This Tuesday, in Las Vegas, CES promises to start the year with a bang, by showcasing the latest cutting-edge, consumer-focused technology from around the world.
Last year’s CES show drew approximately 140,000 attendees from more than 160 countries for what many describe as four days of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Those attendance figures qualify CES as the nation’s largest trade show.
Over 40% of total 2024 CES attendance was international, establishing a record for the event.
With the Las Vegas Convention Center unable to physically contain all of the action, a number of hotels also pitch in to host trade show booths, keynotes, educational seminars and the countless other meetings taking place during the four-day event, which runs from Tuesday through Friday (Jan. 10).
Show organizers do their best to divide the more than 4,000 company exhibitors across several dozen subcategories. Several members of The Food Institute’s team will provide boots-on-the-ground reporting from Las Vegas.
Below is a trio of intriguing food-related companies that will be at CES 2025.
Daesung: operating under the SMARTHIVE brand in the beekeeping R&D space, this company is an AgTech veteran headquartered in South Korea.
Daesung reps will show off their app-based system and equipment platform, amateur beekeepers can use from anywhere in the world. In recent years the bee population has been declining in many parts of the globe due to an array of concerning factors, including parasites, pesticides and climate change. Daesung was a past 2021 CES Innovation award-winner.
Midbar: makers of the world’s first inflatable AirFarm, Midbar is another award-winning South Korean AgTech organization set to exhibit at CES. With an overall goal of tapping into the reduced water usage paradigm shift, environmental sustainability is clearly top-of-mind for this 2025 CES Innovation award honoree.
Deploying Midbar’s water-optimization technologies can preserve as much as 99% of farming water for its customers, compared to traditional growing methods. In terms of packaging, AirFarm is flat-packable and lightweight, yet resilient. The company estimates that users can be up-and-running and cultivating, following an average half-day installation.
Apecoo: hailing from the heart of Silicon Valley (San Jose, California), Apecoo will show off its range of smart-home kitchen appliances to CES attendees. For example, the company makes what it claims is the world’s first automatic waffle maker. Simply add your ingredients and the machine does the rest.
With its intelligent robotic and customizable interface, the machine produces one waffle at a time that the company boasts will be cooked to perfection each and every time, due to the baking unit’s intelligent sensors that measure temperature, moisture, and even monitor the waffle’s color.
Apecoo also offers an automated tortilla/roti maker, which can also whip up chapatis, tawas and dosas. For those attending CES 2025 in person, the above three exhibitors can be found at the Venetian Expo, Halls A-D.
Stay tuned for more CES 2025 coverage from FI throughout the week, on our website and via social media.
About the author: Rob Rinderman has been a trusted advisor and consultant to senior executives at public and private organizations for 3+ decades. As founder and president of SMC Consulting he advises companies and entrepreneurs on business development, strategic communications, marketing/social media, capital sourcing preparedness and more.
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