Soylent Says Won't Sue Copycat Meal Replacement 'Schmoylent' The original meal replacement company says it won't take legal action, but discouraged the knockoff from trying to compete.

By Kate Taylor • Nov 17, 2014

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Tired of waiting for two to three months for the suddenly uber-popular liquid meal replacement Soylent? Order Schmoylent!

No, that's not a typo. Schmoylent is a surprisingly direct knockoff of Soylent. The only major changes between the powdered meal replacement mixes are substituting rice protein instead of artificial vanillin and an extra "chm" in the name. Plus, instead of waiting for months for your powder to arrive and your need for actual food to end, you only have to wait one to three weeks for delivery.

The creator of the knockoff even reached out to Rob Rhinehart, creator of Soylent, to ask for his blessings for the product, reports Valleywag. Rhinehart responded that he would love if Soylent was able to meet the high demand so knockoffs were not necessary. However, he wouldn't stand in Schmoylent's way.

"I won't stop you from selling 'Schmoylent' on legal grounds, but I must caution you it is unwise to enter in to direct competition with us," Rhinehart wrote in response to the Schmoylent query in one of Soylent's online "fireside chats."

While most food companies and restaurants treat recipes as guarded secrets, Soylent links to a website dedicated to DIY Soylent. The site provides a community for individuals not affiliated with Soylent to tinker with recipes for "lower-case letter 'soylent,'" or singular sources of food that can provide complete nutrition. Soylent the product and company, or "capital-letter 'Soylent,'" encourages this tinkering in the spirit of open source data.

Schmoylent creator Custom Body Fuel is an advocate of these customized, DIY soylent options. In addition to Schmoylent, the website sells personalized drink powders and will also design custom blends based on customer's unique dietary needs.

Kate Taylor

Reporter

Kate Taylor is a reporter at Business Insider. She was previously a reporter at Entrepreneur. Get in touch with tips and feedback on Twitter at @Kate_H_Taylor.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Most Popular

See all

Business News

Jack Dorsey Explains Bluesky Exit: 'Literally Repeating All the Mistakes We Made' at Twitter

Dorsey left the Bluesky board and deleted his account earlier this week.

By Sherin Shibu

Side Hustle

Want to Start a Simple Business That Helps the Planet? After 'One Night's Worth of Research,' He Started an Eco-Friendly Gig And Now Makes $200K a Year

Environmentally-conscious laws are picking up steam across the country. When one went into effect in Zach Cavacas's home state, he saw a lucrative business opportunity. Chances are, a similar law is coming to your state, or is already there.

By Frances Dodds

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

By The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc.

Fundraising

My Startup Couldn't Raise VC Funding, So We Became Profitable. Here's How We Did It — And How You Can Too.

Four months ago, my startup reached profitability for the first time. It came after more than a year of active work and planning, and here's what it took.

By Martins Lasmanis

Business News

Warren Buffett Had to Work From His iPhone After Telephone Lines Went Down at Berkshire Hathaway: 'I'm Glad We Didn't Sell All of Our Apple'

Berkshire sold around $20 billion worth of Apple recently.

By Sherin Shibu

Starting a Business

I've Co-founded Over 20 Firms — These Are the Five Critical Questions You Need to Ask to Evaluate Your Startup's Health

Have you checked your startup's pulse recently? If not, here are five questions to assess how your company is doing and which areas need more attention.

By Hilt Tatum IV