It’s been a longstanding trope of science fiction media that future technology will allow people to produce any food or drink they want on demand. Although it might be a while before we dine Star Trek style, California-based startup Cana Technology believes an era when we can “print” any beverage we want, anytime, at home, is just about here.
Fueled by $30 million in capital funding from San Francisco holding company The Production Board, Cana has created a home appliance it is touting as “the world’s first molecular beverage printer.” The device is designed to produce a near-infinite number of beverages which are instantly mixed with water through the use of replaceable “printer cartridges” containing hundreds of unique flavor compounds.
The machine, which will unveil its final design in the coming weeks, is built to fit comfortably in any home kitchen and uses a touchscreen to allow consumers to customize their beverage of choice.
“We’re going to start with putting the beverage aisle on your countertop in your house,” CEO Matt Mahar told BevNET.
Rather than concentrates or single-use pods, Cana uses molecular technology to identify and mix over 500 compounds that can, the company claims, create or approximate nearly any beverage in the world. Since about 95% of any beverage is water, Mahar said, Cana has focused on mapping out the remaining 5% of every category of drink and developing its machine to produce selections on command.
“Let’s say you have a coffee in the morning and in the afternoon, you’re having a flavored seltzer, like strawberry [flavored seltzer]; the same ingredients can be used to go from the coffee to the strawberry seltzer,” Mahar said. “And so these are not concentrates that are in our system, these are actually the ingredients needed to recreate the 5% [of compounds that] give each drink its mouthfeel and its taste and its aroma. So there are sugars, there are acids, there are other ingredients that help us give a certain flavor to a beverage.”
This also extends to drinks with extensive manufacturing processes or specific standards of identity, Mahar said. For example, while kombucha by definition must be fermented, Cana can nevertheless mimic its taste and texture to create a drink that may not technically be booch, but is, in theory, nearly indistinguishable.
This method also allows Cana’s machines to inject functional ingredients to beverages as well, primarily caffeine and alcohol. The introduction of alcoholic options, however, means the appliances will only be available for purchase to consumers 21 or older in the U.S. Mahar added that there are also safeguards on the devices to prevent consumers from creating dangerously strong drinks.
The brand’s primary financier is The Production Board, an investment firm and holding company founded in 2016 that is focused on the food, agriculture and biomanufacturing industries. Beyond Cana, the company is also an investor in meal replacement brand Soylent as well companies like online agriculture marketplace Tillable and Culture Biosciences. Production Board founder and CEO Dave Friedberg also serves as the executive chairman of Cana.
With the upcoming launch, Mahar said Cana is seeking to double its 35 person team this year, with open positions across hardware and software engineers, design, operations and marketing. But to date, the company has already built a team of tech and beverage industry veterans to bring the product to launch.
Cana is the first beverage project for Mahar, who joined the company as CEO in February 2021. He most recently spent nearly seven years with Vivint Smart Home, where he held several positions including VP of product management and general manager for cameras and video. He previously held positions in the video gaming industry at Propaganda Games and Electronic Arts.
Other team members at Cana, according to LinkedIn, include head of brand marketing Lindsey Fahey, who previously worked at Nike and Rothy’s, and former ZX Ventures global manager Daniel Dengrove as head of business development and strategy. Beyond ZX Ventures, Dengrove brings additional food and beverage industry experience to the company as the founder and former president of frozen dessert brand Brewla. Former Ripple Foods VP of R&D Lance Kizer serves as Chief Science Officer.
In an announcement last month, Friedberg said he was inspired to create Cana in 2018 after reading a research article about scientists breaking down and creating a version of red wine from its molecular compounds that tasted virtually identical to the real thing. But beyond the novelty and convenience of developing an at-home beverage printer, Friedberg also highlighted the potential for the product to reduce waste and bypass traditional supply chains – a key proposition at a moment where supply disruptions have led to global product shortages. As well, Cana claims a relatively small carbon footprint to develop the machines compared to the extensive waste created by traditional CPG companies.
“Eliminating the need for irrigating and growing crops, producing and processing beverages in factories, bottling and packaging beverages, and shipping and wasting containers, would have a dramatic impact on the water, energy, carbon, and cost of the entire beverage supply chain, accelerating the inevitable shift from centralized manufacturing to decentralized manufacturing,” Friedberg wrote.
Likewise, waste has been a big issue for other home beverage appliances, such as Keurig, which has frequently come under scrutiny for the pollution created by its plastic K-Cups. As consumers increasingly cite sustainability as a concern in their purchasing decisions, Cana’s pitch as an environmentally friendly alternative to single-use plastic aims to attract eco-conscious consumers.
Convenience is also a big part of the brand’s strategy, Mahar said. Each Cana machine will be internet connected and, when the printer cartridge is low, the company will automatically ship a refill cartridge to the owner’s address.
“I think there’s a lot of friction in products that exist already, and those are mostly around the consumer’s experience,” Mahar said, noting that many consumers will stop using a beverage appliance rather than refill a CO2 canister or purchase more flavor pods. “If you are expecting to get a drink [and the device is empty], a red light at that point doesn’t help you, the red light should have come a couple days ago. That’s not helpful, so we’ve learned that we’re going to be proactive and make sure that everything shows up exactly when you need it.”
Still, there’s a long way to go between introducing a great concept and having the world buy into it: just ask the backers of recent failed gadget brands like Juicero and Bartesian, both of which overestimated both their utility and their technological advantages.
For those wondering about Cana, there’s still some uncertainty, as well: Final pricing, product imagery and a more detailed look at the science behind the machine are yet to be revealed – but Mahar said they will be announced soon.
The machines will eventually be sold online and in retail, but he declined to offer specifics of Cana’s rollout strategy prior to the full announcement. However, the focus at launch will be on the home user, with the food service and office channels set aside as future projects. Brand partnerships, such as special flavors modeled after existing beverage brands, are also a possibility for Cana down the line, said Mahar.
“I think we’re providing a new type of tool, a new way of creating beverages for the world,” Mahar said. “And I think you’ll see that come to life in a very different way than anything that’s been seen before.”