The Hyper-Real Future

It’s OK to eat an Impossible Burger while its still pink. Even if you cook it longer, its been engineered to stay juicy. The new Just Egg substitute, according to Bon Appetit, creates a perfect French omelet every time—no matter your skill. With Integrated Beverage Group’s chemically perfected wines, you get the taste of the best varietal from the best vintage—at a consistent price point. Similarly, Atomo advertises that their coffee will never have the ‘burned flavor’ that sometimes occurs with over-roasted Starbucks, just great coffee every time. RightRice says their product makes rice ‘right-er,’ improving on the nutrition and is ‘faster (and easier) to cook in a saucepan than traditional rice.’

Each of these brands are breaking ground on a new category: hyper-real food. Always consistent, always the best and always available (i.e. we are at risk of losing many ingredients due to global warming). While currently considered a novelty in the world of food and beverage, I think we’ll see a lot more of them in the future. Just like CGI and air-brushing, once we’ve been exposed to consistent perfection (plus moral, health, or cost benefits), it’s going to be hard to go back to reality (**cough, cough** that would be your product).