The Background
FoodMe kicked off in 2021 with the idea of enabling people with specific dietary requirements to more easily connect with vendors providing suitable offerings. With more and more people these days identifying specific dietary preferences, whether for medical reasons (coeliacs, allergy sufferers, particular intolerances etc), religious mandates (Halal, pork-free etc) or lifestyle choices (vegetarian, vegan, paleo and so on), it was clear that a latent demand existed that was, as yet, unsatisfied. This was the spur for Michael Cerbara, CEO and co-founder of FoodMe, and his colleagues to address this demand.
The Challenge
While customers seeking a local dining experience are well serviced by traditional search engines and advertising, those looking to narrow the range to cafes and restaurants that offer options to those with specific requirements found little assistance. Most venues have vegetarian options these days, and some have gluten-free offerings, but few can promote their range directly to this market. At FoodMe, Michael and his team have taken on the challenge from both ends.
By encouraging venues that actively cater to those with special dietary requirements to promote this as a differentiator to consumers to whom this is an important consideration, there is an obvious marketing win. A venue that, for instance, hosts a regular Vegetarian Night has a great opportunity to promote it to an engaged audience.
Equally, for diners looking to identify a venue that offers a more interesting menu to friends and family with particular needs than the standard fare, FoodMe offers a quick and simple way of searching for and finding local cafes and restaurants that cater to everyone in their dining party, regardless.
The Solution
To achieve this connection between diners and venues, FoodMe needed a simple way for customers to identify their dietary preferences, their locale, and quickly display details of those offering appropriate fare. Michael and his team settled on an optimised web application that allowed customers to register and retain their dietary preferences and perform geographical searches for suitable vendors.
Recently the FoodMe site has expanded beyond just finding suitable bars, restaurants and cafes to include a marketplace where FoodMe members can also find delicious homemade food that meet their requirements and can be delivered directly to their homes.
Having had significant experience with partnering with off-shore and near-shore software development providers, Michael had some very specific attributes that he was looking for. As well as demonstrated expertise in developing quality solutions using the chosen technology stack (in this case ReactJS and AWS for the front end, and Typescript for the back end), Michael wanted to have confidence in his partner. “As well as technical skills, I was focussed on finding a partner who could offer our company piece of mind through having quality operating procedures” Michael said. “We see Mitrais’ commitment to proper staff vetting, training and development for our team members as providing an “insurance policy” for FoodMe. It allows us to move forward knowing that there are guarantees around how our projects are delivered for us and our clients – and it’s working for us”.
