Food Tech’s Future Is Infrastructure: Our 2025 Food Tech Thesis

Every year, I put together my thoughts on what I’m specifically excited for (or not excited for) in the world of food tech. We define food tech as everything in the food value chain from on-farm robotics through the future of food retail. We don’t invest in inputs or CPGs. The food value chain is a crucial part of our lives and economy, representing more than $9 Trillion of market value. Much of it is still run on paper and pencil passed from one stakeholder to the next.

This year, we wanted to drill deeper into three core areas that we see as being critical to the future of the food value chain. We’ve already made investments in several of these specific areas and are on the lookout for more.

Supply Chain Resilience & Optimization

It’s not just what’s in a truck — we’re looking at the entire ecosystem, from sourcing to delivery and the technologies that help create true end-to-end resilience:

• Product Origin & Compliance — Startups building solutions that create unprecedented visibility into ingredient sources, handling protocols, and safety compliance. This foundational layer represents a massive opportunity as regulations tighten globally.
• Infrastructure Intelligence — Companies that help businesses predict and prevent manufacturing bottlenecks before they occur. Early warning systems for production capacity and facility health are becoming must-have tools.
• Risk Integration — The next generation of supply chain platforms must weave together environmental, political, and compliance risk monitoring. This is a greenfield opportunity — few companies do this well at scale.
• End-to-End Visibility — While real-time tracking is table stakes, the real investment opportunities lie in platforms that connect development timelines, production capabilities, and delivery commitments into one coherent system.
• Financing & Ownership — Ownership, payment and transference of goods throughout the supply chain is operated on antiquated technology throughout much of food.

Digital Transformation of Sales & Marketing

Beyond the supply chain, we see significant opportunities in how companies engage with their markets and customers. The most promising solutions aren’t just about selling more product — they’re about fundamental improvements in efficiency and effectiveness:

• Intelligent Resource Optimization — The biggest opportunities aren’t in adding more tools, but in getting more out of existing resources. We look for solutions that maximize efficiency in sales and marketing teams, ensuring every dollar and minute delivers more impact.
• Faster Feedback Loops — Speed in R&D, consumer insights, and product development is crucial. We’re excited about innovations that shorten the gap between investment and insight, making feedback loops faster and more actionable.
• Cost-Effective Customer Acquisition — With persistent performance margin pressures, lowering customer acquisition costs is critical. The best platforms improve efficiency across the entire sales process, not just in targeting.
• Addressing Labor Shortages — As teams stretch thinner, we seek companies that thoughtfully automate repetitive tasks, enhance team productivity, and reduce reliance on manual processes.
• ROI on Insights — While companies invest heavily in consumer insights, we see opportunities to improve the return on that investment through platforms that deliver better, faster insights without adding complexity.

Intelligent Automation & Robotics

Labor has always been a challenge for the food system. It is an issue that is currently intensifying, accelerating the need for intelligent automation. We’re focused on practical solutions that deliver clear ROI:

• Targeted Process Automation — Rather than pursuing complete automation, we prioritize solutions that excel at specific, high-value steps in commercial kitchens or manufacturing lines. These focused innovations deliver proven results without the complexity of all-in-one systems.
• AI-Enabled Robotics — We seek affordable, AI-driven robotics that solve concrete labor challenges across the supply chain, while maintaining superior unit economics. Cost-effective BOMs are essential for widespread adoption.
• Automated Quality Assurance — Computer vision and smart testing systems that enhance consistency and reduce human error in quality control processes, particularly in high-throughput environments.
• Intelligent Distribution & Fulfillment — From autonomous warehousing to smart vending solutions, we’re investing in systems that reduce labor dependencies across the fulfillment chain. This includes pick-and-pack robotics, sensor-enabled packaging, and human-free cold chain management that create more resilient end-to-end operations.

Food Tech is tough. But here at Bread and Butter we love it. If you’re working on innovations that address any of these challenges, we’re always eager to connect and learn more about your vision for the future of food.