Food Tech to Food Robotics: Behind-the-scenes look at the future of food

Creating a successful food tech startup takes more than a brilliant idea. The real challenge is turning technical innovation into something customers love, restaurants want to buy, and investors can get excited about.

Anthony Rose, founder of SeedLegals, speaks with Grégoire Dettai, founder of Kitchens of Tomorrow, about the future of food innovation, the importance of taste testing, and how robotics could transform commercial kitchens.

Grégoire trained at Ferrandi Paris before working in high-end restaurants and hotels. He then spent 17 years at Tupperware Brands, eventually leading culinary development worldwide. Today, through Kitchens of Tomorrow, he helps food tech startups and established food brands bring their innovations to market.

Turning Food Innovation into Commercial Success

Many food tech founders develop technically impressive products but struggle to explain why customers should care.

They focus on manufacturing processes, nutritional profiles and technical specifications. But customers have much simpler questions: What can I do with it? Does it taste good? And why should I buy it?

Grégoire helps bridge this gap by developing recipes, testing applications and creating tasting experiences that demonstrate a product’s commercial potential.

Why Taste Testing Can Transform Fundraising

One of Grégoire’s first clients was an alternative protein startup preparing for its Series A funding round.

Rather than relying solely on a pitch deck, his client made the smart move to bring in a chef in the process. Grégoire developed a tasting experience and attended major investor meetings to demonstrate the product first hand.

The result was a much more tangible investment proposition.

For food tech startups, letting investors experience the product with proper support can be far more persuasive than simply explaining the technology behind it.

This approach is equally valuable when approaching major restaurant chains, distributors and other potential commercial customers.

How Are New Food Products Developed?

Like software startups testing different user experiences, food companies experiment with recipes, ingredients and preparation methods.

Grégoire advocates extensive testing to identify what makes a product stand out.

However, taste isn’t the only consideration. Ingredient costs, production efficiency, positioning and consumer expectations all influence the final product.

The challenge is finding the right balance between flavour, commercial viability and affordability.

Is Alternative Protein Still a Growth Opportunity?

While some argue that the alternative protein market has lost momentum, Grégoire believes the sector is undergoing a necessary correction backed by lasting consumer demand.

Early products often prioritised low costs and imitation over nutritional quality and consumer appeal.

Now, consumers increasingly want healthier, less heavily processed alternatives that genuinely taste good.

For startups, this creates opportunities to develop better products rather than simply cheaper substitutes.

Food Robotics Could Reinvent the Restaurant Kitchen

One of the most exciting areas of food tech innovation is kitchen automation.

With restaurants struggling to recruit and retain skilled kitchen staff, automation could help improve productivity and consistency.

But Grégoire argues that the future isn’t necessarily humanoid robots standing in traditional kitchens preparing meals.

Instead, the real opportunity is to redesign the entire food preparation process around automation.

Today’s kitchens were designed for humans. Tomorrow’s automated kitchens could look completely different, using specialised machines to transform ingredients into finished meals with greater efficiency.

Rather than replacing chefs with robotic imitations, the industry needs to rethink how food is prepared from the ground up. And it’s already happening.

When Should Food Tech Startups Seek Expert Help?

Grégoire works particularly closely with startups developing new ingredients, alternative proteins, food robotics and other culinary technologies.

His expertise is especially valuable when companies are:

• Preparing for a fundraising round or investor presentation.
• Developing recipes and practical applications for new ingredients.
• Entering startup competitions or product demonstrations.
• Pitching to their first major commercial customers.
• Turning technical innovations into compelling consumer products.

Although based in Paris, Kitchens of Tomorrow works with companies internationally.

The Takeaway

The food tech industry is full of exciting innovations, from alternative proteins to automated kitchens.

But having innovative technology isn’t enough.

Successful food tech startups need to demonstrate that their products solve real problems, deliver a great consumer experience and make commercial sense.

Because ultimately, no matter how clever the technology, if it’s food, people still need to want to eat it.