Pod-based consumption has taken over the coffee world thanks to Keurig.
Now a company out of University of Chicago just won $70,000 at UChicago's New Venture Challenge to bring the pod model to cooking, in hopes that people will be able to eat healthy food using one Keurig-meets-crockpot machine.
It's called the Maestro. The machine, which is in early stages right now, has three chambers that can either roast, boil, or steam food. Customers buy individual pods of vegetables, grains, and proteins, place them in the machine and using a QR code on the package, the machine knows how to cook each food item. In about a half hour, a full and healthy (around 700 calorie) meal will be ready to go. The team took first prize at the 2015 UChicago New Venture Challenge competition.
Countertop meet #Maestro. Boiling, roasting, and steaming meals while we kick back and rel… http://t.co/yMX4mo2Lpz pic.twitter.com/zlogaOf7BG
— Maestro Food Co. (@MaestroFoodCo) May 22, 2015
The idea came to founder David Rabie after he moved to Chicago and found he had little time to cook the high quality, healthy meals he once enjoyed. He teamed up with engineer Aubrey Donnellan to design the machine. Both are University of Chicago Booth students.
They're working with Peapod, Foxtrot, and Marianos to launch the product, which will cost $300, and fill the pods. Recipes will be developed by chefs at Pilot R+D, a food science and innovation company. They're aiming at what they call "young achievers" those who want to stay healthy but need the convenience of a machine that can do the cooking for them (that isn't a microwave for frozen meals).
It won't be without its challenges: at the New Venture Challenge judges peppered them with questions about food waste, recipe development, and scalability. The team is still in initial stages right now, but are aiming to do a Kickstarter campaign, and won't be to market until 2016 at least.
Image credit: Flickr/Dan Iggers
