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...in the US. We do a similar, but very different, thing here in China, Shanghai. Not only building the meal plans but also cooking and delivering it every day.
by mstaoru 9y ago
...in the US. We do a similar, but very different, thing here in China, Shanghai. Not only building the meal plans but also cooking and delivering it every day.
The city is flat and dense, 10000+ people per sqmi dense. Every day local food delivery companies jump on their electric scooters and deliver over 2,300,000 meals (2016 data, now probably more). In one city.
I can choose from 2,980 restaurants near me. If I add ¥5 (~$0.8) extra delivery fee, a bit farther, making it 8,600 restaurants. Decision fatigue multiplied by "I'm hungry just get me that deep fried chicken NOW" thing.
The food is very meh. Mid- to high-end restaurants don't do it. Good restaurants have enough business to skip deliveries at all. Meal kits tried and failed here, because people are just too busy and stressed to cook. Average rent is 140% of average salary. Overtime is a norm.
So we figured, why don't we take customer data + preferences, make a feedback loop and build FULL meal plans for them that they will 1) be happy to eat, 2) reach their fitness goals with, 3) be able to afford? By "full" I mean including healthy drinks and snacks. Lots of meal kit companies, food deliveries, and meal plan builders forget this.
We're in stealth mode so far, but I believe this will work in China.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- vitaminbandit 9y agoUh, what exactly is your competitive edge? You've framed the problem but haven't provided any details on how using customer data and preferences solves it. Isn't the most accurate customer preference data the actual real-time decision that the customer makes at the time of order?
- mstaoru 9y agoHey! Didn't want to provide details that aren't relevant to the parent topic. We built a system to calculate science-backed meal plans based on customer data. Calories, macronutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, probiotics, fiber. Water. We have over 5000 cookbooks from all over the World from which we curate our recipes, input them and get full nutritional breakdowns. It is probably THE most important part of any diet — the ability to actually stick to it and enjoy it. What we want to do is to completely take away the decision fatigue, and provide diverse food that is tailored to your body. Nutrition is complicated, and things that work for some people may not work for the other. The feedback loop is important. If a customer wants to lose fat or gain muscle, we track the progress and adjust their diets accordingly. PS: "Real-time decision that the customer makes at the time of order" is fueled by ghrelin and stress, decision fatigue and availability, and is most often poor.
- vitaminbandit 9y agoOk, so your product is a niche fitness meal plan rather than a traditional meal plan. Your primary objection to existing options was that "The food is very meh." You can see how that can be confusing.
- mstaoru 9y agoI think that's a big misunderstanding about meal plans in general. What is a "fitness meal plan"? Why "traditional" meal plan cannot count macronutrients? It's not necessarily to lose / gain weight, any food is important and should eventually be tailored to specific people.