Zephyr Zoidis

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Zephyr Zoidis

Zephyr Zoidis

@zephzoid

Decentralizing the Food System Founder @localizefoodapp

Austin, TX Katılım Şubat 2025
103 Takip Edilen505 Takipçiler
Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
If you noticed the Whole Foods hot bar isn’t what it used to be…you’re not alone. They’ve been owned and operated by Amazon for quite some time now. And that can come with what is called “operational efficiencies.” Pre-Amazon customers say • Natural ingredients • Local sourcing • Scratch cooking Post-Amazon customers say • Feels mass-produced, low-quality • Food is bland/poorly seasoned • Almost every dish has seed oils Ingredient lists are long for fresh cooked foods with additives that clash with Whole Foods’ early natural‑foods ethos. Employees even now report hot bar offerings became more standardized across stores, with many items pre‑packed, and reheated rather than from scratch. And if you go another level it gets worse. From the investigative reporting we’ve seen to date, their 365 chicken is likely produced in good part from Perdue and other Big poultry producers. The same report showed their private label beef is from Tyson Foods. Whole Foods publicly clarified hat it carries beef from Tyson-owned Open Prairie but said it does not carry Tyson poultry. As a reminder this is widely perceived to be one of the healthiest grocery stores filled with meat from conventional farms and cooked with industrial ingredients. The lack of transparency in the grocery store is exactly why shopping at local farms is the future. Without transparency comes drops in quality and the consumer getting something completely different from expectations.
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
I’m kinda surprised people are so surprised by this Do yall not remember what the Campbell’s soup exec said just a couple months ago☠️ And these guys are trying to dominate the liquid tomato space they have not only Campbell’s, Rao’s, but also Prego and V8
Zephyr Zoidis tweet media
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid

This is one of the most disappointing rabbit holes we have ever seen with our food… Rao’s was one of the most beloved clean ingredient staples in every health conscious consumers kitchen. Then they were bought out by Campbell’s in 2024… In 2025 Campbell’s also bought 49% of La Regina, who produces Rao’s tomato‑based sauces. The ingredients stayed the same on the back. But customers are now claiming Rao’s is now more watery, tangier, more acidic, less tomato‑forward, and sometimes “cheap store brand” quality. Loyal customers say the sauce tastes worse, look more orange, have more chunks, or taste more heavily spiced and bitter. Then people flipped over the jar… ”Olive Oil” not “Extra Virgin.” This means they’re likely using a more processed, lower‑grade olive oil (or a blend) rather than a cold‑pressed EVOO. It’s also not organic, meaning the inputs are undoubtedly conventionally farmed. Campbell’s says the ingredient list hasn’t changed… Consumers point out the ratios could be different. The sourcing quality could be worse. Whatever it is, many believe something is up. We’ve seen a long-time pattern of healthy brands achieving the velocity to be acquired from a Big Food company and then just not being the same as it used to be. Shop local, buy independent, support your farmers.

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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
This is one of the most disappointing rabbit holes we have ever seen with our food… Rao’s was one of the most beloved clean ingredient staples in every health conscious consumers kitchen. Then they were bought out by Campbell’s in 2024… In 2025 Campbell’s also bought 49% of La Regina, who produces Rao’s tomato‑based sauces. The ingredients stayed the same on the back. But customers are now claiming Rao’s is now more watery, tangier, more acidic, less tomato‑forward, and sometimes “cheap store brand” quality. Loyal customers say the sauce tastes worse, look more orange, have more chunks, or taste more heavily spiced and bitter. Then people flipped over the jar… ”Olive Oil” not “Extra Virgin.” This means they’re likely using a more processed, lower‑grade olive oil (or a blend) rather than a cold‑pressed EVOO. It’s also not organic, meaning the inputs are undoubtedly conventionally farmed. Campbell’s says the ingredient list hasn’t changed… Consumers point out the ratios could be different. The sourcing quality could be worse. Whatever it is, many believe something is up. We’ve seen a long-time pattern of healthy brands achieving the velocity to be acquired from a Big Food company and then just not being the same as it used to be. Shop local, buy independent, support your farmers.
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Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
Amazon ruined the Whole Foods hot bar
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Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
Rao’s is Healthwashed and Bought Out
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Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
This $2B company is putting AI collars on cows
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
This new method for raising beef might just change the game. Santa Carota Beef keeps cattle on grass but finishes them in a puzzling way: on carrots?? They go through 1 Million Pounds per day yet remarkably their testing revealed none of that is metabolized into sugar as Cows are ruminant animals with multi-chambered stomachs. The ranch scaled this up so fast because customers report a remarkable taste and flavor. And most importantly it’s a sustainable alternative to the standard grain-finishing that fattens cows up in feedlots. Another operation called Pontius Ranches does something similar with using Juice Pulp that normally would have gone to waste. Why this is so important? Estimates show ~30% of the Global Food Supply goes to waste. In the US that is closer to 40%. The more centralized and industrial the supply, the more waste. By localizing the food system for regional communities, sustainability reduces waste. These ranches source their finishing materials from other farms in the area, making the whole thing operate as a synergistic ecosystem. Find a local cattle rancher near you and uplift your community. This is the way food was meant to be.
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Case Bradford
Case Bradford@Casebradford·
Past week or so… - $1.2B for Gruns greens gummies garbage - $1.2B for Huel plant-protein garbage - $20M investment for Create creatine gummy garbage All useless nonsense nobody needs on any level Meanwhile small farms selling real food are struggling to make ends meet…
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
Carrot finished beef is here
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
An AI cow collar startup backed by Peter Thiel Was just valued at $2 Billion. Yes you heard that right. This is New Zealand agtech company Halter is building electronic collars used for “virtual fencing” in pasture-based systems, taking away the need for a physical fencing. It is one of the most controversial companies I’ve seen recently in the food system. Supporters argue this could increase pasture utilization and support soil cover, forage diversity, and carbon retention. Some have animal welfare concerns over the shocks the collars use to keep the cows in the virtually fenced area. Others express concern over data and power in a $2B+ Thiel-backed venture down the line. Only time will tell if this is a power tool for genuinely regenerative grazing, or yet another surveillance and control layer. I think technology in agriculture can be looked at with cautious optimism especially if it is working for regenerative systems rather than industrial. We know attention to soil health is the way forward so if there are tools that aid in that, they will be helpful. As consumers the most useful action we can take is shopping local as you can do at your farmers market or by using the Localize app. Support your Regenerative Farmers directly!
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
Big Food corrupted Annie’s
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
If you noticed Annie’s isn’t the same anymore, you’re not alone. They were acquired by General Mills in 2014, but they are just recently reformulating. In 2025 they quietly changed several mac & cheese products in ways that many long‑time customers see as a downgrade nutritionally. Butter and skim milk was removed from the sauce and replaced with cornstarch, a low‑cost thickener with no protein. They changed the label to “Now Cheesier…” …But protein dropped from 11 g to 9 g and calcium from 110 mg to 90 mg, a decline of about 22% in each. Consumers report a different taste than what made this natural brand acquisition worthy in the first place. We’ve seen this pattern time and time again: 1. Healthy brand disrupts the industry with clean ingredient, high velocity product 2. Gains enough market share to warrant Big Food/Private Equity Buyout 3. New entity “optimizes” for profits by some combination of increased prices, cheaper ingredients, and/or shrinking sizes People are tired of buying from these massive conglomerates because that pattern has just gotten so predictable. But in positive news that distaste is causing another buying revolution: for local food. Consumers want to support mission-aligned independent brands and even more importantly their local farmers. It is a return back to the bases: real food, real people, and knowing where your dollar goes.
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Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
Del Monte Foods closes, leaving fruit growers in crisis
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
Del Monte just closed one of it’s final canneries and it’s leaving fruit growers in crisis. Their U.S. canned fruit business has collapsed following a 2025 bankruptcy. As part of the restructuring, the company is shutting down its remaining California canning plants, including in Modesto, CA. The Modesto cannery closure will eliminate ~1,800 workers, showing just how fragile the industrial food system is. Where does these farmers and supply chain workers go? It shows the dangers that come with a food system so reliant on middlemen. Every dollar you spend at the grocery store, the farmer gets on average 11.8 cents. And that’s not even including their costs…they really only keep 5.8 cents. Everything else goes to the corporate entities like Del Monte…and when they collapse it endangers everything. Imagine if we properly connected with our farmer directly and gave them the full dollar? Immediately massive corporations, processors, and retailers would crumble because they pray on a consolidated system that pressures growers into accepting the lowest possible prices. When you’ve already built the corporate engine, that’s the easy part. But local food systems can without a doubt dismantle this entire system. Recognize the current ones fragility and help build a better one by visiting your local farmers market or with the Localize - Farmers Market app.
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Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
We are the guinea pigs of beetroot red
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
The FDA just approved a manmade dye called beetroot red that can use the label “No Artificial Colors.” Despite the name, beetroot red contains NO beets — it is produced through precision fermentation from a small sliver of DNA. The genetically engineered yeast is placed in industrial stainless-steel fermentation tanks and fed simple sugars and minerals. Normally you are required to disclosed “bioengineered food” but since the GMO DNA is absent in the final product they were able to bypass the disclosure agreement. FDA also allows common carrier agents like gum arabic and maltodextrin to be used in the process, yet not labeled. The approval of Beetroot Red came after a petition from Phytolon, the Israeli biotech startup that created it. It also came with new labeling rules so products using it can display "No Artificial Colors” despite this being made through synthetic biology. This comes despite the primary safety profile being on a 90 day rat study and this compound NEVER being studied in humans. The product was expected to hit US markets Monday but has been delayed - yet it is still coming. Approval comes just months after artificial food dyes like Red 40 are being phased out of the food supply. Most consumers had imagined it would be replaced with things like real beet juice, or how about this neat idea…not coloring our food? Beetroot Red is a prime example of why we should be buying food from farmers and not lab coats.
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Zephyr Zoidis
Zephyr Zoidis@zephzoid·
We’re officially living in the future. We now have an NVIDIA GPUs powered farming machine that shoots lasers at weeds, eliminating them with no herbicides. The Carbon Robotics LaserWeeder uses an AI targeting system to thermally fire at weeds with sub-millimeter precision…all without disturbing the soil. From a surface level, this sounds like a huge innovation from traditional tillage and chemicals which physically disrupts soil structure. However, it likely kills some insects in the process. A peer-reviewed study showed promising numbers: • Laser weeding reduced weed biomass by ≥97% by season's end • Laser weeding boosted crop biomass by ≥30% compared to herbicide-treated plots • Lasers matched or exceeded herbicide performance on weed control Another study found impressive return on the $1.2M investment of the machine: • One farm reduced overall weeding costs by ~40% • Another reported reducing hand-weeding costs by $20,000/week Right now it excels on leafy greens like Spinach and Lettuce but is not yet viable for row crops like corn and soy. While this all sounds great, many are operating a food system that doesn’t depend on either herbicides or expensive laser robots using cover crops and integrated weed management. However, from everything I’ve seen about the LaserWeeder it seems to be a great potential tool for transitioning to regenerative practices even though I am always skeptical of emerging technologies in agriculture. What am I missing?
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