"Use less. Do more" — such is the driving philosophy of Robert Rhinehart's LA-based vegan soluble food company, Soylent — which, mind you, although having raised a few eyebrows over the past year, boasts of having distributed the equivalent of 6 million meals across the United States.
A significant portion of the drink's consumers are situated in the Silicon Valley area and are now habituated to the product after being early adopters in 2013.
Nearly a year after launching a powdered and ready-to-drink Soylent, Rhinehart, along with manufacturer Rosa Labs, announced a new and premixed "Soylent 2.0" on Monday. The liquid reiteration of the original drink will be ready to ship to the U.S. and Canada starting Oct. 15. This addition, however, won't affect the push behind the original powder; it would just provide an easier and slightly more expensive alternative, since the powder is cheaper to ship.
Ars Technica reports that the new drink will be packaged in 400-calorie recyclable bottles (about 14-oz. each) and sold in packs of 12 for $29 to subscribed customers. To reach a healthy daily calorie intake, you would need to consume five drinks a day, which would amount to $9 at the cheapest price.
More specifically, Soylent 2.0 will also alter its makeup — a ratio of 47 percent fat, 20 percent protein and 33 percent carbohydrates, including isomaltulose, a compound of glucose and fructose found naturally in honey and sugar cane extract. All this results in a glycemic index of 49.2. The previous mix was 43 percent fat, 40 percent carb and 17 percent protein.
The bottles themselves have an unrefrigerated shelf life of a year and have a somewhat nondescript taste, akin to milk left at the bottom of a cereal bowl, according to one reviewer. However, deliciousness was never Soylent's objective.
"It's about efficiency, it's about cost and convenience," Rhinehart said in an interview with Gawker.
That still being the case, the company received $1.5 million in seed funding before shipping out a single package, and, as of January of this year, raised an additional $20 million in investments from venture-capital firms such as Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. It remains to be seen whether the food-gulping trend will catch on or remain a cultish habit of Silicon Valley techies, but for now, Soylent isn't showing any signs of slowing down.
