Explore the total 2022 list of Fast Company's Nigh Innovative Companies, 528 organizations whose efforts are reshaping their businesses, industries, and the broader culture. We've selected the firms making the biggest impact with their initiatives across 52 categories, including the most innovative dining, design, and consumer goods companies. ​​

The most innovative food companies of the year span from agronomical innovators to consumer packaged goods giants.

San Francisco-based Farmwise Labs uses AI and robotics to automate farming operations. Last year, the company released a commercial weeding robot that can spot and remove weeds that would otherwise damage crops. Israeli company Groundwork BioAg, meanwhile, is trying to assist crops stay healthy with an inoculant that helps grain farmers increase their yield per acre while reducing their use of phosphorus, a nutrient that contributes to water pollution. Crop factor editing firm Benson Colina besides made the list for its high-poly peptide soybeans that can be used as an ingredient in the booming alt-meat industry. Finally, India's AgroStar has created a social network where farmers can trade tips and information on crops.

Consumers are likewise tasting the innovations on this year's listing of the best food companies. Jot's coffee concentrate can be added to water or milk to create the perfect cup of java. Caulipower launched a gluten-free cauliflower pasta that tastes remarkably like the existent thing and Oishii turned strawberries into a luxury good. Republic of finland'due south Gold&Light-green Foods is using oats to build loftier-poly peptide culling meats and even gin. And Barcel has tapped into the zeitgeist with a viral marketing campaign challenging people to encompass the heat of its fiery Takis tortilla fries.

1. FarmWise Labs

For weeding out dangerous plants

San Francisco-based FarmWise Labs uses AI and robotics to automate farming operations. In 2020, the v-yr-erstwhile visitor released a commencement-of-its-kind commercial weeding robot, named Titan, that identifies and removes weeds that would otherwise harm crops. Rather than sell robots to farmers, the visitor sells its services to farms, charging them around $200 per weeded acre. Twelve Titan machines are currently in performance and are used by half of the U.S.'s top xx vegetable growers.

two. Caulipower

For making healthy pasta a reality

Los Angeles-based Caulipower makes gluten-free bread substitutes out of cauliflower and sweetness murphy. The 4-yr-old company, known for its cauliflower-crust pizza and sweet potato craven tenders, has grown quickly: It generated nigh $101 1000000 in annual sales in 2020. In 2021, the company introduced pasta to its lineup, which is currently sold in more than 25,000 retailers and online grocers. The food startup'due south new noodles, made from cauliflower and sold in the freezer aisle, wait, feel, and taste remarkably similar to the original wheat variety. Caulipower also launched set up-to-heat breakfast cups filled with scrambled eggs, cauliflower, and vegetables.

iii. Groundwork BioAg

For growing and scaling across its roots

Israeli company Groundwork BioAg produces Rootella, a cost-effective mycorrhizal inoculant, a naturally occurring fungi that is depleted due to over tilling and fertilization. The mucus, which supports plant resilience, is helping grain farmers in 5 continents increase their yield per acre and reduce their employ of phosphorus, a critical nutrient for plant growth that contributes to water pollution. In 2021, the company tripled its revenue compared to previous year and scaled its technology by combining its existing equipment with image processing and AI to automate manufacturing (which was previously done manually). That has allowed the visitor to go on the price of Rootella accessible.

4. Jot

For launching a new java drinkable category

In 2020, Boulder, Colorado-based Jot launched with a  novel concept: a powerful concentrate that is 20 times the force of coffee and differs from other options because of the controlled extraction process past which it's fabricated. The liquid is sold direct to the consumer in glass bottles—instead of single-utilize disposable Keurig-style cups that can have a heavier price on the environment. It tin be added by the tablespoon to a glass of h2o or mug of milk. In just two years, Jot has sold an estimated $10 1000000 worth of its Ultra Coffee. In addition to creating a new coffee beverage category, the company has pioneered a express-edition release model with unlike brews including Holiday (which tastes flossy and has notes of hot chocolate) and Encore (made from unmarried-origin beans sourced past a women's organic cooperative in Guatemala).

5. Oishii

For creating a new luxury food category

Four-year-old New York-based Oishii designed and farms what Fast Company called "the Tesla of strawberries," a fruit so delicious that it tastes more like candy than, well, a fruit. Fresh, locally sourced strawberries are only available in the Northeast in early on summertime for almost 3 weeks each twelvemonth. Cofounders Hiroki Koga and Brendan Somerville wanted to alter that. Oishii uses vertical farming, a method that eliminates the need for pesticides and reduces the ecology footprint of growing berries compared to traditional methods, to grow and sell its Japanese variety of strawberry. The company sells its premium-priced berries ($l for eight berries) directly to chefs; consumers tin also buy the strawberries in New York, New Jersey, and Los Angeles for commitment or pickup, via upscale markets and cafés, including Eli's Market, Murray's Cheese, and Culver City's Destroyer. Though the berries sell out quickly, Oishii is ramping up production and working to evangelize nationwide.

six. Barcel

For tapping Takis into TikTok

Though the Takis make of spicy Mexican rolled tortilla chips has been effectually for some 20 years, the Barcel-owned snack has developed a cult-production status amid younger consumers. Among rising interest in fiery foods, Takis set teens' mouths on burn down in 2020 when the Jalapeño Challenge, where users filmed themselves eating a jalapeño stuffed with foam cheese and Takis, went viral. The company leaned into the platform this past summer by tapping Charli D'Amelio and Twitch superstar Tyler "Ninja" Blevins for a social influencer campaign. Today, videos associated with Takis Fuego have racked upwardly more than 500 million views on TikTok. (In May, Takis reported that its brand was outpacing sales in the salty snack category, which were up 10% year-to-date, and the tortilla chips subcategory, up 12% year-to-date.) Takis further played on its reputation when it launched in the U.1000. in September, running a campaign called "Listen to the haters," which counterintuitively advised consumers not to eat Takis because they pose a health adventure. (Parliament has plans to restrict advertisement for products deemed to be high in fat, salt, and carbohydrate.) The message was disseminated on social media and even projected onto the Business firm of Parliament and other locations—other ads featured a blurred photo of a Takis chip with an explicit content alert fastened. To expand its marketplace share, the visitor collaborated with other brands, including One-time El Paso on a Takis Fuego-inspired Hot Chili Pepper and Lime-Flavored Stand 'North' Stuff Taco Shell. Takis also launched four new make extensions this year, bringing its strong flavors to popcorn, chips, and other salty snacks.

7. Gold&Light-green Foods

For taking oats beyond milk

While other companies blitz into oat milks, Finnish company Aureate&Green Foods is tapping the grain to create high-protein meat alternatives. Known in Europe for its chewy, versatile Pulled Oats line of products, which easily sub in for either chicken or beef, the company has been pushing into new markets in intriguing means. It partnered with Houston-based nutrient distributor Sysco in 2020 to launch a set-to-consume Pulled Oat product in the United states of america in 2020. Last yr, Taco Bell launched Gold&Greenish Pulled Oats tacos in all of the fast food behemothic'south U.One thousand. outposts. Gold&Green is also expanding into new products. Its new Protein Granules and Protein Flakes—which can exist used every bit either a meat substitute or a protein additives (similar protein pulverisation)—are made from just iii ingredients: Nordic oat bran, pea protein, and fava bean poly peptide.

8. Pod Foods

For bringing new snacks to grocery shelves

Pod Foods lets shoppers discover emerging food companies at the grocery store by connecting startup brands with big retailers through an app. The 2-twelvemonth-former, Austin-based wholesale marketplace charges a pct of gross wholesale prices that smaller brands can set themselves. Retailers, grocery bondage, and delivery services, including Gopuff, can admission a large inventory of emerging brands through an app. The company currently works with more than than 1,000 new nutrient brands, including CBD potable company Recess and Backyard Alkali pickles, and retailers in seven cities including Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. The visitor has tapped a third-political party network to handle fulfillment and logistics, streamlining the process for pocket-size brands to get their products to stores.

nine. AgroStar

For creating a social network and commerce site for India'south farmers

Eight-year-sometime AgroStar is a social network, educational platform, and e-commerce storefront all rolled into one. Some 5 million farmers in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh use its platform to chat with one some other, access educational content to ameliorate their farming methods, find cutting-edge information tools to help monitor crops, and shop for new products. The multilingual platform allows farmers to read and watch educational agronomy content in their own dialect, and post pictures of crop problems to get advice from fellow farmers. The visitor'south commerce platform, where it sells its own-brand products like seeds and insecticide, has integrated voice recognition so that farmers with limited literacy can notwithstanding search for and purchase products. To complement its online ordering capabilities, the company opened 1,000 stores this twelvemonth (upwards from 50 last year), where underbanked farmers tin can purchase products in greenbacks.

x. Benson Loma

For genetically editing the perfect crops

Benson Loma uses cistron editing to develop sustainable and nutritious food and ingredients. In 2021, the 10-yr-old St. Louis-based company launched Ultra High Protein soybeans commercially, which can exist used as animal feed, to make cooking oil, and as a key ingredient in the booming alt-meat category. The visitor planted lxx,000 acres of the new soybean in 2021 (increasing its soybean acreage by 133%) and began commercializing the crop past launching its own line of cooking oil, called Veri, which is now sold directly to consumers. To tap into the alternative meat market, Benson Hill is preparing to launch a new poly peptide brand, called Truvail, in the coming months. These efforts helped lift Benson Loma'south 2021 revenue by a projected 28% yr-over-year and the visitor brought in an estimated $145 million in acquirement in 2021. Benson Loma also opened a research facility nearly its headquarters to farther its enquiry into genetically modifying crops with CRISPR.