Sevvy Case Study: Revolutionizing Cooking with Pulsed Electric Field Technology

Sevvy, an innovative Dutch food tech company, has introduced Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) technology, revolutionizing cooking by reducing baking fats, salt, and sugar by up to 50%, and cutting electricity usage by up to 90%. Partnering with GetFocus, Sevvy assessed 27 cooking technologies, confirming PEF as one of the most promising, ensuring their pioneering approach leads the future of food tech innovation

GetFocus Logo
"Working with GetFocus is a hugely rewarding experience. Their deep expertise and advanced AI technologies not only demonstrate the energy efficiency and cooking quality of Sevvy's PEF-based technology but also provide valuable insights into future innovation trends. This collaboration keeps Sevvy at the forefront of healthier, more efficient, and environmentally friendly cooking and baking solutions."

Kamiel de Leur

CEO at Sevvy

The Challenge

Getting an overview of all cooking technologies, incumbent and emerging, their pros and cons, and determining whether Sevvy's technology category could be a valid alternative to existing cooking technologies.

The Outcome

GetFocus provided Sevvy with a comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape, an objective overview of the strengths and weaknesses of each technology, and a forecast of their rates of improvement.

Introduction:

Sevvy, an award-winning Dutch innovator in food tech, has developed a groundbreaking new cooking method that enables healthy, sustainable, and efficient cooking and baking. Their innovative approach allows for food preparation without baking fats, and a reduction of salt and sugar usage by up to 50%, all the while cutting electricity consumption by up to 90%! For those mainly concerned with flavor, they've got your back. Sevvy's Pulsed Electric Field based cooking technology maintains perfect food quality by cooking each molecule to its precise doneness. They even caught the attention of music legend Stevie Wonder, who tried their blueberry muffin at CES 2024 – baked in less than three minutes - , adding a touch of star to their product.

Since the dawn of humanity, we have been innovating in cooking methods. From the humble campfire to gas stoves, to ovens, induction and sous-vide. However, we haven’t seen real cooking innovation since the introduction of the microwave in the 50’s. Enter Sevvy! Sevvy is launching a completely new way of cooking in a space with many well-established alternatives, as well as a few emerging technologies. To navigate the landscape of other cooking technologies, Sevvy partnered with GetFocus. This collaboration highlights how technology-driven businesses can leverage AI-powered insights for strategic foresight and competitive advantage.

Stevie Wonder visiting Sevvy’s booth at CES 2024 trying their blueberry muffins, which he liked a lot by the way.

What’s cooking? An overview of the food preparation technologies

Sevvy's technology is revolutionary, but the food technology market is crowded and mature. To keep an overview and gain insight into the future competitiveness of their technology category, Sevvy needed a comprehensive understanding of competing technologies and their future trajectories. The challenge was to scout all potential alternatives, evaluate their performance, and forecast their improvement rates.

Sevvy faced several challenges:

  • Market Competition: There are all sorts of cooking technologies available to consumers, but each has its own up and downsides. Getting all data in a comprehensive overview is normally very time-consuming.
  • Future prospects: Understanding the future competitiveness of their technology category is hard for anyone, but crucial for decision-making.

How we worked with Sevvy:

The collaboration was structured into four key phases: scouting, evaluation, forecasting, and deep dives.

  1. Identifying incumbent and emerging technologies:

We scouted and identified all competing cooking technologies, identifying a total of 27 distinct approaches.

  1. Assessing the pros and cons of each solution:

Each identified technology was evaluated on 18 performance characteristics, including energy efficiency, cooking time, and cooking uniformity. These scores provided a quantifiable measure of each technology's effectiveness and served as a starting point for forecasting their technological improvement rates.


How do we score them:

We use a multi-agent LLM approach that uses patent data to enrich its knowledge with advanced prompting techniques to score each technology in comparison to the other on quantitative and qualitative criteria:

  • Example: Energy Efficiency - A high score in energy efficiency indicates that the technology uses less energy to cook, making it cost-effective and environmentally friendly. For example, PEF scores 9 for energy efficiency, the LLM explains this score by “The direct application of energy to the food without heating a large space makes it highly energy-efficient.”, in comparison Gas Ovens score a 4 and the reason is “Slightly better than electric due to quicker heating but still limited by space heating requirements.”

  • The other factors we evaluated the technologies on are: some text
    • Cooking time
    • Cooking uniformity
    • Versatility
    • Nutrient preservation
    • Safety
    • Size and portability
    • Environmental impact
    • Food quality and taste

We narrowed down the original 27 technologies to the top 14 based on their highest average score. The top 3 in order were: Induction Cooktops, Pulsed Electric Field and Steam Ovens. 

  1. Forecasting:

From our collaboration with MIT, we uncovered that all technologies improve exponentially, but at drastically different rates. With our method, we can measure technology improvement rates based on patent data. By measuring improvement rates, we can predict technological disruption well in advance. The GetFocus thesis states that among competing technologies, the technology with the highest improvement rate will go on to dominate the market, no matter how nascent or “fresh” it is.

In this step, we measured the technology improvement rates of the 14 technologies, including PEF. With the improvement rates measured for each technology, we were able to confirm that Sevvy is invested in one of the most promising winning technologies, that has a promising future. 

Comparison of Technological Improvement Rates for Cooking Technologies in 2023

Key evaluation results included:

  • Sous vide cooking: Has the highest current improvement rate, although sous vide cooking is time-consuming and can arguably not be seen as a direct competitor to PEF.
  • Among the direct competitors, PEF has the highest improvement rate with 16,5% YoY.
  • Induction cooktops come in at a close second with an improvement rate of 16,2%.
Chart
Technological Improvement Rates of Cooking Technologies (1998-2023)

  1. Deep Dives:


GetFocus examined the patent families related to the top technologies (Over 24,000 patent families were analyzed). By analyzing the breadth and depth of patents, we assessed the innovation landscape and identified key players and their strategic positions. This analysis provided Sevvy with a clearer picture of potential competitors and partners, as well as the robustness of each technology’s intellectual property landscape.

Findings from Patent Research:

  • Solid State RF Cooking: Our research identified several patent families owned by key competitors focused on the precise and controllable heating capabilities of solid-state RF technology. These patents highlighted significant advancements in energy efficiency and cooking speed, positioning this technology as a strong contender in the market.
  • PEF Cooking: The patent landscape for PEF cooking revealed innovations in food cell heating techniques, which enhance cooking uniformity and energy efficiency. The patents also indicated ongoing research and development, showing that this technology will continue to improve and adapt to market needs.
  • Sous Vide: Despite its traditional roots, sous vide technology showed an impressive improvement rate, backed by a healthy portfolio of inventions focused on user interface enhancements and precise temperature control. Also, integrations of sous-vide technology into electrical ovens were frequently mentioned. These patents reflect the technology's adaptability and ongoing innovation, making it a robust choice for both home and professional kitchens.

The Results:

With GetFocus' methodical approach, Sevvy gained a comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape, ruled out blind spots, and refined its technology roadmap. The insights gained made it possible for Sevvy to make informed decisions on future R&D investments, allowing the company to stay on the path of revolutionizing food technology. Sevvy's collaboration with GetFocus enabled them to navigate technological complexities with confidence and facilitated strategic decision-making that aligns with their innovative goals.

Conclusion:

Sevvy's journey with GetFocus exemplifies how AI-powered tools combined with expert insight can transform technology forecasting and strategic planning. By leveraging GetFocus' platform, Sevvy not only identified the best technologies available today but also gained foresight into the most promising emerging technologies for the future. This collaboration has confirmed Sevvy is on the right course to continuously innovate and lead the way in the food technology industry. Armed with a comprehensive overview of the technologies they are competing with and the companies that drive the innovation, Sevvy is well-positioned to make future-proof decisions.

Innovation is a journey filled with both challenges and opportunities. With GetFocus as a partner, businesses can illuminate new avenues and validate their paths, making well-informed decisions to stay ahead of the curve. Whether at the brink of a breakthrough or seeking to confirm strategic directions, GetFocus provides the tools and insights needed to succeed.

For a deeper dive into Sevvy's revolutionary approach to cooking technology and their journey with us, explore more about Sevvy at sevvy.nl. We are looking forward to seeing their technology (and their muffins) in every kitchen shortly!

More cases

Interested in our other use cases?

We strategically orchestrate AI to give you an edge.

Get Started

Reach out to us!

Start a conversation. We are happy to help.