Silicon Valley infringes on the sanctity of 7-Eleven, which will now sell Soylent

Allow us to re-introduce two very different things, that now apparently go together: 7-Eleven and Soylent.

We’ll start with Soylent. Soylent is a meal replacement beverage popular in Silicon Valley start-ups and previously only sold through the company’s website or Amazon. As Eater reports, it’s a single-serving, ready to drink bottle that comes in Cafe Coffiest, Cacao or Nectar flavors. As a 7-Eleven senior product director said, “it’s a differentiated product for the on-the-go, millennial.”

But big changes are in the works for Soylent. Not only are they adding flavors — Cafe Vanilla and Cafe Chai — they’re also expanding their in-store presence in the least likely of store choices: 7-Eleven. The coffee, chai and chocolate flavors will now be available in 18 7-Eleven locations in Los Angeles.

7-Eleven, home of the Slurpee, Twinkies and 1000-year-old hot dogs, will now sell Soylent, meal-replacement drink of tech bros on its shelves. It’s very possible that Soylent does well at 7-Eleven, after all, even health conscious folks need to hit a convenience store for snacks, knick-knacks and other vices every now and again. And, if it becomes Known that 7-Eleven stocks Soylent, perhaps they will go out of their way to seek it out.

(Still, one has to believe that Soylent’s current audience, in fact, prefers the convenience of an Amazon order.)

Then again, it’s also possible that Soylent is really the one looking to attract the 7-Eleven consumer crowd, assuming — right or wrong — that perhaps they are also not a group of people inclined to buy the ingredients to cook full meals. That they, too, could be attracted to a meal in a bottle in palatable flavors.

Per Rob Rhinehart, the CEO of Soylent:

"This new collaboration with 7-Eleven will make Soylent an even better option for customers looking for convenience without sacrificing their health. We are thrilled to be working alongside the talented 7-Eleven team and look forward to building our retail presence nationwide."

That’s all well and good, up until the part about not sacrificing their health. Some might say 7-Eleven fans choose to sacrifice health when they walk into a 7-Eleven. That is, one could argue, why they went to 7-Eleven in the first place.