Scrambling the future of food

Josh Tetrick on making the right thing the most delectable thing.

Who: Josh Tetrick, CEO and Founder, Hampton Creek.

What’s the story?

Hampton Creek are a Silicon Valley, VC-backed startup. But unlike most startups they don’t deal in users, networks, likes and APIs; their business is food. Crudely put, Josh Tetrick is building the Tesla of food.

Like Tesla, Hampton Creek is a broken-system innovator. Where Tesla saw unintelligent cars hooked on an unsustainable energy source, Hampton Creek sees low-quality food products dependent on two unsustainable plants; soy and corn. Their team of scientists and chefs are looking at what better alternatives might lie undiscovered in the 400,000 other plant species we have available to us.

In 20 years we want to have more of a positive impact than any other company on the planet.

What’s the big challenge ahead?

Hampton Creek, and their many backers, don’t want to be a niche ethical healthfood company; they want to transform the food system and change the world. To do this they need their ‘substitute’ products to be as desirable and price-competitive as the incumbents, and they’ll need to convince consumers to go cold turkey on their food addictions. They need their Tesla Model 3 moment.