SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK, March 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Rabobank, the world's premier bank to the food, beverage and agribusiness industry, and SF New Tech, San Francisco's largest and longest-running tech showcase event, today announced that Patrick's Fine Sodas, a beverage startup specializing in healthy, probiotic sodas, as the winner of the People's Choice Award at the inaugural FoodBytes! Summit. 

FoodBytes! took place on February 25, 2015 at the Bluxome Street Winery in San Francisco. The half-day event was dedicated to helping investors in the food industry meet new companies that are disrupting and/or innovating in food-related software and applications, distribution, manufacturing, production and more.

The People's Choice Award was decided by the more than 250 FoodBytes! attendees, who were each given a virtual budget of $5 million to invest in each of the 12 presenting demo companies.  At the end of the evening, Patrick's Fine Sodas was the top winner, accumulating the highest virtual investment of  $27,350,000.  Following Patrick's Fine Sodas in 2nd place was Pantry, a solution for food producers to sell their food anytime, with $13,700,000, and in 3rd place was Bitty Foods, a company that makes delicious baked goods powered by cricket flour, with $10,420,000. 

By winning the FoodBytes! People's Choice Award, Patrick's Fine Sodas receives the right to use the People's Choice Award logo in its marketing material, and is invited to attend Rabobank's premier client event in December, which attracts c-suite representation from 300 of the leading food, beverage and agribusiness companies in North America.

"It was an honor to be selected by the audience as the winner, and a terrific validation of our hard work at Patrick's Fine Sodas," said Shawn Patrick, CEO and Founder of Patrick's Fine Sodas. "The award was especially meaningful as FoodBytes did such a great job bringing food startups and the industry together to explore the future of food."

FoodBytes! attendees - investors, technologists, media, and others - saw live five-minute demonstrations from rising stars who are innovating and disrupting in the food industry, converse with food industry leaders, and network with food industry peers and opinion leaders, among many others.  Video clips are on Rabobank's YouTube FoodBytes! playlist: http://bit.ly/1B5q0we.

Manuel Gonzalez, Rabobank's west coast head of corporate banking, said, ""Congratulations to Patrick's Fine Soda on winning the FoodBytes! People Choice Award, and to all of our participating demo companies.  The idea behind FoodBytes! is an event where food is the only focus - an event for people working in food, developing ideas around food, and taking progressive risks in food technology.  We wanted an event that was nimble, dynamic and focused on the people who are taking action. We are very pleased with the outcome of the first FoodBytes! and intend to continue improving and growing the event."

Myles Weissleder, Founder of SF New Tech, said, "The FoodBytes! summit brought together an amazing array of disrupters and forward-thinkers in the food and agriculture industry with investors and corporate innovations officers who attended in search of the next big thing. The 12 companies that we selected to showcase their innovations exemplified innovation in new foods and ways to more efficiently bring food to market.  We are really thrilled with the turnout and excitement surrounding the inaugural FoodBytes! Summit and are already working on scheduling the next one."

In addition to Patrick's Fine Sodas, Pantry, and Bitty Foods, nine other companies pitched their business ideas at the inaugural FoodBytes! summit:

• Kuli Kuli - Introducing a new superfood, moringa, to the US market.
• The Algae Factory - Addressing the need of alternatives to animal proteins and soy based products.
• RapidBio Systems, Inc. - Developing a unique and fast food borne bacteria pathogen detection system.
• Agerpoint - Developing industry-leading technologies that redefine data acquisition, analysis, and translation for growers of fruit bearing trees and vines.
• Cherrysh - Bringing revolution to the soda industry by creating bubbly drink using fruits and vegetable juices with zero sugar added but tastes refreshingly sweet without a sense of guilt!
• BagIQ – Helping consumers make better informed decisions on purchases that impact health, budget and lifestyle.
• FarmX - Solving problems in Food, Water, Education, Poverty and the Environment - deploying FarmMap Soil to create an IT infrastructure for outdoor industrial farms.
• Rocket Brewing Company - "Beer that makes consumers smart!"
• Produce Pay - A payment platform that connecting Farmers, Distributors and Banks to ensure faster cash turnover and provide necessary financing throughout the supply chain.

"Rabobank is delighted to support and invest in the future of food, as represented by the many excellent businesses showcased at FoodBytes!m" said Rajiv Singh, CEO of Rabobank's corporate business in North America.  "As premier bank to the food, beverage and agribusiness sector, we are keen to understand first-hand the new ideas and technologies happening in the food space, and to help foodchain players capitalize on innovations in order to feed a growing world population in a sustainable, secure, safe and healthy way.  We look forward to continuing to engage with food entrepreneurs through FoodBytes! and other channels."

Watch video of the FoodBytes! event on Rabobank's YouTube playlist:  http://bit.ly/1B5q0we

About Rabobank

Rabobank Group (www.Rabobank.com) is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, real estate services and renewable energy financing in more than 40 countries worldwide. Founded a century ago as a Dutch farmers' cooperative, Rabobank today ranks as one of the largest banks in the world, with nearly $1 trillion in assets, and remains committed to its core mission to create customer value. Rabobank is recognized as a premier bank to the global food, beverage and agribusiness industry, providing a compelling combination of deep sector expertise, strategic counsel and specialized financial solutions to clients across the entire food value chain.  Rabobank. The financial link in the global food chain.®   @RaboWholesale

About SF New Tech

SF New Tech (SFNT) is a world-renowned live platform for technology startups to showcase their latest innovations in front of 100s of tech-minded founders, engineers, investors, media, and more. Since 2006, over 700 companies have leveraged SFNT to launch and/or demo their new products, services, and features, including such Internet luminaries Evernote, Waze, 23andMe, Flipboard, Twilio, Splunk and many other pre-fame startups. As a cornerstone of the San Francisco technology community and as SF's largest, longest-running, and most-loved technology event, SFNT is laser-focused on putting innovators and their innovations in the spotlight in front of their peers -- and beyond. SF New Tech is been supported by amazing companies including Fathom Law, Akamai, Microsoft, Twitter, DoubleDutch, Telerik, Macworld, The New York Times, and many others. For more information, visit http://www.sfnewtech.com @sfnewtech

About Patrick's Fine Sodas

Patrick's Fine Sodas has reinvented soda from the ground up. Our line of delicious beverages is naturally probiotic, naturally carbonated, and matches all of the use cases of soda without sacrificing taste. The rise of probiotic products worldwide is projected to hit $24 billion by 2017, with the majority of growth occurring in food and beverage. Simultaneously, the traditional U.S. soda market declined by 3.1% in 2013 due to rising health concerns.  Patrick's Fine Sodas has innovated a proprietary process to produce the best tasting and healthiest probiotic soda pop designed in many popular flavors. Please contact shawn@patricksfinesodas.com for more information. 

SOURCE Rabobank

Related Links

http://www.rabobank.com