{"id":96213,"date":"2026-01-12T15:06:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ces.einnews.com\/article\/894137975"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:06:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:06:40","slug":"business-bites-ces-slows-down-on-food-accelerates-on-ai-agtech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/01\/12\/business-bites-ces-slows-down-on-food-accelerates-on-ai-agtech\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Bites: CES slows down on food, accelerates on AI, agtech"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was a somewhat subdued affair \u2014 as subdued as could be expected with nearly 150,000 attendees spanning multiple resorts and the entire Las Vegas Convention Center. When it came to food and beverage technology, however, this year\u2019s event left something to be desired. <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s on me. It is a consumer-focused show, after all, and my audience is industry. But the 2025 show left me expecting more. Allow me to put things into perspective with a picture.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

The red circle indicates the region of the Venetian Expo Hall reserved for food tech in 2026. Most of the hardware on display was consumer driven, too; although some was innovative, such as a 3D printer that prints with chocolate instead of plastic (from vending machine company Sweet Robo), very little of what I saw was exciting for food industry insiders. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, there were still some good finds, from smart canopies that provide on-demand protection for trellised crops to a portable food allergen detection laboratory. Keep reading for the full rundown of what\u2019s on the horizon for food tech, according to the best and brightest at CES.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related:<\/span>GLP-1 receptor agonists spark demand for functional foods, beverages<\/a><\/p>\n

Literally everything, now powered by AI<\/h2>\n

Artificial intelligence (AI) could be found everywhere and inside everything at CES. The coolest AI-powered tech included the wan AIChef Ultra smart microwave, which can simultaneously heat different foods at different temperatures, along with dozens of robots that will plan and cook meals for you. As smart grill maker Brisk It\u2019s booth boldly declared, \u201cDon\u2019t think. Just eat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet plenty of clever people are still thinking about ways to use AI in food. At the panel titled, \u201cThe Food AI Stack,\u201d several experts debated the roles for AI within the global food system, whether it’s accelerating ingredient development or reducing laboratory work. When asked about how these AI tools could potentially harm small startups or reduce the need for a human workforce, however, most dismissed the concern, arguing that you need specialized people to create such specialized data. In other words, AI creates its own job market.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is more about what these incredible [large language models] and computing power sources like OpenAI can really do with the data we\u2019ve constructed,\u201d <\/span>Matias Muchnick,<\/a><\/span> NotCo CEO, said. \u201c[AI models] are not coming for your food. They\u2019re inviting you to lunch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mother-daughter<\/p>\n

Mother-daughter team B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Astier (left) and Margot Roche, alongside vaguely threatening staring man (right).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Detecting foodborne allergens, sans lab training<\/h2>\n

Did you know that <\/span>250 million people worldwide<\/a><\/span> face food allergies? Testing food for allergens, however, usually requires a lab \u2014 or, at least, it used to.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Related:<\/span>The Month in 2: Great expectations for 2026 trends \u2013 video<\/a><\/p>\n

Allergen Alert, a brand out of France, has shifted the testing paradigm by developing a personal food allergen lab that requires zero training and can fit inside a purse or pocket. The idea came to founder <\/span>B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Astier<\/a><\/span> when her daughter <\/span>Margot Roche<\/a><\/span> ended up in the emergency room after eating an allergen-laced school lunch.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of what we used to do in a lab, we can do here,\u201d Astier said. \u201cThe threshold for detection is very low, 5 ppm (parts per million). So that means it protects against 80-95% of allergies, and below 5 ppm there is no reaction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Applications also exist in food development; this portable lab is so easy to use that anyone can spot-check products on an assembly line.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Panelists<\/p>\n

From left to right: Eric Schulze, GoodHumans; Juliana Bernalostos-Boy, Ingredion; Brittany Kovacevic, CuliNEX; Dana McCauley, Canadian Food Innovation Network; and Carolyn O’Neil, ONeil Nutrition Communications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Conversation points: MAHA, the new dietary guidelines<\/h2>\n

Walking into the \u201cRed Dye, Good Bye\u201d panel on the morning of Jan. 7 \u2014 just one part of The Spoon\u2019s Food Tech Summit \u2014 I expected to learn more about how food developers are reformulating to avoid the artificial dyes under siege by the \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d (MAHA) movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, that same morning, the Trump administration finally released the new dietary guidelines they\u2019ve been hinting at for months. This document introduces a new version of <\/span>the classic food pyramid<\/a><\/span>, except it\u2019s been turned upside down to indicate flipped recommendations for protein, dairy and grains. The panelists reworked the topic in real time, dedicating almost the entire 40-minute window to these guidelines, which many experts fear will lead to more costly reformulations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related:<\/span>Audarshia Townsend\u2019s 2026 top trend predictions<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such a dynamic time,\u201d <\/span>Dana McCauley<\/a><\/span>, CEO of the Canadian Food Innovation Network, said. \u201cSince COVID, the pace of change has accelerated so much, and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s true for just Canadian companies. All of these founders and presidents of companies in that small-to-medium-sized space are just constantly spending all of their time managing change \u2026 and that is such a sap on productivity. Because they\u2019re not innovating. They\u2019re spending all their time reformulating to meet the current needs.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

New ag tech innovations shelter crops<\/h2>\n

Bienesis, another French company, brought a CES Innovation Award-winning smart canopy solution for trellis-grown crops like wine grapes. When cultivated in the open air instead of a greenhouse, such delicate crops require protection from frost, hailstorms, heat waves and more, and this system allows farmers to deploy 6-meter canopies from anywhere using a smartphone. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pierre Martini, Bienesis’ director of research and wine partnerships, which is a job I\u2019m officially applying for, had this to say about the potential savings enabled by this system. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe all-in-one protection against extreme climate events, the deployment at distance on demand, the smart algorithms inside our app to help growers target precisely the events [they need to],\u201d Martini explained. \u201cIn terms of savings, our value proposition covers 80% of the losses related to those climate events.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026 and water crops more efficiently<\/h2>\n

Another climate-related challenge facing farmers is the ever-present threat of drought, which steals water from the soil like a Tech Bro Billionaire siphoning off humanity’s last ounce of collective dignity. Now, with BeadRoots, droughts, at least, may become a worry of the past. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen irrigation or rainfall occurs, BeadRoots absorb excess water and store it within their structure,\u201d CEO <\/span>Valerio De Luca<\/a><\/span> said, referring to the proprietary creation process, which combines natural raw materials such as algae into a stable, water-absorbing hydrogel. \u201cAs the soil dries, the beads gradually release the stored moisture directly into the root zone, ensuring plants have access to water over extended periods. This controlled release mechanism helps stabilize soil moisture and reduce water stress for crops. After several months and multiple cycles, the hydrogels degrade, biostimulating plants and improving soil quality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

CES 2026 was a reminder that innovation in food technology involves a careful balancing act between what industry insiders find “cool” and what consumers really want. While the event showcased a handful of promising advancements, it also highlighted the challenges of maintaining that balance in a food system beset on all sides by people who want to fix it with varying ideas about how. Still, the seeds of innovation planted at CES hint at a future where advanced technology continues to shape how we grow and consume food. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES<\/span>) was a somewhat subdued affair … on me. It is a consumer<\/span>-focused show, after all, … the hardware on display was consumer<\/span> driven, too; although some … French company, brought a CES<\/span> Innovation Award-winning smart canopy …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}