How Plated Used Data to Raise Its $5M Series A
Plated co-founder and co-CEO Nick Taranto talks to us about the  startup's recent fundraising strategy and plans for growth. 

Trend Watch: 2014 Food Industry Predictions
Danny Carberry, director of concept for Panera Bread, shares his top 5 food industry predictions for 2014, including transparency and sourcing integrity, "green everything" and retail restaurants. 

7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Fear Your Food Startup’s Competitors 
From the likelihood of pivoting to validating your market, David Spinks details why having food starttup competitors may actually be a good thing. 

Food & Ag Investment Sources Explode in 2013
From new investment funds to accelerator programs to crowdfunding platforms, 26 new private food and agriculture funding sources launched over the past year.

Exclusive: Inside McDonald's Quest For Sustainable Geef - Greenbiz
Greenbiz's Joel Makower does a 3-part series on McDonald’s announcement that it will begin purchasing verified sustainable beef in 2016. 

Online Takeout Giant Delivery Hero Snaps Up $88M Series E, Insight Venture Partners Joins As Lead Investor - TechCrunch
The Series E funding, led by new investor Insight Venture Partners, will take the total funding for Delivery Hero close to $200 million raised since first opening for business in 2010.

Visits Flat, Consumer Spending Up for U.S. Restaurant Industry in 2013 - Foodable
This past year, overall restaurant visits fell flat while each visit led to more spending. Consumer spending increased 2 percent since last year, which concludes growth in average check amount.

Tech Companies try to Build a Smarter Farming Industry on Mainland China - South China Morning Post
Growing public despair over a never-ending parade of food scandals - plus an eye for a commercial opportunity - has prompted successful businesses to get into agriculture. 

Robot Farmers are the Future of Agriculture, Says Government - Guardian
UK farming conference explores how 'farmbots' will bring efficiencies and benefits and an end to back-breaking tasks.

Israel a Hotbed for Agricultural Innovation - Epoch Times
Two great features of Israel—tech startups and advanced farming techniques—are combining to create a new world of high-tech agriculture.

These Glowing Indoor Garden Boxes are the Future of Urban Agriculture - Digital Trends
GrowCube is essentially a high-tech indoor garden box that doesn’t require any soil to grow plants.

Here's How Young Farmers Looking For Land Are Getting Creative - NPR
National Young Farmer's Coalition is pushing for an extra level of farmland protection. Under these new rules, people would be allowed to own conserved farmland only if they actually earn most of their money from farming.

Clean-Tech Investors Venture Into Sustainability - Guardian
NGEN Partners and other venture-capital firms are switching from clean energy technology to health and sustainability.

101 Organizations to Watch in 2014 - Food Tank
Food Tank has compiled a list of 101 organizations creating a better food system. 

How To Build A Local Food System, To Make Local Food Actually Work - Fast Company
A new project in Vermont is finding ways to expand the power of local producers, so they can compete with industrial giants. 

Accelerate Your Start-Up with Fortune 500 Allies - HBR
Two early-stage food startup heroes have emerged: Costco, which gives small entrepreneurs the power of bulk buying, and Whole Foods, which connects entrepreneurs with customers. 

Eating Tea And Other Food Predictions For 2014 - NPR
At the beginning of every year, we read the tea leaves to see what new food trends we'll be tasting in the coming months. This year, the tea itself is the trend.

CES 2014: 3D Food Printers Create Sweets and Chocolates - BBC
Two food-creating 3D printers, making chocolate and sugar-based confectioneries, were unveiled in Las Vegas. 

3D-Printed Pasta – The Shapes of Things to Come?- The Guardian
Barilla is working with Dutch researchers to develop a technology for the rapid production of custom-designed pasta shapes

Game Changer In The Vineyard: Streamline The Process With Molecular Diagnostics - Forbes
A new partnership announced today, between Jackson Family Wines of Sonoma and Invisible Sentinel, Inc. of Philadelphia, adds a new technology to winemakers’ toolkit and it promises to streamline an otherwise cumbersome process

Energy Bars That Put a Chirp in Your Step - New York Times 
How do you make ground-up crickets taste good? The answer may be just a sprinkling of ginger and ras el hanout.

Online Grocery Shopping Gathers Pace in UAE - Gulf News
Residents in the United Arab Emirates with busy schedules take advantage of websites that will deliver everything you need right to your door. 

Online Grocery Store EkStop Raises Funds From Unilazer Ventures - StartupCentral
Mumbai-based online grocery store EkStop has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Unilazer Ventures, UTV founder Ronnie Screwvala’s investment company.

Recipe for Success: 86 Million Americans Visited Food and Cooking Websites - Nielsen
Two-fifths of Americans (41%) visited food and cooking websites in November, up 2 million unique visitors from October, during the seasonal peak in activity for these sites.

Click HERE to get the latest food tech news, trends and events delivered to your inbox.