Fascination with meal alternatives tends to be prominent in the fitness community, but lately Silicon Valley is in on the trend.



Soylent — a meal-replacement drink advertised as convenient, cost-effective and nutritional — has been making waves in the Bay Area among coders, engineers and entrepreneurs who consider eating more traditional fare too time-consuming.

According to David Renteln, Soylent's co-founder and chief marketing officer, the product is popular with this group because they understand that "food, like any other problem, can be broken down."

But how do you market such an unusual product to the general public? Renteln's answer is simple: Educate people about your product, and be transparent.