Soylent Is Now Available Pre-Mixed And Bottled

Soylent, the powdered drink that touts itself as a meal replacement, has funneled its formula into grab-and-go bottles. The company’s latest product, dubbed Soylent 2.0, tweaks the composition of its original powder—using algae oil for half of its fat calories—and comes in recyclable bottles, pre-mixed with water and ready to drink.

The bottled Soylent will come in cases of 12 for $29. To get a full day’s worth of calories and nutrients, consumers need to drink five bottles, which means relying solely on Soylent 2.0 for energy intake would cost about $12 per day, or about $3 more expensive per day than buying the powder through Soylent’s monthly subscription plan.

“Shipping around water is a little inefficient,” Soylent creator Rob Rhinehart told The Verge. “However, we counter that by the fact that the drink does not require refrigeration and also does not spoil until at least one year. Given the amount of food that is thrown away, that spoils, and the unconscionable amount of energy that we spend on refrigeration in the United States, I think that it’s still a vast resource savings over the majority of the food system.”

The company hopes that, despite the presumed inefficiency of Soylent’s latest iteration, it may attract people who don’t want to be saddled with the hassle of mixing the drink on a daily basis. Since Soylent 2.0 can last up to a year without being refrigerated, it could also serve as an occasional lunch replacement on days when users are crunched for time.

In January, Soylent received $20 million in a funding round led by prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which had previously backed the company during a $1.5 million investment in 2013.

You can preorder Soylent 2.0 now, though shipments will only make their way to consumers starting October 15.

[via The Verge]