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MIT’S SUPER NON-STICK COATING THAT KEEPS KETCHUP, MAYO, JAMS AND JELLIES FLOWING OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT FLOWS

Watch never-before-seen videos of an amazing new condiment lubricant that makes the inside of bottles so slippery, nothing is left inside. This means no more pounding on the bottom of your ketchup containers--and a lot less wasted food.

When it comes to those last globs of ketchup inevitably stuck to every bottle of Heinz, most people either violently shake the container in hopes of eking out another drop or two, or perform the "secret" trick: smacking the "57" logo on the bottle’s neck. But not MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith. He and a team of mechanical engineers and nano-technologists at the Varanasi Research Group have been held up in an MIT lab for the last two months addressing this common dining problem.

The result? LiquiGlide, a "super slippery" coating made up of nontoxic materials that can be applied to all sorts of food packaging--though ketchup and mayonnaise bottles might just be the substance’s first targets. Condiments may sound like a narrow focus for a group of MIT engineers, but not when you consider the impact it could have on food waste and the packaging industry.   Smith says. 

"It’s funny: Everyone is always like, 'Why bottles? What’s the big deal?' But then you tell them the market for bottles--just the sauces alone is a $17 billion market.  And if all those bottles had our coating, we estimate that we could save about one million tons of food from being thrown out every year."

Check out what happens when you pour ketchup out of a LiquiGlide-coated bottle:

 

For point of reference, here’s ketchup coming out of a regular bottle. Keep in mind, this is the exact same ketchup. It’s so time-consuming and wasteful.

 

As Smith describes it,

"LiquiGlide is a surface that’s unique because it’s kind of a structured liquid--it’s rigid like a solid, but it’s lubricated like a liquid."

It works with many types of packaging--glass, plastic--and can be applied in any number of ways, including spraying the coating onto the inside of bottles. Now, thick sauces that would normally move like sludge seem to just fall out of LiquiGlide-coated bottles, as if they were suspended in space.  Smith says.  

"It just floats right onto the sandwich." 

One of the most significant challenges his team faced was making sure the coating was food safe, meaning his team could only work with materials the FDA had approved.  Smith says.  

"We had a limited amount of materials to pick from.  I can’t say what they are, but we’ve patented the hell out of it."

Here’s mayo coming out of the coated bottle:

 

As opposed to this:

 

Originally, Smith’s team, which has been working for years now on developing various types of surface coatings, was pursuing different aims.   Smith says.  

"We were really interested in--and still are--using this coating for anti-icing, or for preventing clogs that form in oil and gas lines, or for non-wetting applications like, say, on windshields.   Somehow this sparked the idea of putting it in food bottles.  It could be great just for its slippery properties. Plus, most of these other applications have a much longer time to market; we realized we could make this coating for bottles that is pretty much ready. I mean, it is ready."

As you can see.

Ironically, if LiquiGlide is a success, it will just mean Smith has to pound even more bottles of ketchup the old-fashioned way. He still has to perform the annoying task in product demos, to show a comparison between the LiquiGlide-sprayed bottles that work and the traditional bottles that don’t.   Smith says, laughing.

"It was never really a personal pain point for me, but I do hate struggling to get sauce out of the bottles.  I didn’t know about the tapping of the '57' until I started looking into this. It was all news to me."

MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith and his research team gather around to demonstrate the super on-stick properties of LiquiGlide (Click Image To Enlarge)

But he’s already close to experiencing the sweet taste of victory: Last week, LiquiGlide came in second place, out of 215 teams, in MIT’s $100k Entrepreneurship Competition. His team also took home the audience-choice award.

Smith is now in talks with a few bottle companies to market LiquiGlide, though nothing is official yet. It’s still early. The team hasn’t even come up with its own company name, nor been incorporated yet. And their lab is still a complete mess.

Smith says.  

"We have all types of sauces, jellies, and jams everywhere in our lab.  It’s like a closet full of condiments."

COMMENTARY:    That's what I call a neat invention.  The non-stick coatings industry is huge. Ketchup bottles is just the tip of the iceberg.  MIT stands to make a bundle from licensing this nanocoating.   Come on FDA, approve LiquiGlide--FAST!!

Courtesy of an article dated May 22, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Exist

HOW NATASHA CASE'S COOLHAUS ICE CREAM VENDING CONCEPT HAS MADE MOBILE FOOD VENDING CHIC AND CREATED A NATIONAL BRAND

The food truck phenomenon has taken the country by storm. From New York to Los Angeles, the number, the variety, and the quality of food trucks are on the rise. 

In 2011, the mobile food industry in the United States was estimated to be at $630 million. I think this sum dramatically underestimates the size of the industry. I believe that the mobile food industry in New York City alone is at least $450 million. The National Restaurant Association stated in 2011 that food trucks are the single fastest growing sector of the restaurant industry.

If you have any doubts, you can see this for yourself on the streets. Fans are queuing up across the country for tasty food from local trucks. According to an American Express survey, the percentage of respondents who had visited a food truck doubled, from 13 percent in August 2009 to 26 percent in July 2010.

From Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race (a cross-country food-truck trek) to the Cooking Channel’s Eat Street, media coverage on popular television shows reflects the food truck phenomenon. Zagat’s inclusion of food truck for the first time in its 2011 New York City Restaurants guide has helped make food trucks an integral part of contemporary city life.

CoolHaus food trucks are smallish, but very stylish, and the food is gourmet class (Click Image To Enlarge)

The following interview is with Natasha Case of Coolhaus, the first gourmet branded truck with a national reach, on how she built her brand and her food-truck business. Coolhaus operates four trucks and a shop in Los Angeles, two trucks in Austin, two trucks and a cart in New York City, and two trucks in Miami. They also have a successful retail product that they sell in Whole Foods Market.

Natasha Case, founder of Coolhaus

DAVID WEBER: What are the best and worst things about street vending?

NATASHA CASE: The best thing about street vending is the creativity and flexibility that food trucks allow. Food trucks allow entrepreneurs to breathe new life into old food concepts. They can take risks that brick-and-mortar restaurants cannot. Food trucks are on the cutting edge of innovation in hospitality. They are all about enthusiasm and adventure. The uncertainty is the hardest thing about food truck vending. The trucks are very prone to break down and we have repairs almost every week. It is challenging to stay on top of breakdowns. Having trucks that cannot vend puts a big strain on management and overhead. We just opened a brick-and-mortar shop in Los Angeles. The shop is much easier to oversee because everything is stable. Because they are remote, trucks need to rely on technology and honesty.

What was your biggest lesson after you started street vending?

We started April 2009. The first lesson we learned was how to manage production. When we were first selling we made both the cookie and the ice cream for our ice cream sandwiches. We knew we’d need a better means of production if we wanted to grow because we didn’t have the resources at our commissary in Pasadena. We went to co-packing at the start. We reached out to a number of co-packers for custom cookies and ice cream. We’ve built up great relationships for suppliers who can grow with us.

What is one thing you would recommend to someone thinking of opening a truck?

Take the time to do your research. There is an illusion that you can start with nothing and make a fortune. There is oversaturation in the market in Los Angeles. I see trucks opening who aren’t putting enough forethought into developing their business, their brand, and their clientele. Before an entrepreneur opens a truck they should ask themselves, am I different enough? Success on the road is about brand building.

Freya Estreller, left, and Natasha Case operate a coolhaus ice cream sandwich truck by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (Click Image To Enlarge)

How have your operations had to change in different markets?

As we’ve gone to more cities, the biggest change has been developing our corporate team. The primary change has been more management with specific expertise. We have an executive pastry chef who oversees our food production to be sure that things are being done properly. We now have opening teams who are specialists in the food industry and who have experience opening new markets to train the initial team in each city.

What is your process to open to new markets?

As we go to more cities we are learning the right questions to ask at the start of the process to discern what is different about each market. Over time you build up better intuition. We ask about health regulation codes as they pertain to our product right at the start. It’s also important to learn where municipal boundaries end. A suburb outside a city might seem tempting, but even though the demographics are good, the reason no one is vending there is because the regulations are different and don’t allow you to operate. Developing a start-up manual has improved our launch process. Even though the rules are different, most of what we do is the same each time. We’re planning to open in San Francisco this spring. People know us in San Francisco, so it will be easier than in Miami.

Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches are to die for (Click Image To Enlarge)

What market has been the hardest to operate in?

New York City is the craziest. The fact that you can be arrested for not having a mobile food-vending badge is unbelievable. Just take a moment to think about going to jail for making an ice cream sandwich. Where does that happen? Only in New York City. We are licensed by the NYC Deptartment of Parks to vend in Central Park, and the NYPD comes almost weekly to try and shut us down. New York City has extremely strict laws, and there is a lot more vendor-versus-vendor conflict in NYC, but because there are so many people, there is also more money to be made.

How long did you work the trucks until you hired more staff?

I left my other job a month after we started, so I was on the truck full time for a year. As we grew, I spent less time on the truck and more time developing the brand and managing the growth of the company.

What types of technology do you use to manage your business?

We use a POS system to see product mix. We originally set up the Paysaver POS just to use it for processing credit cards. Over time we started using more of the features, and having access to the product mix is very useful. In the store there are security cameras. We haven’t quite figured out how to do that on the truck yet. However, we use social media to keep tabs on our operations. We ask customers about their experiences and to send photos of their favorite sandwiches. We see photos posted on Twitter and feedback from Yelp. If the sandwich looks melted or doesn’t have the right proportions, we can follow up with the team that served it to ensure quality and consistency.

What incentives do you use?

We give bonuses to corporate staff for meeting financial goals. We give a commission for sales for private events. We do pay more than most trucks. We pay from $13 to $15 per hour in Los Angeles, and I think we get what we pay for. However, more than paying high wages or bonuses, we try to make our team feel like they are a part of something important and that what they do matters. It is very important that our team feels appreciated.

How did Coolhaus end up licensing the brand so early?

We were approached by people from Austin to license the Coolhaus brand. Our original plan was to go to New York because we were more familiar with the market. Austin was interesting because it was an opportunity to try a new market without taking the capital risk. The Austin trucks are now owned by Coolhaus again because the licensees moved on. However, it was a good experiment and it gave us the opportunity to grow at a time when we couldn’t have otherwise. Ultimately, the whole situation worked out well, but we probably tried to do too much too early. We could have let the company mature. At the point we did the Austin licensing deal we didn’t even have a lawyer. Managing a licensee or a franchise is hard to do unless you are in the franchise business. There is much more involved than you might expect.

What did you learn through the licensing process?

Trying to explain how to run a Coolhaus truck to someone on the other side of the country made us realize how much of the business was in our heads. It triggered us to write all our manuals. When we made the deal we weren’t working with the co-packer as we are now, and we didn’t have the ability to ship them our ice cream. They were producing their own ice cream to our specifications locally, but it was impossible to supervise the product. In general, it was a nightmare. If you are taking your brand national, having central hubs of production is essential. In every market we also have locally made items.

How has selling at Whole Foods Market helped your brand?

The transition from food trucks to wholesale was relatively seamless because we already had our co-packing relationships in place. It is becoming more important financially as the scope of the distribution of our products increases. At the beginning we were in three Whole Foods and it was almost more work than it was worth. We were putting so much time and effort into it for such limited revenue, it didn’t make much financial sense. However, there are some nonquantifiable aspects to having your product in Whole Foods. It shows the legitimacy of your product to your customers in that it meets the Whole Foods criteria of being natural, healthful, and sanitary. Now we are in 22 Whole Foods Markets in southern California and it really contributes to the business.

How is running a restaurant different from running a food truck?

The Coolhaus store was a way to capitalize on those customers in Los Angeles who don’t use Facebook or Twitter or don’t want to chase down a food truck. Startup costs are a lot more, but for us the profit margins are actually better. We use the store as our corporate headquarters and the base for all the Los Angeles food truck operations.

--Author David Weber is the cofounder of the Rickshaw Dumpling Bar and the founder and president of the NYC Food Truck Association. Excerpted with permission of the publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc., wiley.com, from The Food Truck Handbook: Start, Grow, and Succeed in the Mobile Food Business by David Weber (c) 2012 by David Weber.

COMMENTARY:   Coolhaus is one cool ice cream concept.  I love the uniqueness of the concept. Natasha Case has made mobile food dispensing chic and classy. The Coolhaus trucks are almost too cute to be ice cream trucks. But, its not all about the truck, but the impeccable service and quality of those ice cream sandwiches.  Boooo!! to the New York City Police Department for trying to shutdown mobile food vending trucks.  Great job Natasha!!      

Courtesy of an article dated April 16, 2012 appearing in Fast Company

 

HOW RED MEAT, AND A DISGUSTING MEAT ADDITIVE CALLED 'PINK SLIME', IS KILLING AMERICANS BY THE MILLIONS

A NEW STUDY SUGGESTS SOME TERRIFYING RISKS THAT COME WITH EATING JUST A LITTLE RED MEAT. BUT RED MEAT IS AN ALARMINGLY LARGE PORTION OF THE AMERICAN DIET.

No meal seems quite so American--or even quite so mouth-watering--as a nice thick porterhouse steak, or a hamburger straight off the grill. The only problem is that these meals appear to be killing us.

That was the recent finding of a study that showed that with each additional 3-ounce portion of red meat you eat each day, you get a 12% greater risk of dying in a given year, a 10% greater risk of cancer, and a 16% greater risk of cardiovascular disease. Let me repeat that, because it’s absolutely crazy: A 12% greater risk of dying in a given year, a 10% greater risk of cancer, and a 16% greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

If you just saw a bunch of meaningless words and numbers in the paragraph above, here’s the gory details laid out in one infographic. (The numbers for early death and cancer are slightly different; this is presumably because the designers used an older study.) The truly scary part is that not only is red meat dangerous, but Americans, more than virtually every country on Earth, love red meat:

Click Image To Enlarge

Perhaps the most quietly alarming detail in the infographic above is the figures about processed meat. And it squares with the most recent study available--the same one I cited above found that the 12% risk of dying jumps to 20%. Your risk of cardiovascular disease rises to 21%, and your risk of cancer rises to 16%. That’s right: The cancer risk resulting from eating a hot dog everyday is 60% greater than from a hamburger.

The infographic then tries to posit a reason: Something called pink slime:

    Click Image To Enlarge

This is where the data is starting to tip to shaky ground: Pink slime, though it does appear in many processed meats, hasn’t been thoroughly studied for its health effects. Nonetheless, that recent study about red meat has essentially caused a collapse in the industry. Which is something of a red herring (pun intended): I suspect that when the furor about red-meat dies down, we’ll all go back to our usual ways, happy to now avoid a little pink slime where we can. Not so fast. Red meat is really the problem.

COMMENTARY:    I seem to recall that back in the 90's there was a red meat scare, and several steak houses like the Sizzler, and fast food restaurants serving hamburgers suffered declines in business, and some of them even had to close locations or shutdown.  Well, it now appears that the warning that red meat is dangerous to us was all true.  

Out of curiosity I researched the Average Annual Per Capita Consumption of Meat, and the following chart confirms that red meat consumption is down on a per capita basis, and chicken consumption is substantially up.   That's a good thing, but red meat is so dangerous that even if you eat red meat just a couple of times a week, that's all it takes to do longterm damage to your health.

Courtesy of an article dated March 28, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design

STARBUCKS NEW CONCEPT STORE IN AMSTERDAM IS A LABORATORY FOR REINVENTING THE BRAND

A NEW COFFEEHOUSE IN AMSTERDAM WILL BE THE TESTING GROUND FOR IDEAS THAT WILL FIND THEIR WAY TO THE REST OF EUROPE.

Starbucks is known for its unwavering consistency, from its unoffensively homey store décor to its burnt-coffee smell. But this Thursday, the brand that normalized the $4 latte is opening an experimental concept store in Amsterdam that offers a glimpse of the Starbucks of the future--at least in Europe.

The historic Amsterdamsche Bank, a landmark building on Amsterdam's famous Rembrandt Square is the site of Starbuck's concept store (Click Image To Enlarge)

Close-up of the historic Amsterdamsche Bank, which has been redeveloped into a commercial center, and is now the site of Starbuck's concept store in Amsterdam (Click Image To Enlarge) 

Located in the former vault of the historic Amsterdamsche Bank on Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Square), on the ground floor of The Bank, a commercial and retail development, the new Starbucks concept store will be a showcase for sustainable interior design and slow coffee brewing, with small-batch reserve coffees and Europe’s first-ever Clover, a high-end machine that brews one cup at a time. But the most radical departure is in the aesthetic: the multilevel space is awash in recycled and local materials; walls are lined with antique Delft tiles, bicycle inner tubes, and wooden gingerbread molds; repurposed Dutch oak was used to make benches, tables, and the undulating ceiling relief consisting of 1,876 pieces of individually sawn blocks. The Dutch-born Liz Muller, Starbucks concept design director, commissioned more than 35 artists and craftsmen to add their quirky touches to the 4,500-square-foot space.  The new concept store will officially be open for business on Friday, March 9, 2012.

Click Images To Enlarge

The designers took great care to retain some of the building’s original details, such as the 1920s marble floor and the vault’s exposed concrete. But while the design respects the bank’s architectural history, the store’s overall look approaches that of a theater, with the baristas visible from every vantage point of the multi-tiered spaces (which also cameo as stages for local bands, poetry readings, and other cultural events). The coffeehouse will also use social media to communicate relevant moments throughout the day--for example, by sending out a tweet when warm cookies roll out of its in-house bakery. The concepts that go over well in Amsterdam will find their way to other stores across Europe. They may even filter into the highly individualized local concept stores that Starbucks has been stealthily opening in the United States, including one made from shipping containers outside of Seattle.

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This isn’t the first instance of a quintessentially American brand revamping its approach to appeal to foreign tastes and markets. Check my other blog posts dated December 6, 2011 about the new Burger King concept restaurant in Singapore and November 22, 2011 about the new McDonald's concept restaurant in Paris, France.

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COMMENTARY:   Now that's my idea of what a Starbuck's store should look like.  BIG. Roomy, beautifully decorated, slick, modern and definitely a social watering hole.  Not the little 1,100 square foot stores we are accustomed to here in the U.S.    If you are ever in Amsterdam, and want to checkout the new Starbucks concept store in Rembrandt Square here's the location on Google Maps.

 Click Image To Enlarge

I love the location for Starbucks new concept store in The Bank located on Rembrandt Square. I can definitely see myself sitting under a tree doing my blogging while drinking a cup of my favorite brew. 

Courtesy of an article dated March 6, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design and the press release dated March 6, 2012 issued by Starbucks

 

HOW WHOLE FOODS BECAME THE LUXURY BRAND OF THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION

Does a bag full of organic produce say more about you than designer labels? For a new generation, does Whole Foods define the highest level of consumerism?

America’s definition of luxury is changing. Quiet, exclusive, and socially pedigreed extravagance is giving way to a new generation of affluent consumers (read: Millennials) who have grown up with a new definition of luxury that will forever change the way we market upscale goods.

As the founder of Pavone, an integrated ad agency that specializes in food and beverage marketing, I’ve had the chance to observe these changes up close and personally. The trend is especially relevant to me because it seems to have become most distinctive in the food and beverage industries. As a Baby Boomer, luxury is about designer labels and rarefied retail temples like Neiman Marcus. These outlets are full of lithe, headless mannequins, invisible cash registers, and generically attractive retail associates who all adopt the same quiet and impossibly dignified manner.

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Whole Foods’ retail model has turned this blueprint on its head by reinventing the way well-heeled consumers think about upscale goods. They’ve taken the old cues for austerity, economy, and frugality and applied them in new ways to spread their message of eco-friendly capitalism to the world (or at least to some of the better zip codes in America).

 

Instead of cold, intimidating retail vaults awash in tastefully, restrained colors, Whole Foods provides a hip, eclectic sort of vibe that feels like a Berkeley revival with no credit limit. Funky music blares, dreadlocked associates staff checkout aisles and shoppers are a mix of artsy-looking moms, retirees in pricey but well-cushioned running shoes, and a constant stream of suits taking a quick break from corporate America while awaiting a $15 turkey sub and some curried sweet potato couscous.

 

The rise of Whole Foods is important because it is emblematic of a larger shift in affluent marketing. Here’s how:

• Provenance: Premium pricing is rationalized in part by ensuring consumers’ awareness that real people are touching (or “curating”) the things they buy. Next to those beautiful $10 containers of fruit in the produce department, Whole Foods posts signs announcing that these goods are not only natural or organic, but were cut up by hand by real people named Miranda, Steve, or Bethina. To drive this personal touch home, Whole Foods features store employees’ names and sketches throughout the store on well-placed chalkboards.
• Inclusion: Despite Whole Foods’ locations in pricey neighborhoods, its personnel is diverse. Each location I’ve visited seems to feature a dynamic employee mix of various ages, genders, ethnicities, and funkiness.
• Egalitarian: Whole Foods’ employees seem to be united in their casual willingness to greet you (but not in a perfunctory way), to talk to you and with you (but not bog you down with chitchat), and to smile at you as you walk by. It’s as if they really like you. Like they’re happy to be there. Like you’re one of them.
• Informational: Whole Foods can’t stop talking about where they got the food they sell, how it was made, who made it, where it’s going, or what’s going to happen to it when you throw out the leftovers. This kind of information is on the pack, on electronic displays, on chalkboards throughout the store, in brochures around the store, on websites, and in press releases. They give new meaning to the word “transparent.”
• Authenticity: Whole Foods’ consumers want a reason to believe, and they love a credible, authentic voice that delivers on its promise.

Whole Foods has been able to create value (which justifies high prices) not just by providing hard-to-find organic or all-natural products and labels. They’ve also created a high-touch, overtly humanized experience that is designed to make you, the shopper, feel smarter, healthier, cooler, and wealthier than you do in any other food shopping experience.

 

Yes, in a world filled with slick iPhones, sleek cars, and perfectly constructed dress pants, locally grown, small-batch food touched by human hands has become the new luxury. Whole Foods tapped into this need, and has attracted formerly closeted affluents into its aisles, piled high with cheese wheels and homemade marshmallows, to explore new, previously unknown ways to spend their disposable income.

COMMENTARY:    Whole Foods is as much a lifestyle as it is about organic foods and eating healthy.  It's also a cool place to shop for groceries.  Definitely different than Kroger's or Safeway. The fresh organic produce beautifully piled high, the aromatic aromas, the great food selection from all over the world.  The food court is fantastic if you enjoy restaurant-quality healthy takeout food and tired from a rough day and not in the mood to cook.  The meat counter is my favorite, reminds me of oldtime butcher shops from the 50's, the wide shopping aisles.  You know what you are buying, and the butcher will cut it the way you want it.  Love the coffee, pastries and free WIFI. Women in particular, younger professionals, the Millennials this article talks about, make good money, tend to be more health concsience than men, and you will find them in abundance at Whole Foods.  Many of them show up in their yoga outfits.  This is a great draw for single guys.  Really, I am not kidding about this.     

Whole Foods really hit the nail on the head.  The organic food chain knows that its not just about the food, selection or prices, but about the whole consumer experience.  This is something that I have been talking about for quite a while.   If you are going to reach Generation-Y a.k.a. Millennials, you must use both a Sensory Approach and Social Approach in your marketing. You can read about it in my blog post dated September 30, 2012.  In that one blog post, I truly believe that I have handed you the key to how-to market to the Millennial Generation, so its a worthwhile read wheather you are starting a retail business or digital business.  

Courtesy of an article dated February 21, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Co-Exist 

WHY PASTA AND BREAD, NOT BACON OR SAUSAGE, MAKES YOU FAT. BUT HOW CAN THAT BE?

AN INFOGRAPHIC LAYING OUT THE SURPRISING SCIENCE BEHIND WHY CARBS MAKE YOU FAT, WHILE FAT DOESN'T

One of the most utterly surprising scientific findings of recent decades has got to be that fat isn’t so bad for you after all. (Apart from, you know, potentially bringing on serious heart conditions.) In fact, if you’re looking for a reason for America’s ballooning girth, you’ve got to lay the blame on carbohydrates--in other words, bread and pasta, the very things that the government once advertised as the foundation of a healthy diet in the food pyramids we all grew up with.

The funny thing is, though, that those low-carb diets, at this point, probably feel like another fad. The Atkins rage came and passed, after all. So it’s worth recounting the science behind how carbs make you fat, and it’s all laid out in this infographic created by Column Five for Massive Health, and based on Why We Get Fat by noted science writer Gary Taubes.

The first panel illustrates some basic food science that I’ll bet you didn’t know in much detail. Namely, the long chain of events that leads to you porking up:

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The biggest culprits seem to be carbs. But does reining in carbs actually make you skinnier? Yes: Even compared with traditional calorie restriction diets, low-carb regimes like the Atkins diet make you lose far more weightwhile keeping calories the same. Decreasing fat, meanwhile, does nothing to lower your weight:

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But what’s so wrong with carbs themselves? In short, they cause our insulin levels to go haywire, and that, in turn, causes our cells to pull in more fat:

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It’s crazy enough that carbs, long thought to be pure and wholesome for so many years, turn out to be the devil--especially since it just seemed to make so much sense that eating fat would make you fat. With that in mind, you’ve got to wonder how many surprises science still holds for us when it comes to food.

Click here for our coverage of Massive Health’s new food app, which uses crowdsourcing to help you make better food decisions.

COMMENTARY:   Suddently I don't feel as guilty about eating eggs and sausage anymore.  Great information, don't you think?

Courtesy of an article dated January 30, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design

 

HOW TO MAKE FRESHLY BAKED PITA BREAD IN AN ULTRA STYLISH TOASTER MADE OF CINDER BLOCK AND REBAR

Simple toaster uses just a few elements common to contemporary construction.

Adi Zaffran’s toaster has five components: rebar rods, a cinder block, wood, a wire, and some fasteners. Looking at its compact aesthetic, I can’t help but think of Thomas Thwaites.

A couple years ago, Thwaites set out to build a toaster from scratch. The result apparently worked, but it sure was ugly. The plastic casing in particular seems to have given him a lot of trouble.

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Thwaites’ project was intended to raise awareness of the massive network of materials and production required to make simple household objects in an industrial economy--a contemporary reinterpretation of I, Pencil. It was intentionally absurd, but watching him struggle through the quixotic process, I kept thinking:

"Dude, just use different materials!"

Zaffran’s toaster is itself a reinterpretation of an elementary technology--the brick oven--using the common materials of contemporary construction. Zaffran says.

"The pita bread as a staple food led me to the use of simple and basic building materials.  It is very easy to make out of ready-made cement block."

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Zaffran’s toaster would still require some struggle if you put it to the Thwaites test, but with its economy of parts, it would be far easier to build. It bypasses the plastic problem entirely. Besides, if the industrial economy does collapse, there will be plenty of rebar and cement blocks lying around to provide the raw materials. This attitude of making clever use of available materials, rather than futilely trying to create an impossible copy, strikes me as being closer to the heart of good design.

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COMMENTARY:  What a great idea for a weekend project for the do-it-yourselfer who loves rustic baking like they still bake pita bread in Greece, Iran and Middle East.   In the mood for some freshly baked pita bread, checkout this receipe.

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In Greek: πίτα, pronounced PEE-tah

Many recipes for pita bread require cooking at very hight heat, and home ovens don't always do the best job. This recipe makes soft, white pita rounds that should be brushed with olive oil and grilled, heated in a skillet, or toasted in the oven before using and serving. Serve wedges of this soft bread with dips, as a wrap for sandwiches, and in other creative ways.

Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 21 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 4 cups of bread flour
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 cup of warm water
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preparation:

Dissolve in the yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water and set aside, covered, for 15 minutes. Dissolve salt in the remaining 1 cup of warm water.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour and make a well in the center. Add yeast mixure and salt water. Knead with hands for 10 minutes in the bowl. Add olive oil and continue to knead until all oil is absorbed. Shape into a ball in the bowl, cover, and place in a warm area to rise until doubled in volume, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Punch down the dough and knead for 5 minutes more.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C), and lightly oil baking sheets.

Take pieces of dough slightly larger than an egg and roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of 3/8 to 1/4 inch. (For larger or smaller pita bread pieces, take more or less dough). Prick the bread with a fork in several places.

Place on baking sheets and bake at 350°F (175°C) on the lowest oven rack for 2-3 minutes, then turn the pitas over and bake for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a tray covered with a clean dishtowel, with another clean towel on top. When thoroughly cooled, pitas can be stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or frozen.

Before using, brown in a lightly oiled frying pan for a few minutes until browned on both sides.

Courtesy of an article dated January 11, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design and an a great Greek pita bread receipt appearing in About.com

 

HOW PETER HERMAN HAS RADICALLY REINVENTED THE DISPOSABLE COFFEE CUP, ELIMINATING PLASTIC LIDS

Called Compleat, the all-paper design has a built-in lid with sipping spout.

I buy many cups of coffee and habitually cringe when reaching for a plastic lid. It’s pretty hypocritical to make a point of avoiding Styrofoam, only to slap a petroleum disc on a paper cup. (And yes, I know that carrying a travel mug would obviate the issue.) Fortunately for me (and my eco karma), a designer named Peter Herman has come up with a greener, all-paper disposable cup that folds closed like a takeout container to form a sipping spout.

Herman spent two years of his spare time--he’s an architect at the Cambridge, Massachusetts, firm Ellenzweig--and made close to a hundred prototypes in the process of refining the folding design he calls Compleat. The construction is simple: The body and two integrated flaps are composed of a single piece of paper; the body is glued to the circular base. Like similar cups on the market, the paper would be waterproofed, though ideally with cellulose-based plastic, so that it could be composted. Herman partnered with Daren Bascome, of graphic-design firm Proverb, to make use of all three surfaces for branding messages.  Herman tells Co.Design. 

“Since the average customer has a paper cup in their hands for 16 minutes, the additional surfaces give retailers considerably more opportunity to reach their customers in a meaningful manner.”

Plus, Herman estimates that Compleat could ultimately save retailers money, since it’s just one piece (instead of the usual two) and can be sourced through a single supplier. But he adds that figuring out the “hard-cost implication of the cup” will require “direct collaboration with manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.” Regardless of the cost benefits, Herman thinks that the iconic shape will perform priceless PR, conveying the retailer’s commitment to environmental stewardship.

The launch date for the cup is still unclear, says Herman, who is in talks with manufacturers and retailers.

“There are important variables ranging from the required modifications of existing cup-making machinery to long-term contractual arrangements between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers that will all influence the rollout timetable.”

Let’s hope that he sorts it all out soon. Compleat is the type of overhaul to an everyday product that could have a huge impact.

COMMENTARY:   That's what I call a unique and novel idea that I have a feeling will become the new standard for paper and styrofoam coffee cups. Some of the simplest things in life are the most beautiful and practical.  I can see a whole like of recycled paper packaging products for hot food and snacks.  The sky is the limit.

Courtesy of an article dated December 9, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

RUMOR: STARBUCKS TO OPEN NEW STORE LOCATIONS USING USED OCEAN FREIGHT CONTAINERS

Rumor has it that Starbucks cafes of the future might be rectangular and metal just like shipping containers.  Starbucks, which is about to launch juice business soon, also cares about environment and intends to re-use real shipping containers as new drive-thrus.

Earlier this week, a construction crew on East Marginal Way in Tukwila was assembling several cargo-style containers stacked on top of each other. The containers are painted shades of brown and feature a drive-thru window on one side, says Seattle Pi.

How do we know the containers belong to the coffee company? There are words ‘Regenerate, Reuse, Recycle, Renew, Reclaim’ written in a font familiar to Starbucks the side of one container. According to the construction crew they were building an eco-friendly drive-thru for Starbucks.

"Shipping containers is the latest trend in the green building movement—there is a lot of them at American ports and are in need of recycling made a splash on the sustainable design scene lately."

Starbucks have not commented on the containers topic yet but the city of Tukwila issued a building permit to the Seattle company with the intended development purpose:

“A new drive thru/walk-up building for Starbucks Coffee Company.”

In addition, the company seeks for a shift supervisor on its site, obviously to work at the new drive-thru. On the backdrop of Starbucks’ aim to go greener and make greener buildings, the idea of recycling shipping containers sounds good. It’s not clear if other shipping-container Starbucks have debuted quietly in other locations, or if the company plans to replicate the design.

The Starbucks spokesperson Alan Hilowitz said in an interview to New York Times that this store would be rare among the 17,000 Starbucks stores globally in that it will be drive-up and walk-up only with no space to lounge inside.

And it will be portable, he said, easy to break it down and transport somewhere else. He said.

“We see a lot of opportunities here.  We can put a store like this on a lot that will be developed someday but is free for two or three years, and then we can move it.”

COMMENTARY:    Using ocean shipping containers for Starbucks is quite a novel approach to foodservice that I have not seen before. Just park one of those puppies just about anywhere, and voila, an instant coffee retail location, which you can cartoff if the first location doesn't workout.

Courtesy of an article dated December 13, 2011 appearing in Popsop 

BURGER KING'S LATEST RESTAURANT ABROAD SPORTS MODERN, 'GARDEN GRILL' THEME APPEALING TO MORE FAMILIES

With natural, rustic materials and a communal vibe, this restaurant looks more like a vegetarian cafe than the home of the Whopper.

Fast-food joints are embracing high design--especially abroad, where fast food is younger to the market and sometimes carries a premium halo. Consider that McDonald’s recently enlisted Patrick Noguet to trot out a new family restaurant concept in France. And now Burger King is getting in on the act, with a garden-patio theme intended to appeal to both families and teens alike. The design team OutofStock writes. 

 “We noticed that one word that kept popping up was ‘flame grilled,’ and we used this clue as a starting point.  From collective experiences, our mental picture of flame grilling is closely associated with garden barbecues and camping cook-outs.”

So OutofStock brought the outside in, furnishing the restaurant with lounge-y seating upholstered in weatherproof fabrics and set against a collage wall of materials and textures, including everything from raw concrete and clay bricks to cork and copper. Traditional stick-backed chairs surround wooden metal-framed tabletops reminiscent of folding camping furniture. And a roof trellis serves to hide air-conditioning and heating ducts, while anchoring pendant lamps made from clay gardening pots. Other homey touches: wooden shelving for holding framed BK posters and potted plants along the window ledges. The overall atmosphere is more evocative of a college-town café serving heirloom-tomato salads than a burger-flipping fast-food chain.

Click Images To Enlarge

BK corporate financed the “Garden Grill” and recently unveiled it to Asian franchisees during an Asian-Pacific conference in Singapore--no doubt as a way to gain a stronger foothold in the growing Asian market. The first concept store is now in full operation in Singapore; the next is set to crop up in Japan.  OutofStock’s Gabriel Tan tells Co.Design,

“Changing the perception of fast food was one of targets, to become a place where people would want to sit for a while to enjoy the experience, rather than just to eat and go quickly.”

Click Images To Enlarge

COMMENTARY:   This makes me hungry.   I think a tripple Whopper would be perfect right about now.

 

Courtesy of an article dated December 5, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design