HamptonCreek挖走Google高级数据分析师，欲用大数据改善美国人早餐

HamptonCreek是一家专门生产植物鸡蛋食品的创业公司，它最有名的产品是“Just Mayo”，这家公司在本周刚刚进驻Dollar Tree开设专卖店，在接下来的几个月中，它还会将公司位于旧金山市中心的总部扩建成占地9万平方英尺的办公场所。不过它最大的动作还是挖走了Google的高级数据分析师丹·西格蒙德（Dan Zigmond）。HamptonCreek这样做得原因是什么呢？是要颠覆整个食品制造业。

西格蒙德在过去八年的时间里一直都在处理YouTube和Google Maps 出现的数据难题。他现在的新任务是为Hampton Creek建立全世界最大的植物数据库。这个数据库有可能会改变我们每天早上放进嘴里吃的东西，只是我们不会觉察到有什么不同而已。

GoogleMaps的专家可以为美国人的体重问题做些什么

可能你现在还看不出来，一位任职于蛋黄酱公司的前任Google数据科学家可以怎样改变标准美国饮食（SAD），不过根据Hampton Creek的CEO乔什·蒂特里克（Josh Tetrick）的说法，西格蒙德正是最合适的人员。“丹拥有令人难以置信的大脑，他能够整理大量的数据，并从中找出数据之间的真正联系。”他所说的“真正的联系”指的是利用现有的数据库找出能够真正改善地球的植物。

我们已经吃了太多垃圾食品了，所以我们需要吃更多的植物！USDA最新发表的一份调查表明，我们购入了太多的红肉、细粮和不健康的脂肪。

虽然有某些研究指出美国的肉类消费正在下降，但是全世界范围的整体肉类消费正在上升。从某种程度上来说这是个好消息，因为这意味着一些曾经贫穷落后的国家现在可以买得起更贵的食物了。尽管这是世界经济环境改善的信号，但是这对于我们的环境和身体健康来说就不是一件好事了。而且那些动物工业区的名声也不太好。不过我们暂时先放下这些虐待动物的问题，先来看看下面的一些数字，我们要消耗5到6磅的玉米，52加仑的水和超过1,000 BTU的石油才能得到一块四分之一磅的牛肉饼。

另外，过量摄入玉米和大豆产品也导致美国人的体重大幅上升。这可能是因为购买精细或者加工过的食物的价格要比健康有机蔬果便宜得多。自从大萧条以来，美国政府一直都根据农业法案向种植某些作物（例如玉米和大豆）的农民提供津贴。这份法案对薯片和糖果的产量提供了很大的支持，但是苹果就没有享受到这种待遇了。

肥胖症与低收入水平的相关性也是一个无可否认的事实。超市里面能买到最便宜的食品通常都有较高的卡路里含量和较低的营养价值。这些食品大部分都是来自农业法案所扶持的玉米和大豆。以上的原因导致了每三个美国成人当中就有一人患有肥胖症。这意味着现在美国有超过1亿的人口正在面临更高的健康风险，比如更容易患上糖尿病和心脏病。另外，截至2008年，我们每年的医疗支出已经超过了1,470亿美元！

然而，要建立全世界最大的植物数据库来解决以上的问题可不是一件简单的事情。现在世界上有超过870万种已知的植物，更不要提每种植物之下还有多种不同的分类了。

全世界最大的植物数据库可以为世界饥饿问题做些什么

根据联合国粮食及农业组织（FAO）的估计，每晚有超过10亿人都是在饥饿的状态下入睡的。我们为食用的动物提供的粮食都比提供给这些人的多。我们应该将更多的土地用于种植粮食，而不是养殖动物，这种做法可以大幅降低发展中国家购买主食的负担。

工厂化农业经营造成了大型工业化农场的垄断地位，这样会导致大规模的浪费，我们的土壤也会被磷酸甘油之类的除草剂污染，工人的收入被拉低，另外现在很多普通的病原体都对抗生素产生了抗药性，有很大一部分的原因都是来源于农场的工业化经营。Hampton Creek的想法是建立一个数据库，让其他的公司可以从中获取世界上各种植物的信息，然后利用这些信息来鼓励农民种植一些对地球有好处的新经济作物（不仅仅是大豆和玉米）。这样反过来也能帮助农民更好地养家糊口，提供更加健康、性价比更高的食物，同时也能带动小型农场的发展。

解密数据

Hampton Creek的调研团队现在已经记录了13种植物当中的4,000棵不同的植物，希望找出比HamptonCreek现有产品拥有更好地稳定性和口感，而且价格更低的植物特性。蒂特里克做出了这样的比喻，“我们现在不是在搅拌鸡蛋，而是将植物捣碎，找出我们需要的特性。”

Hampton Creek最出名的产品是蛋黄酱，不过它也有卖不含鸡蛋的曲奇饼。他们很快就会推出一种外观和味道都跟鸡蛋一样的豆制品。蒂特里克说如果拥有世界上最大的植物数据库的话，他们将会推出更多不含鸡蛋的产品。他表示有一种植物现在还没有投入市场，但是它可以降低糖果的含糖量，同时还能保持糖果本来的味道。

这家公司的目标是向大众提供价格合理，同时能够改善地球的食品。“这就是我们最近进驻Dollar Tree的原因。”蒂特里克说道，“比如像我爸爸这样的人就应该买得起蛋黄酱，不用担心它的价格和是否健康。对于普通人来说，食物应该变得更加健康和便宜，不然它们就没有任何意义了。”

出售数据

西格蒙德如果建立出全世界最大的植物数据库，Hampton Creek就可以开始研究那些植物拥有他们所需的特性，可以做出更健康、更便宜，而且对动物和环境的影响更低的食品。

蒂特里克深入的解释了他们发现某些类型的加拿大黄豆拥有合适的分子质量，这就意味着这些黄豆拥有合适的稳定性，可以用于制作Hampton想要的产品。但是从目前来看，要找到更多这样的植物特性无异于大海捞针。仅仅是加拿大黄豆就有超过2,000个变种。

根据蒂特里克的说法，如果了解了这方面的知识之后，他们就可以做出更便宜、更安全、更健康的产品。而且这些信息也是一些大型食品厂商愿意花钱购买的。虽然蒂特里克不愿意透露具体的厂商名字，但是他说Hampton Creek现在已经跟几家知名的食品品牌商讨数据库授权的事宜。

“如果现在有人要用十亿美元买下Hampton Creek，我们全公司上下都会毫不犹豫地拒绝。”蒂特里克说道。这家公司现在已经获得了由Bill Gates Foundation和Google Ventures等投资人提供的3,000万美元资金，这是一家盈利性的公司，目前处于盈利状态。他们的“Just Mayo”产品在全国的Whole Foods、Safeway、Costco和Dollar Tree等商店有售。

Dollar Tree这家商店对于蒂特里克个人来说有着最重要的意义，因为这是一家面向中等收入的美国人的商店，也是他爸爸会走进去买东西的商店。这也是他愿意将他们的信息卖给一些大型食品厂商的原因。他想要这些产品变得随处可见，能够让人们真正吃上更好地食物，无需再站在收银台前在价格和健康之间作出选择。“我真的很想做一些能够改变世界的事情。”这对于他和西格蒙德来说是真是一份量身定做的工作。

英语原文：

How A Former Google Data Guy Could Change What We Eat For Breakfast

Hampton Creek, the plant-based egg startup known for its product “Just Mayo,” launched in Dollar Tree this week and is expanding its operations to a 90k square-footfacility in the heart of San Francisco in the next few months. On top of that, it just lured away Google’s main data guy, Dan Zigmond. The reason? To turn the food industrial complex on its head.

Zigmond has tackled complex data problems for the last eight years for both YouTube and Google maps. His new plan is to build the world’s largest plant database at Hampton Creek. This, in turn, may just change what you and I put in our mouths every morning without us even knowing it. But first…

What does a Google Maps specialist have to do with the American waistline?

It may not seem obvious how a formal Google data scientist at a mayonnaise company will change the Standard American Diet (SAD), but according to Hampton Creek CEO Josh Tetrick, Zigmond is the guy to do it. “Dan has this unbelievable mind that can sort incredible volumes of data and correlate the real relationships.” What he means by “the real relationships” is an on-hand database that is capable of finding which plants are actually able to impact real change on our planet.

We eat too much junk food. We need more plants! According to the latest USDA research, we buy way too much red meat, refined grains, and unhealthy fats.

Though some studies suggest meat consumption in the U.S. is decreasing, overall meat consumption is on the rise throughout the world. Part of this is good news. It means once-struggling countries now have the means to buy more expensive foods. While that is an indication that the world economic situation is getting better, it also means more of a hardship on our environment as well as our health. The animal industrial complex doesn’t have a stellar record here, either. Forget the possible animal abuses for a minute and consider that it takes 5-6 pounds of corn, 52 gallons of water and over 1,000 BTUs of fossil fuel just to make a quarter pound beef patty.

Further, our over-consumption of corn and soy products has dramatically added to the American waistline. That may have to do with how much cheaper it is to buy refined and processed foods than it is to buy healthy, organic fruits and vegetables. Under the Farm Bill, the U.S. government has been subsidizing farmers who grow certain types of crops, such as corn and soy, since the Great Depression. This bill lends much more support to the potato chip and candy bar than it does to an apple.

The correlation between obesity and lower income levels is an undeniable fact. The cheapest products in the supermarket tend to be the ones with high caloric content but low nutritional value. These products are mostly made with that Farm Bill subsidized corn and soy. Put that together with the fact that more than a 1/3 of US adults are obese. This means over 100 million people in the US are at a much greater risk for diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. And, as of 2008, our current medical costs have gone up to $147 billion dollars per year!

However, creating the world’s largest plant database to try to solve all this is not an easy thing. There are over 8.7 million known species of plants in the world, not to mention the many different varieties of each plant species.

What the world’s largest plant database has to do with world hunger issues

More than a billion people go to bed hungry every night, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates. We give more food to the animals we eat than we do to these people. Using more of the land to grow food for people instead of animals greatly reduces the cost burden on the developing world to buy these food staples.

Factory farming creates a monopoly for larger industrial farms, contributes to high levels of waste, pollutes our soil with herbicides such as glycophosphate, drives down worker wages and contributes to a significant cause of the resistance of many common pathogens to the antibiotics used to treat infections in humans. Hampton Creek has this idea that creating a database will allow the company to tap into the vast amount of plant information around the world and use it to inform farmers about a new line of cash crops (not just soy and corn) that could be good for the planet. This in turn will help the farmers feed their families, create healthier food choices that are also cost-effective and push small farm communities forward.

Unscrambling the Data

The company research team already whittled down 4000 different plants to just 13 species with the ideal traits needed for better consistency, taste and lower cost for Hampton Creek’s current products. Tetrick put it like this, “instead of scrambling eggs, we’re scrambling plants and looking for the right characteristics.”

Hampton Creek is mostly known for the mayonnaise, but it also now sells an eggless cookie dough. It will soon release a literal scrambled pea product that looks, tastes and feels just like eggs. Tetrick says having the world’s largest plant database enables his company to come up with more than just eggless products. He mentioned a plant that’s not out on the market yet but that can reduce the amount of sugar in sweets and make them still taste great.

One of the main focuses of the company is to offer foods regular people would already buy at a reasonable price but that are going to change the planet for the better. “It’s why we launched in Dollar Tree recently,” says Tetrick. “My dad needs to be able to buy this mayo and not even think about whether it is healthy or affordable. Food should be healthier and more affordable for regular people or it won’t even mean anything.”

Selling the Data

Onboarding Zigmond to build the world’s largest plant database means Hampton Creek can then begin to sort out which plants have the type of traits that can be used to create food products that are healthier, cheaper and have a lower impact on animals and the environment.

Tetrick can go in-depth about how certain types of Canadian yellow peas possess the right molecular weight. This somehow means the peas possess the right consistency Hampton Creek can then use in its products. But finding more of those kinds of plant traits is like looking for a needle in a haystack at the moment. There are over 2,000 varietals of Canadian yellow peas alone.

That type of knowledge, according to Tetrick, would guarantee a cheaper, safer, healthier product. That’s the type of information some very big food manufacturers might be willing to spend a lot of money for. Though Tetrick didn’t want to say which ones exactly, he says Hampton Creek is already in talks with several household name food manufacturers to license their database research.

“If someone offered us a billion dollars for Hampton Creek right now, no one in the company would blink if we said no,” says Tetrick. The company already has $30 million in funding from the Bill Gates Foundation, Founders Fund, Google Ventures and others. It’s also a for-profit company currently in the black. The “Just Mayo” product is in Whole Foods, Safeway, Costco and now Dollar Tree nationwide.

That last one, Dollar Tree, means the most for Tetrick personally. It’s somewhere that both middle America and his own dad would go to shop. It’s partly why he’s willing to sell information to some of the major food manufacturers, as well. Tetrick wants to see his database researched plants in every day food items. He wants them to be so ubiquitous that it truly changes the way we eat for the better without us having to choose between cost and our health at the checkout stand. “Really I just want to create something so big that it changes the world.” He and Zigmond have their work cut out for them.

via：techcrunch