Why we’re connecting you to the data behind your food
Tags: Food And Drink, Founder Stories, Food Tech Startups, Wellness, Food Technology

In an increasingly connected and data driven world, food is one of the final frontiers. Most people still lack transparency or information about the food they’re consuming on a daily basis, and the way we eat out doesn’t make it easy to know what we’re really putting in our bodies. This includes knowing how food is sourced and prepared, or the nutritional value of a meal.

At Feedr, our goal is to bridge this gap, and in doing so, help people live healthier lives and thrive. We spend at least a third of our lives at the office, and so that’s where we bring our service, empowering people to eat better every day.

Too many cooks have spoiled the broth.

So why is there a disconnect between what we’re eating and what we understand about those meals? Fewer people know how to cook in today’s busy, grab and go society, which means more of our food is prepared and consumed out of home than ever before (up to ⅔, by some estimates), cooked by someone else, created for convenience and time-saving. We’re thinking less about ingredients, why something tastes delicious (butter, if you’re lucky, sugar and palm oil if you’re not), or why an item stays shelf-stable for a week or more (preservatives, probably palm oil again). Coupled with this, the western world has also seen a steep rise in allergies and intolerances in recent years, with a 50% increase in food allergies being reported in children between 1997 and 2011 in the United States. Moreover, with abundant information, people often receive conflicting advice from food suppliers, health providers and companies advertising their service or particular viewpoint; compounding the confusion around the topic of nutrition and its impact on our overall health and wellbeing.

So here we are, all in the dark. Eating more food prepared in industrial kitchens, often marketed as natural or fresh, but with little knowledge about the quality of ingredients, sourcing or preparation.

More importance needs to be placed on the nutritional value of our food.

Food is our fuel, it influences how we feel at all times. In fact, food is the foundational building block in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which means we need to get this right before we solve our higher level needs or put people on the moon. The link between gut health and mental wellness has been proven in multiple scientific studies, and recent studies also now connect poor gut health to the development of certain auto-immune diseases. So we know that what we fuel our bodies with is vital for overall health, function and broader wellbeing.

Despite this, the most popular meals in the UK are still sandwiches for lunch, burgers on delivery platforms (Deliveroo says burgers are their most popular delivery item), and chicken and chips when we eat out casually (Nandos is the UK’s most popular casual dining chain). There isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with eating these foods once in a while, but they’re lacking in terms of what we now understand makes up a balanced diet. As we continue to eat out more and this food becomes more easily accessible, it’s no wonder we’re struggling with weight gain, 3pm energy slumps and broader health issues.

The NHS’s Eatwell Guide, published in 2016, advises that we should be eating at least 5 varied fruits and vegetables a day, making up over a third of the food we consume each day. Evidence shows that by doing this, we reduce our risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers — yet, how many of us are ensuring we’re eating as plant packed as possible on a daily basis?

With longer working hours, busier schedules, the rise of the grab-and-go market and the boom in food delivery services, we’re standardly sacrificing the nutritional content of our meals for speed and convenience.

Capitalising on speed and convenience — food delivery has evolved into a multi-billion pound industry, but nutrition has been left behind

We all know the growth story of Deliveroo — a simple app that connects consumers to local restaurants, providing a seamless solution for on-demand food needs. Now valued at over $2 billion with backing from Amazon, it’s a leading example of how consumer needs, expectations and user behaviour have changed when it comes to accessing food. The food delivery market more broadly has exploded in recent years — with huge year on year growth and billions of investment being ploughed into the industry. Despite this, we’ve ended up with short-sighted focus on speed and convenience as the variables to optimise for, which has inherently created a trade-off with quality. At Feedr, we want to change this narrative — we believe that nutritional quality doesn’t need to be sacrificed for convenience. We see a world where nutritionally dense food is easily accessible and affordable for all.

Feedr’s solution for the nutrition vs convenience question

Our mission starts with the goal of connecting people to healthier food and giving them education and data that helps them understand their nutrition, so they can make better choices every day, whilst fitting into their busy schedules.

Food innovation with a curated selection of vendor partners. We work with the best, high-quality vendors to build amazing menus that aren’t just healthy but are full of options you’ll genuinely want to eat. We don’t believe you have to sacrifice deliciousness for health and neither do our innovative vendor community. Partnerships with experts to provide relevant and personalised content. We want to arm our customers with info from those in the know and connect this information to actual meal choices. We’re therefore launching a partnership with Dr Megan Rossi — The Gut Health Doctor, registered dietitian and gut health expert. The first in what will be a series of partnerships, we believe it’s vital that we work with credible, highly trained experts to give our community the knowledge and tools to make the right nutritional choices for them. Nutritional goal tracking. Our customers will soon be able to track their nutritional data for what they eat with Feedr and link this to their preferences and dietary choices. Coupled with relevant and accurate content, this gives our users the power and knowledge to set their own goals and make the right choices for them at any given time — whether someone is looking to boost their protein intake on gym days or increase their meat-free meals. Data-led feedback loop. In today’s digital society, consumers expect personalisation and customisation online, tailored to their specific tastes and needs. The experience with food should be no different. We’re using machine learning to not only present our users with the best options, but the best options specifically for them — based on their previous order data, reviews, preferences and food goals. This feedback loop is also invaluable to our vendors; providing the information they need to refine and improve their offering. In doing so, we’re connecting what has previously been so disconnected — creating a virtuous circle of review, refinement and personalisation.

Our users agree

In a recent survey, 43% of our customers told us that they would like the ability to track their nutritional data, whilst a quarter said pre-planning and scheduling is top of their list. We are thinking about ways to transform how people connect with nutritional data, use that information to make better choices, and have the ability to plan and schedule for piece of mind. As Marie Kondo has taught us, an uncluttered closet feels great, as does simplicity in menu and meal choices, built around personal preferences and goals. Food is a personal thing and we are excited about using technology to drive more personalised food content for our users and connect their activity on Feedr to their overall wellness goals.

Yet building a software platform that reliably connects meal choices to accurate nutritional tracking is not a simple thing. Existing calculation tools and databases haven’t kept up with changing diets (did you know freekeh isn’t listed in the only Public Health England composition of food database?), and multiple variables need to be factored in when ascertaining true nutritional content. A tomato is not just a tomato — its sugar content depends on the type, where and when it was grown and harvested. To compound the problem, vendors change menus seasonally so the usability of software is key to ensuring updated information is captured. Feedr is pioneering this development, to create software that not only accurately captures information about food, but shares that back with users in a way that is relevant, helpful and digestible.

What does the future look like?

Living in a fully connected world has meant that, for many, the fundamentals of healthy living have been sacrificed. Time and focus spent on nutrition, sleep, mindfulness and other pillars of wellness are lost in the urban jungles that we live and work in. But this connected world also creates opportunity for innovation. We’re thinking about the food-tech landscape differently, realigning and reconnecting the end user with the things that really matter — healthy, well-produced, sustainably-sourced food.

Crafting the perfect food platform is not just about understanding user preferences to build tailored menus, but about recommendations and content to give our users the ability to make their own educated choices. We plan to take this so much further — making it easier to find meals based on your food goals, plan farther in the future, and link your Feedr data with other nutrition and wellness tracking tools. There’s undeniable value in a deeper and more meaningful level of connection to the food you eat, and Feedr’s planning on leading the way with our partners and our vendors — come join us.

Visit feedr.co to explore our world further.

Contributors: Riya Grover- co-founder & CEO, Lyz Swanton- co-founder & COO, Charlotte Wood- Head of Marketing.