Oct 24, 2017, 6:25 PM ETConference Presentation, Panel

Innovators Improving Access: Creating Healthier Links in the Food Chain

Sam Polk (Everytable): Former Wall Street trader (25 years); co-founder of Everytable, a fast-food reinvention company aiming to make healthy food affordable via a centralized kitchen model.
Matt Barnard (Plenty): CEO of Plenty, which builds indoor, resource-efficient vertical farms (up to 1,000 acres of conventional production in 5 acres of building footprint).
Josh Stevens (Day2): President and CCO of Day2, a microbiome-focused company using machine learning to personalize diets for glycemic control and diabetes prevention.
Leanne Grant (Brandless): Head of Partnerships at Brandless, selling direct-to-consumer essentials at a standardized $3 price point with a "buy one, donate one" meal program.
Dr. Dari Mozaffarian: Dean of the Friedman School at Tufts University; cardiologist focused on nutrition as the primary driver of chronic disease and environmental impact.

Dietary Mortality: Up to 1,000 deaths per day in the U.S. are attributed to cardiovascular disease and diabetes alone, solely due to dietary factors.
Veggie Grill Scale: Served 1.3 million guests in the last 90 days; the vast majority of these consumers are meat-eaters.
Clinical Data: Day2 has conducted clinical trials on over 10,000 subjects, collecting 4 million glucose readings and 50,000 meals to train machine learning models.
Water Efficiency: Plenty's vertical farms utilize approximately 1% of the water required for conventional agriculture producing the same crops.
Research Funding Gap: The U.S. federal government spends $1.5 billion annually on nutrition research compared to $70 billion on drugs and devices (a 46:1 ratio).
Healthcare Costs: The U.S. spends $1.4 trillion annually addressing obesity-related conditions, responsible for 70% of annual deaths.
Consumption Disparity: The U.S. population (4% of the world) consumes 30% of the dollar value of global fruits and vegetables.
Price Sensitivity: Food deserts often correlate with lower life expectancy (e.g., 12 years lower in South LA compared to Bel Air) and per capita incomes as low as $13,000.

Everytable's Two-Tier Pricing:
- Sells identical meals for $7–$8 in affluent areas (e.g., Santa Monica).
- Sells the same meals for $4–$5 in underserved areas (e.g., South LA) to ensure profitability while maintaining accessibility.
Plenty's Supply Chain Approach:
- Claims fresh produce is a "luxury" due to perishability; consumers effectively "throw money away" on spoilage.
- Targets reducing supply chain distance from thousands of miles to 50 miles to improve taste and reduce waste without relying on flavor enhancers (salt/sugar).
Day2's Accessibility Strategy:
- Direct-to-consumer pricing at ~$300 for personalization.
- Plans to integrate into public clinics and Medicaid/Medicare block grants within 12–18 months to reach lower-income populations.
Brandless' "Fair Price" Model:
- Cuts out "brand tax" by selling unbranded goods at a flat $3 price point, saving customers approximately 40% compared to national brands.
- Donates one meal for every order via Feeding America.
Veggie Grill Strategy:
- Avoids health-focused marketing; focuses entirely on taste, texture, and flavor to attract meat-eaters.

Personalized vs. Generic Nutrition:
- Josh Stevens (Day2): Argues the era of generic diets is over; microbiome sequencing allows for precise blood sugar management and pre-diabetes prevention.
- Dr. Mozaffarian: Contends that while personalized nutrition is promising, the fundamental principles of a healthy diet (minimally processed, plant-heavy, low sugar/salt) remain consistent across the vast majority of the population regardless of genetics or income.
Meat Consumption:
- Dr. Mozaffarian: States red meat is not a biological necessity but a convenient protein source; emphasizes that processed meats (even those labeled "nitrate-free" using celery juice) should be avoided.
- Veganism Nuance: Notes that veganism does not guarantee health (e.g., fries and soda are vegan); processed vegan options can be highly detrimental.
Innovation vs. Cost:
- Matt Barnard: Argues the current food system makes healthy food the most expensive calorie; claims vertical farming will make fresh produce a deflationary force in price.
- Dr. Mozaffarian: Emphasizes that systems change (policy, regulation, infrastructure) is required rather than just consumer education or individual choices.

Government Role: Dr. Mozaffarian advocates for integrating food into the healthcare system via electronic health records, billing incentives, and Medicaid/Medicare coverage for healthy food purchases (similar to John Hancock's Vitality program).
Global Expansion: Plenty is actively seeking to expand operations to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, citing high ROI potential (3–4x) and limited access to fresh food in those regions.
Investment Landscape: Tech investors are increasingly applying data-centric strategies to food and health, moving away from "wet lab" skepticism due to the availability of large-scale public datasets for pattern recognition.
Cultural Shifts:
- Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption has dropped 30–40% in the last 5–6 years.
- Consumption of salt and vegetable intake remains stagnant; significant change is expected to come from supply-side innovation rather than demand-side behavior alone.
Next-Gen Demographics: Gen Z and Millennials are driving demand for transparency and traceability, necessitating clear labeling on "front of pack" regarding origin and ingredients.

Institutional Food: Leanne Grant and Josh Stevens note that convincing self-insured employers (CFOs) to subsidize healthy cafeteria food is the most viable path for large-scale institutional change due to the direct link between employee diet and healthcare claims.
Microbiome Research: Josh Stevens highlights a double-blind trial where brown rice spiked blood sugar in diabetics more than ice cream, challenging standard nutritional guidelines regarding starch consumption.
Investment Risks: Matt Barnard warns of a potential "boom and bust" cycle similar to cleantech, advocating for immediate field-scale testing rather than prolonged bench-scale R&D to mitigate financing risks.
Africa Opportunity: Ambassador Ambassador Compson highlighted significant economic activity in Accra and Nairobi, suggesting U.S. companies could achieve high returns by deploying hydroponic technology to African markets.