Meal replacement beverage Soylent comes to Canada

Soylent, the meal replacement beverage preferred by workaholic Silicon Valley types, is now available to Canadians.

Starting June 15, Canadians in all ten provinces (sorry, territories) can order the powdered beverage online and expect it on their doorstep in less than 48 hours.

Soylent is the invention of Rob Rhinehart, a twenty-something software engineer who found preparing meals from whole foods too time consuming and a distraction from coding.

The beige beverage—which boasts a similarly drab flavour profile, according to some reviewers—claims to contain all the nutrients the body needs. Mixed with water, a full serving of Soylent nets about 500 calories and costs under a dollar.

The idea is to replace all your meals with Soylent, but the vast majority of users don’t go that far. Nevertheless, Rhinehart believes his invention could one day be an antidote to world hunger and obesity.

Now Shipping to Canada! from Soylent on Vimeo.

Deep-pocketed investors in the U.S. seem to have bought into Rhinehart’s vision of the future. In 2013, Soylent raised $4.5 million (U.S.) in crowdfunding and venture capital. In January this year, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz invested $20 million in the company. The injection of cash enabled it to ramp up production and tackle a backlog of orders, the company previously said.

The formula has undergone a few permutations since it launched in the States last spring. Canadians who place an order will receive Soylent 1.5, which claims to have an improved taste and texture.

“In the past, some customers have expressed that Soylent could have a slightly undesirable texture after overnight refrigeration,” according to a note on Soylent’s website.

If you’re wondering whether the name is a nod to Soylent Green—the 1973 movie in which New Yorkers in the year 2022 are forced to subside on a drink made from human remains due to world overpopulation—you’d be mostly right. Rhinehart insists he was inspired by the book version, in which soylent was made of soya and lentils. A more palatable association to have, no doubt.

This article first appears on CanadianBusiness.com