Why Does Terence Tam Say Food Startups Are So Hard?

Terence Tam, who shut down lunch-delivery startup Ross & Zane before founding Reflow Hub, says food has always been a hard business. Margins are thin, inputs spoil, and an operator has to know regular customers well enough to manage what gets used. Venture-backed startups such as Sprig still failed. He argues the innovation is too small for price-sensitive buyers: a new delivery method still ends in a meal, and someone expecting a $10 lunch will not pay $15 unless it is dramatically better. Unlike software, someone still has to carry the food, so weather and other physical limits set the cost.