Soylent 2.0: Why Soylent Is Hitting The Bottle

Soylent has shipped meal replacement kits to more than 50,000 customers in its first two years. But if it wants to be more than just a curiosity in the food world, it needs to reinvent itself.

That's why Soylent has spent more than a year working to take its original powder product (mix with water and refrigerate for best results) and bottle it. On Monday morning, the startup announced it is taking pre-orders for its new bottled version: Soylent 2.0, a ready-to-drink, grab-and-go concoction that contains about 20% of your daily recommended nutrients and calories.

Soylent is selling a 12-pack of the 400-calorie bottled drinks for $29, including shipping (if you sign up for a monthly subscription). Per meal, that's slightly more expensive than its powder product. The nutritional information is similar, although CEO Rob Rhinehart told Forbes there are some changes, including a protein switch from rice to soy.

The major shift is one of philosophy. Back in 2013, Rhinehart experimented with what would become Soylent as a complete meal replacement solution, documenting a 30 day trial on his blog. Today, Soylent has seen that even many of its fans are consuming the product only once or twice in a day--as a meal supplement or snack, rather than full meal replacement. Bottling Soylent is a step in that direction.

The new form factor also eliminates Soylent's biggest barrier to entry: teaching customers how to mix the product. Even Rhinehart notes that he had frustration mixing his meals every morning and cleaning the pitcher afterwards. The bottle is a tried and true method of drink consumption and requires less convincing to try.

"It became clear as a user of the product, we needed to make it as frictionless and convenient as possible," says Rhinehart. "You can take the bottle to work, keep it in the refrigerator or have it at hand. Eat it as a snack or a meal."

What's not in the works (for now, at least) is selling these Soylent 2.0 bottles in retail locations, where meal-replacement shakes could sit next to energy drinks. Vending machines, on the other hand, are something Soylent has "looked into." No announcement on that front yet.

Soylent took $20 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz at the beginning of 2015 because it wants to be taken seriously as a mass consumer food option, not just as a niche product that caters to programmers and early adopters. To get there, the startup will eventually have to expand beyond direct-selling ecommerce to access more potential customers. It also will need to erase the stigma such meal-replacement options have earned so far for poor taste and questionable aesthetics.

But bottling is definitely a step in that direction. Soylent 2.0 is no revolution, but it could take this fringe food product slightly more mainstream.