The Chicago Tribune reports on how tech entrepreneurs are having an impact on the food business in the Windy City:
"Chicago's downtown office workers are seeing a larger buffet of options for lunch, thanks to a growing number of entrepreneurial ventures that are harnessing technology to feed hungry cubicle dwellers who are bored with brown bags or sandwich shops. The city's burgeoning lunch scene includes food trucks, which use social media to reach diners in real time and mobile payment technology to swipe credit cards, as well as startups that market their software-powered services to companies as a way to boost employee happiness and productivity.
"The wider lunch variety in Chicago comes amid increased activity in the broader food technology sector. According to data tracker CB Insights, venture capitalists and private equity investors funneled $348.5 million into food-oriented Web and mobile applications in 2012, with the number of deals rising 37 percent from the previous year."
"Chicago's downtown office workers are seeing a larger buffet of options for lunch, thanks to a growing number of entrepreneurial ventures that are harnessing technology to feed hungry cubicle dwellers who are bored with brown bags or sandwich shops. The city's burgeoning lunch scene includes food trucks, which use social media to reach diners in real time and mobile payment technology to swipe credit cards, as well as startups that market their software-powered services to companies as a way to boost employee happiness and productivity.
"The wider lunch variety in Chicago comes amid increased activity in the broader food technology sector. According to data tracker CB Insights, venture capitalists and private equity investors funneled $348.5 million into food-oriented Web and mobile applications in 2012, with the number of deals rising 37 percent from the previous year."
- KC's View:
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What I think this tells us is that there could be enormous changes coming down the pike for the food distribution business, as people with ideas and money and a willingness to try new things see opportunity in changing how and what people shop and eat.
It is only just beginning.
