Featured In: New Food Tech is Coming in Hot to Philly
A huge thank you to The Plug and Alesia Bani for featuring me in their article, New Food Tech is Coming in Hot to Philly. Read a little of the article below…
Black founders are breaking into food tech for a new wave of innovation with Philadelphia as a hub.
Black culinary innovators have brought us the likes of the ice cream scooper, fruit juicer, keg tapper and many more with the foundation of the American food and beverage industry coming from the “brawn and brilliance” of Black Americans, culinary historian and WURD Radio host Tonya Hopkins a.k.a The Food Griot, told The Plug.
“That was their role, problem solving,” she said.
In Philadelphia, Black women selling pepper pot soup were the pioneers of the practice of fast food vending, Hopkins said.
“They sang songs about their pepper pot being nice and hot,” she said, noting that the Philadelphia Pepper Pot recipe, which came from West Africa and the Caribbean, was one of neighboring Campbell Soup Company’s earliest products.
Now, looking at the intersection of the culinary industry and technology, Hopkins said it is a natural extension of innovation for Black founders to become pioneers in the food tech sector.