Target Food Lab in Cambridge to Close

CAMBRIDGE - Well, that was quick. Target said today that it will shut down its food lab, which opened a little more than a year ago in Cambridge, the Minneapolis' StarTribune reports.

The Food + Future coLab, was supposed to be a multi-year collaboration between Target, global design firm IDEO and MIT Media Lab, where a hand-picked team of entrepreneurs gathered daily to talk about how to create a transparency in food prep, as well as access to good food in the basement of a building near MIT. Some 10 people worked there and came up with some cutting-edge ideas.

One thing the collaboration worked on, according to Corprate Target, was a handheld scanner that could scan and read foods instantly and tell you nutrition levels, allergens and fat content of everything from strawberries to wine.

(Photo Courtesy of Food Future)

Target was hoping to sell off the project. And an offer to purchase Target's Food + Future lab surfaced last week but the Minneapolis-based retailer said it could not come to terms with the buyer.

"We worked with the Food + Future team over the past few months to find interested outside investors, but were not able to come to an agreement," Target spokeswoman Jenn Reck told the StarTribune. "And as a result, we're winding down Food + Future and the work will come to a close in June."

The food lab is not the first initiative Target CEO Brian Cornell has moved to shut down in recent months as Target's sales have dropped. "As we shared earlier this year, Target is investing in key strategies that will propel our business over the long-term and is pursuing innovation most closely tied to those investments," Reck said.