One of the hottest new food trends in Silicon Valley doesn't actually involve eating.
Meal replacement powders like Soylent, and its unimaginatively named competitors like Schmoylent, are gaining in popularity with engineers and other people who work relentless hours in the tech sector, according to the New York Times.
"I think engineers are ready to throw in the towel on the illusion that we’re having this family dinner," Alexandros Kostibas, founder of San Francisco software startup Habit Monster, told the publication. "Let's do away with all the marketing facade and get the calories as quickly as we can."
"What if you never had to worry about food again?" asks the Soylent website. The ease of mixing a powder with water to drink instead of eating a meal is appealing to those for whom this is a legitimate question.
A week's worth of Soylent meals costs $70. The price jumps up to $80 for the equivalent amound of Schmoylent, but it's currently out of stock online as the company prepares to rebrand as Super Body Fuel.
