Sanooke Toys

Have been putting this off for quite a while… but finally got around to it! After leaving Urbana-Champaign, #GExChicago set our sights for Chicago, and attended the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) FIRST 2024. It was an incredible experience! I learned so much from innovative companies like Ai Palette, Robotiq, and GloryBee, be it their business structures, or the technology they are using. It was exciting to see new developments from industry leaders such as Kraft Heinz, Lee Kum Kee, and Ajinomoto Co., Inc., The talks by researchers, farmers, and experts in the food industry were highly engaging, especially with the inclusion of AI. When asked, April Hemmes shared with me the reasons communities of farmers opt not to implement technology even when there is an abundance of John Deere or Caterpillar Inc. equipment available which really had me reflecting, especially as a student in this field of study that contributes to the supply of such equipment. After the 4-day event, we were off to have more meaningful interactions with Chicagoans! We visited farms like Urban Growers Collective at Roosevelt Park, South Chicago, and Green Era Campus which strives to be a space for students up to high school to learn more about farming and community. We also visited Sweet Water Foundation and had a tour of their community where we learnt about their purpose and contribution. Garfield Produce Company was a commercial hydroponics farm that we got to see and learn about, from the technologies they harness to their daily operations, which was a huge change from the tech-less conventional farms we’d been seeing. TechChicago was another event some of us attended and it was AMAZING to see the number of companies involved in the industry breaking new grounds. Learning about people’s personal growths, challenges they faced, and journey were extremely insightful. Thank you to Molson Coors Beverage Company’s Debalina Mukhopadhyay who shared with us so much about her company and herself. Hearing from representatives from United Airlines, Motorola Solutions, Grainger, Stripe, Adyen, Optiver (and so much more) were especially inspiring, learning about their careers, their recommendations to a Sophmore, their goals, and more! So sad that not everyone from the programme managed to sign up and go for TechChicago :( Beyond events and farms, we also visited incubators like The Plant by Bubbly Dynamics, mHUB , The Garage at Northwestern University, and University of Illinois Chicago’s Innovation Center. The equipment they have are great, but can’t compare to the brilliant minds that work tirelessly there! Sanooke Toys was one that we heard from and took the time to explain and show us their product over lunch which was so fun and even addictive! (Some might say I even have a fidget problem now…) We did so much more in Chicago and can’t wait to share them all! #Chicago #IFTFirst2024 #FoodInnovation #AIinFoodIndustry #Networking #Sustainability #Farm #TechChicago2024