With the help of Amazon's Alexa, Smart Kitchen appliances are getting smarter. Amazon announced expanded abilities for its voice assistant to control kitchen appliances and made an investment in June. Matt Van Horn, Co-Founder & CEO of June, the maker of smart ovens, was with us to share how the investment will help the company.
Currently, you can ask Alexa June for an ETA of when food will be done cooking, says Van Horn. With the expanded capabilities through Amazon, users soon won’t have to address June specifically. He explains how the engineering team always has to think about the different use cases and possible voice commands. When they first built the oven, they thought a lot about voice. June considered putting a microphone inside, but ultimately decided not to, Van Horn said.
Van Horn breaks down the target audience June is going after. He says he sees a mix ranging from busy parents to millennials moving into new homes. He recognizes there is potential competition from big players in the space. Van Horn says he is starting to see some products that are taking a play out of June’s book. He says they have a head start, but stresses that June products get better the more you use them because of the software model.
Some small grocery stores and neighborhood convenience stores are eager for the U.S. government shutdown to end and for their customers to start receiving federal food aid again. Late last month, the Trump administration froze funding for the SNAP benefits that about 42 million Americans use to buy groceries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says about 74% of the assistance was spent last year at superstores like Walmart and supermarkets like Kroger. Around 14% went to smaller stores that are more accessible to SNAP beneficiaries. A former director of the United Nations World Food Program says SNAP is not only a social safety net for families but a local economic engine that supports neighborhood businesses.
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