, it also looks great and offers more than just the food storage functionality. On the surface it appears very easy to operate thanks to the one touch and voice control operation, so Silo could take off in a big way! Pledges start at $165, and includes the base unit and 4 storage containers. The maximum package with 14 assorted storage containers will set you back $289.
