FFF Podcast Episode 11: Coffee anyone?

Imagine you are about to tune in to episode 11 of the FFF founder podcast series with Paul Cuatrecasas and David Stevenson.

FFF Podcast Episode 11: Coffee anyone?

Imagine you are about to tune in to episode 11 of the FFF founder podcast series with Paul Cuatrecasas and David Stevenson.  But before you do, you fancy a coffee.  Not just any coffee but your favourite Caffè Americano from your favourite coffee shop. It’s raining outside. You don’t want to get wet, so you place your order via an App on your smartphone.  Hey presto, within five minutes your brew is delivered piping hot to your front door via a drone, just in time for you to settle down and listen to the dulcet tones of Paul and David.

No need to imagine the above for those living in Balbriggan, a coastal town just outside Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.  For while listeners can rely on FFF to provide episode 11 of the podcast series, drone company Manna.aero, which operates a commercial delivery service in the Dublin suburb, will deliver the coffee and pretty much anything else you fancy.

Manna.aero is just one example cited by Paul in the podcast to highlight how drones are not something that may or may not happen at some point in the future. Rather, they are very much in the here and now. The technology is proven, business models are in place and, as the Manna example demonstrates, drones are already in service.

What’s more, Paul argues drones will prove to be game-changers for a wide range of sectors, including FoodTech.  Take food delivery.  Drones are cheaper to run than automobiles, are able to undertake more deliveries and likely generate significantly lower carbon emissions than fossil-fueled transport.  “They probably cost 10-20% of the normal cost of delivery today,” says Paul, who adds, “a drone can do about 20 deliveries in an hour”.  In today’s inflationary world, cost savings of that magnitude and material productivity gains ought to appeal.

Drones – one to watch then, advises Paul.  And according to David, there’s a lot more to keep an eye on in the FoodTech space right now.  Whisper it, but David sees signs of life in the FoodTech sector - a doubling in the share price of ‘poster child’ Beyond Meat, increase in M&A, deals being signed, particularly in the Middle East.  Activity appears to be picking up.

So, time to sit back with coffee in hand and tune into the latest FFF podcast – much better than listening to this writer droning on and on…