Welcome back to another episode of Data Delicacies, where we bring the best and brightest in the industry to talk all things hospitality, all things tech, and how data is playing such an integral part in a lot of decisions being made, and how we live our daily lives, and of course, how the industry is changing.
Today's topic is a really, really cool one.Either you as a listener yourself, or know someone that has dietary restrictions today, going to restaurants becomes now
tougher and tougher for some of these people because the optionality with their menus, they have to do a little bit of research and digging with, you know, either on the menu themselves or with the staff to find out what they can eat, what they can't eat, make sure there's no cross-contamination.
And then when you take that into the digital space can become even more challenging.So today we have a very, very cool guest.We have the co-founder and CRO of Foodini, Erica Anderman.Erica, thanks for joining.
Yeah, definitely excited to be here.
Yeah.So thanks.So we've had a couple of really cool conversations in the last few weeks.Um, but you know, I'm glad, I'm glad you were able to jump on.
And I think this is super timely because, you know, we all know someone or either ourselves have some sort of dietary restriction.It's becoming more and more prevalent these days.
And, you know, really the theme of what we're trying to talk about here is how can data help these folks have a more exclusive, uh, inclusive experience. at restaurants, whether it's in-person digital, what that looks like.
So I know that's something that's very near and dear to your heart.So why don't we talk about, you know, why you decided to tackle this and what were the needs that you were seeing?
Yeah, absolutely.So I think that the funniest part or most ironic of it, I don't actually have any allergies or dietary needs.My co-founders do.
Um, but as you said in the beginning, the important piece is if it's not you, it's someone close to you, right? It's at least one in every three people.
If you add in just preferences, it's almost half the population at this point that has a reason of wanting to know what's in their food.And so for me, it really kind of stemmed from I've been in the restaurant tech space for a very long time.
I got my start back straight out of college, a company called Campus Food, which was kind of the first online ordering to come to college campuses.
And then I joined Single Platform when it first started, which we kind of built the original plumbing for menu data on the internet.
So all's to say I know a lot about menus and the real challenge is that the current infrastructure does not allow for restaurants and hospitality to easily be able to communicate what ingredients are within that food to consumers.
So while the consumer frustration piece is very well known and anyone that you know who has an allergy or dietary need will absolutely tell you how frustrating the current experience is,
On my side, the reason I really got involved and not that I don't care about people that I do, but the hospitality side, I have a lot of empathy being in the industry for so long for restaurants and operators because this is not easy because of the kind of current way our technology works.
And so that's why I got involved is because I really saw an opportunity here to kind of create that ingredient data layer to allow for this to be super easy for the industry.
Yeah.And I think it's, I think it's awesome.I think I, as far as I know, I haven't seen any money really diving into the space.So I think it's, it's, it's really, really cool what you're doing.
And, you know, I have, you know, I think we both travel quite a bit for work and you go to different restaurants and, and I think, you know, just being with different people that have this, they.
I think there's almost this level of validation that they need or a certain set of questions they need to answer before they can fully dive into a menu, right?Versus I think I'm in the same boat as you.I can kind of eat everything.
I'm pretty lucky, knock on wood.But I don't really have to worry about, hey, what's here, what's here, what's here.I can just kind of go carte blanche and order.But now you know how it is.
You go to some of these conferences, there's a bunch of people at a table.I always have to ask now, hey, what should we not order here?And you have to be very particular of that.
Why do you think that no one really dove into this until now, or do you think it's just been a lack of technology that has helped to fuel this to now be able to surface up to consumers?
Yeah.Well, I think it's a few things. quite honestly, more of awareness and growth, right, in terms of the number of allergies and dietary needs.
If you look at the data, younger generations more than ever, the prevalence, it's the increase in the prevalence as well as the complexity.So, you know, kids more than the older generations have more allergies and they're
There's a lot we can go into, into the why and that, but we'll save that for another day.But as far as for within the hospitality industry, I think they've seen the major trends, right?
You've seen vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free even in the recent years has become more popular.But what has happened within, I'd say probably just within the last five years, is now they've seen a prevalence more and more.
That's why they're right now fielding those questions manually.The staff is, whether it's a sit-down restaurant and it's the wait staff going to the table.
It's very common now for the waitstaff to say, right from the start, do you have any allergies and dietary restrictions?In the US, it's not because it's legally required for them to do that.
It's because at least half their tables do to a point where they need to ask.And on the menu side, the challenge is it starts to get real complicated.If you now have V, VG, GF, It starts to be, does it contain those things?
Does it not contain those things?Now icons don't really serve it.It's gotten to a place where the bad is, it's not being managed well today.
But the good is, I think we have a really good solution here to be able to really just make it easier for operators to essentially give this information in the consumer's hands.I guess we didn't really get into how it works.
Yeah, well that's, that was going to be, I mean, great segue, great segue into, you know, let's talk about foodini, right?This is what you're trying to solve.So give the listeners a sense.
Cause again, like you said, based on what you, some of the numbers you dropped one or two people listening are probably like, Hey, this is super interesting.
So, you know, talk to the folks listening about foodini and how you're trying to solve this challenge and make it easier for both sides.
Yeah, absolutely.So I don't actually give a little background that might be helpful to you to kind of how the company got started.So my co-founder, originally Dylan, first started the company when he was living in Australia.
He's Irish, started it in Australia.It's super complicated if you meet us in person, but what it also shows is they know no geographic Browns, right?The allergies are throughout the world.So throw some more stats at you.
U.S., 173 million Americans, but worldwide, 2.6 billion people.So this is not a small market.And that's dietary needs, not just allergens.But he really started the business from a personal standpoint.
He's a celiac, really grew up in Ireland, didn't know what it was at the time, was one of the first people trying to understand why he was getting sick all the time, diagnosed when he was 10. And he's your typical guy, right?
So some people, like, especially we're based here in LA, some people will say to us, like, is this problem that bad outside of LA and New York where people are, you know, choosing to avoid dairy and gluten. You know, it's not the case for him.
It's really, he wanted to know where he could go to get a sandwich, a burger.In fact, like he, and that's where the inclusive word really comes in, which is, you know, he just was sick of not knowing where he could go.
And to your example before, especially when you're traveling. you know, people are passing around food or at a buffet, you kind of forget about these people who have an allergy or dietary need, they are sitting there hungry.
And I've now seen that enough with him.So he started the app really for people like himself, to be able to figure out where to go.
And then once he quickly realized is the consumer demand extremely strong, but on the restaurant side, in order to help them with this information, you have to be able to get this data from restaurants.
And that's where you start to see that this isn't something that's easily available.And that's when I first came on.I first joined as an advisor where I, you know, again, been in the menu world for a long time.
And so I tried to help him figure out, you know, It depends who you're talking to.Mid-market and enterprise typically do have documented out right now.
It's usually within PDFs, these allergen matrices, or within inventory management systems where they have ingredient level.It's just not actually tagged and structured in a way that can be communicated to the consumer.
And so that's where we saw the opportunity to really partner with restaurants and hospitality venues to be able to help them to take this information wherever it exists.If it does not exist, we use AI.
And so we've trained LLMs on recipe level data where we have, and we get better each time, but the more data we provide on here, typical Pad Thai, for example.
typically we know what is within that pad thai and so we're able to tag these dishes such that we can give what we call a screened menu which is with pretty good confidence this is what's in that dish and then what's verified and that's where we have a dietitian team that actually goes in there verifies with the culinary team if it's a group or you know the chef if it's a small business of exactly what's in that dish so that we can verify for those consumers with dietary needs exactly what's in that dish
We structure and tag it, and then we create personalized menus for guests.And so essentially, as a diner, you come in, you say, hey, we cover about 150 plus, so I'm celiac, I'm allergic to nuts, or it can be lifestyle and medical diets.
So lifestyle, you know, I'm choosing to eat low carb or, you know, avoid red meat, or on the medical side, we're continuing to add more and more. as the, you know, again, demand from increases.It's not just a preference, but unfortunately in the U.S.
we're also seeing a lot more chronic disease that's causing people to have needs on the dietary side.
And so we're really trying to stay ahead of the curve to be the experts here to help restaurants to understand these growing trends and to be able to accommodate them.
Wow.That's a, I mean, awesome kudos to what y'all are doing.It's super cool.
And I was going to ask this, I think you, you partly answered it, but I mean, there's probably the cross and subsection of all the different allergies and dietary restrictions.
You said it's over 150 different ones that I'm sure, you know, there's new ones that are coming up every, every now and then.
Um, it's super interesting because I would think that, you know, before this, I mean, you know, a lot of folks, it's like, if they have a dietary restriction in their local town, they'll probably go to like five restaurants.
Cause they know, Hey, these five restaurants, these dishes, I know I'm good, but it's tough for them to go out and explore the world of restaurants.
When again, you know, you go to a bigger city, you know, some of the major cities, or if you're traveling, you're kind of scared.And, and, and I know one of my, uh,
One of my coworkers I've worked with at two different companies now, Stacy, she's gluten, she can't have gluten.And a lot of these conference, to your point, like the snacks are like a sandwich or like a bag of chips.
And she literally will just go hungry until dinnertime and like feel bad.Because in my head, I'm like, I'm just eating because I'm like, okay, whatever, it's there.But for her, she just doesn't have that option.
And if there is a cross contamination, she's like been out for like a day for a bit.So yeah, that's unfortunate.But I mean, big shout out.I mean, the platform, the way it's being built out sounds really, really cool.
Yeah, and you know, I think from a kind of taking a step back on the restaurant industry level, the challenges, I think, and maybe going a little off topic, but there's so many of the kind of tech providers now that are trying to do a lot all in one for restaurants.
And I really think when you do that, you sometimes miss some of these, what I call what we do is kind of a specialized product, which is we really need, you know, you can add a few icons.
Every online ordering company or POS can try to capture a few of these, but the challenge is the number are growing, right?40% of people who have an allergy have more than one.
And so now your matrix starts to get difficult because, okay, now I know I can't have this, but now I need to, you know, triage and look and see if I can have this too. So it's hard.Again, I feel for the industry because it's hard to keep up.
And so a lot of what we're trying to do is just really help the experts on this and look at the consumer trends across not just the country, but across multiple countries and be able to help see where the emerging trends are.
And again, take this off their plate.So I don't think I actually explained exactly what we do.So on the consumer side, they create their dietary profile. They click save and then instantly we match the menu to their needs.
So here's what I can have, here's what I can modify, and specifically what I need to modify, and then what I can't have.
And sometimes that's because, you know, let's say you're allergic to nuts, but the nuts are baked in, then you can't, but let's say it's a salad and the nuts come on top, well, that could be modified.
And so we give that information to the guest so that they have that before they get to the register, before the wait staff comes to the table.And so really it just helps to create a lot more efficiency for the restaurants.
Yeah.And, and it sounds like from both the digital and in-person experience, I mean, especially the digital side, I think I'm had that profile saved.
And then, um, I mean, I know you showed me this as a live walkthrough, which I thought was super cool where it filters out all those menu items that wouldn't.
You know, line up with your dietary preferences and you can go directly into, and then if there is one that maybe has a good thing you can take off, it's our show.It's all like. very simply laid out there for you.
And you're not having to go through a whole Da Vinci code of the menu to see exactly what I can pick and what I can have.
Exactly.Yeah.I know some of like the current examples where people are like, yeah, we already have, you know, we have, we've got this covered on our menu.
And I look at the menu and it's like, you know, it can start to be dizzying to, you know, and the hard part is those restaurants are actually putting effort in and they try to put effort in, but it goes, it's just, you can't do it that way.Right.
In terms of, There are too many tags where you start to get.And so some operators just are like, you know, it's too much and they don't add it.
But what the hard part is understanding, quite honestly, the cost right now of how much time is being spent by your waitstaff and also just the risk of a mistake, right?
When we talk to customers, one of the scariest is everyone, especially moms of kids with food allergies, you know, when they tell us that
the fear they have when they're sitting at a table or when they get to the register and they ask a question and they're like, I just want to make sure, you know, my son's allergic to nuts, just want to make sure.
And the wait staff, you can see in their eyes if they actually, you know, because this is a major issue again for the industry is keeping wait staff.Staffing is more difficult than ever.And so, you know, to have those, that staff
also be experts at every single ingredient within every single dish.To me, and that's obviously why I'm passionate about this, is it needs to be digital.This cannot be word of mouth.It's just genuinely unsafe.
Yeah.I mean, especially if, you know, some of that weight staff, they're maybe just working there part-time on evenings, or maybe it's one of many restaurants are working at, or it's a summer job for them.Right.
So they're not, they're maybe not bought into understand that.And I think I want to go back to your point of that kind of best breed approach, right.
Where, especially for something like this, where you can't really have acid, you can't have one foot in one foot out because of the implications of what happens if you do it wrong.Right. Right.
Like, you know, you serve someone the wrong thing and they're allergic.That's potentially life or death.So it's not something you can just like, oh, maybe I'll do half of it and not because of all the different variants of it, too.Right.
And you have to continuously update that.And especially places, I'm sure, that are changing their menu often have to stay on top of that, too.
So how does that work with you when they're changing the menu, work with them as a menu changes to keep that updated?
Exactly.And we're integrating with all existing tech providers.
So that's one big thing from just being in this industry a long time I've seen is I think that it's really important to ensure that as partners to restaurants and hospitality, we are sharing data.
Because obviously there's the feel good part about what we're doing in terms of we're truly helping them and helping to create a safer and more inclusive dining experience. But we're also capturing really valuable data here.
And so we'll integrate right at the point of when you're placing an order.And so we'll integrate with online ordering companies, as well as when you're in venue, a QR on the menu.
But for the data side of it, every time someone fills out that dietary profile, it's captured probably, I would argue, and obviously a little bit biased, but you guys are a data company too.
Then obviously we could chat, but we're working through this together.But capturing that customer dietary profile data, we talk a lot about creating a personalized experience.
There's new companies out there that are these customer profile or customer data profile companies. what better information can you possibly get than that customer telling you what their needs and preferences are when they're dining.
And so there's a lot of value we think in capturing that to help the restaurant as well as their tech partners to be able to understand their customers more as well as the larger trends that we're seeing around the industry.
Yeah, I mean, that's a great kind of segue to what I was going to bring up around, you know, this whole concept of customer attraction, customer attention, right?
We're hearing that from all the brands, big and small, because that's really the name of the game now, because it's become so competitive in that space too.
And, you know, the bigger players can, of course, afford to do all this big splash marketing, but really where the other players win is when it comes to very personalized marketing.And how do you do that?
You know, and to your point now adding, it's one thing to know what item or set of items you like, right?Like me, I'm a chocolate chip cookie guy or I'm a brownie guy.I'm a sweets guy.Cool.Everyone knows that.And well, if you don't, now you do.
But, um, but again, if you market to me, like. a brownie with like raisins in it, fruit for me, fruit and sweets don't miss.Right.But I don't know other people that love it.So, but to your point, but what if I'm also allergic?
What if it's a peanut butter cookie?And it's like, well, I'm allergic to peanut butter.And you, like, you've completed me now.It's me now.It's me now.
Data into marketing, I think makes brands way more powerful, but also just, it just, to the point of inclusivity, it makes that person feel like, Hey, this, this brand really cares about what I'm going through.
Yeah, absolutely.And again, as two people talking about dietarians who don't have them, I'll give you an example from, you know, again, we have people close to us who do.
My co-founder, Celiac, we, when we go out to lunch, like we work here local in Santa Monica, we go to, and luckily we work with them, they're our partner here at Sweetfin, He, we go to them like twice a week, at least.
I'm so sick of them, but I mean, I love it.However, it's because he knows he can eat there.It's a go-to that he knows he can dine safely at, that he knows there's options on the menu.
And there is no cohort of customers that are more loyal than customers who have allergies or dietary needs that know that you have an option for them.
And that's not just, you know, obviously he's one example of someone I spend my time with each day, but It's countless examples.My brother growing up has many different allergies also.And I used to be that person who was annoyed, right?
I'd be like, oh, we got to go to the same places over and over again.Now I've got a lot more empathy, which is like, one, kudos to the places who do make an effort to let people know, here's options.We do have options.
We're listening to you and looking at the data to understand. who our customers are and accommodating them, but they also see the benefit.
We have a restaurant group we work with in Chicago that has an entire gluten-free section of their menu because they've now become well known for having the best gluten-free fish and chips in the city, and that does a lot to attract
customers can come.And so I think there's a lot of benefit when you really lean in on the data side to understand your customers, to be able to leverage that, to be able to drive new customers in.
Absolutely.And I, you know, I, I just thought about this too.I grew up a lot of, and you know, I I'm guilty of this too, not now, now that I'm industry, but I was also, I was a very picky eater growing up, like super picky.
And I have friends to this day that are super picky.And I think this for them too, is the same thing, right?Okay.Maybe I don't like. certain, I don't like onions or I don't want this, or I don't like that.
And then it also, so, you know, outside of the, some of the health people that need it from a health perspective, but other people are just so picky where they want to just be like, listen, I like my burger with nothing on it.
And I just want to make sure like, that's the case.
And rather than having it where, you know, they're removing the toppings, they can just kind of eliminate parts of the menu and say, Hey, listen, this is the simple thing that I like, and let's just go.
Exactly.We have the option to search by ingredient.And so there's a lot of that, right?We have some people who are just like, I will not touch anything that has onions in it.I'm repulsed by onions.
And so it's not an allergy, it's a preference, right?So yeah, there's a lot of reasons why people need to know or want and need to know, right?
I think the other example, there's the just general picky eaters and people who don't want to eat certain foods, but there's also the food is medicine movement is a really big one.
in terms of, again, like chronic disease and how do we really help create a healthier society.We need to stop eating so much, you know, just manufactured food and the more real ingredients we can have.But people want to know what's in that food.
And right now, it's unfortunately in the US, not something that we disclose, you know, through a regulatory way.And so really, that's another added benefit of what we're trying to help with, which is
the more we can help create ingredient transparency, the more we can help when people are trying to understand their, you know, microbiome and understanding what foods are good or bad for them.
We make it easy for them to then translate that information to when they're dining out and can make those same healthy choices that they do at home when they're out at restaurants.
Yeah.And, and couldn't agree more.I think this, you know, there's been such a big focus on gut health, right?
I mean, I've, I've been down many rabbit holes, podcast rabbit holes where I'm like, you know, you think you're eating well and you wake up feeling sluggish and it all goes back to your gut.Right.And, uh, try to watch what you eat.
And I think, um, it's a requirement now to show the calories on menus as well.Right?Like that's, that's a newer thing.So I think that that whole push for more transparency around what you're eating is, is becoming more prevalent as well.
Yep.Yep.And so that's more on the, you know, once you reach a certain number of locations, you legally have to have available.
Um, but it doesn't necessarily need to be, you know, it's, it's, it's all different depending on the number of locations as far as if you need it to be displayed.Um, but yeah, no, it's your point.It's yeah, go ahead.
No, no, no.I was just going to say, it's almost coming full circle now with people that are, you know, becoming more using data for fitness, right?
You have Apple watches and you have all these different apps that can track your food and your, your calorie counting.Right.A lot of people, a lot of people doing that stuff and intermittent fasting, which is what I do.
Um, but now tying into this, it's like, they can, it's not a guessing game because I mean, You know, there's times where I try to do that stuff.
And then when I went traveling the road, I'm like, I'm on the road, like, or, you know, I'm not going to my usual spots.I'm not eating at home.So like, screw it.
Like I'm not going to do it, but they don't necessarily have, you don't have to do that anymore.You don't have to throw away your routine because you're not in your usual places that you know, the things where you're not cooking from home.
I think that's the cool thing about data.And what I think what you're really trying to solve here is to give people that level of transparency, regardless of where they are, even if they're not at a place for going to every single week.
Exactly.No, you're spot on.I mean, that's it.It's a growing trend, right?We were in Chicago earlier this year, and there's a future of food conference and a lot of kind of future concepts were featured.
Relish works, which is like the innovation arm of Gordon's food. their exhibit of future food.
And one of the examples they did, which we were flattered by, they had a restaurant concept that essentially was, I forget the name of it, like Nutrition X or something, which essentially had like one of those patches that are now out there, which to your point, there's a lot of consumer tech about understanding your microbiome or understanding your body more and what's good and bad for it.
And then once you get that data, it's what do you do with it?And so then they had, okay, then you use Foodini
when you're dining out to understand what you can and cannot have so that you can not only work on your health at home, but also when you're on the road and dining out.And we've seen, to your point, gut health is a big, big one.
Low FODMAP diet is one of the most popular growing diets that we've seen being saved.So there's a lot of, we have a whole section for what FODMAPs do you avoid. Um, and then to your point, keto, right.
Is, is another one in terms of a lot of popularity that is just, yeah, it should be easier to follow the same sort of health and nutrition goals when you're dining out as well.So that's another goal.
Yeah.And especially, cause I mean, the convenient way always is to go get fast food, right?Hey, it's easy.It's there.
The, the ingredients are pretty basic, you know, what's in it, but it's bringing that you want people to feel that same way, regardless what restaurant they go to.
Um, and you know, I mean, it's, it's no, it's no secret that a lot of the food in North America is very processed and. There's preservatives and all these things.
And, you know, I spent a few weeks in, uh, in Italy this summer and a lot of their stuff is farm to table where, you know, you can have a plate of pasta multiple times a day and still feel great the next day.
You don't feel bloated versus like I had in Dallas and I had a plate of pasta and I think I'm still full two weeks later from that plate of pasta.It's very different.Right.
Yeah, what's funny though is some people say to us like, well, this is a problem in America.This is, you know, you go to Europe and people don't have any allergies.
But actually another fun fact, Italy is the number three in the world for celiac disease. and they do a better job than anyone.And they're the land of pasta, right?
I had a customer tell me the other day that the Italian restaurant in their town told them, you know, if you want to eat gluten-free pasta, go somewhere else because we're a real Italian restaurant.You know what?When you go to Italy,
there are way more options for you for gluten-free options because they, again, it's data.Understand and know that this is a common disease.It is not a choice.
These people are born with a disease that prevents them from being able to metabolize a certain type of food.And so, yeah, it's actually a They do a great job in Italy.
I remember growing up, I think it was a friend of a friend or a friend's cousin, and he was allergic to all dairy.It was the first person I met like that, and I was shocked.I was like, what does that mean? know, you're young, right?
So I'm having chocolate milk and I'm having cheese and I'm having this and it's just, you know, I remember going to restaurants and like he did have to like this and this was like years ago, right?
So, you know, finding the waiter waitress and they'd almost have to bring the chef to talk about it, right?Like, Hey, what, you know, what can we have on this menu? And it was very, very limited, right?
So I can only imagine for someone like that, like, this would be like life changing for them, like, holy crap, like, because I also feel, you know, maybe there's an, I mean, we're both in the same boat, wreaking everything.
But I also feel like there's maybe a sense of like, reservation or, or maybe people feel a little bit nervous to talk about it out loud.Like, Hey, I don't want to be too loud.So I'll just order something simple.
I I've sensed that too, for some people I've been around where they're in a big group and everyone's like, Hey, we're going to order a bunch of stuff who has, and no one wants to put their hand and say, well, I don't want to eat this.Right.
So then they're just, I see them picking at the food and I can, I can, and then they'll end up going and getting food somewhere else after.
So that again, talking about inclusivity, like I can only imagine how some people feel about that, especially back in the day, let alone, I mean, now it's probably a little bit more.
open, but back in the day, I can only imagine how many people just kind of bit their tongue and say, Hey, I'm not going to say anything.
And still to this day, right.Another, uh, you know, the, the good and bad of what we're building is, is it can be applied beyond just restaurants, anywhere food is served.And so one place that's been pulling us a lot is, is schools, universities.
Um, a lot of universities, these students come in, we heard from dietitians from universities, which blows my mind.
is many times they can collect, and in the beginning of the school year, they'll ask, do you have any allergies, dietary needs, as part of student onboarding.
But because of HIPAA, they don't communicate that information to the dietitians and the chefs.
And so these students who are, you know, 18 years old, fresh out of high school, fresh out of their homes for the first time, having to, especially kids with allergies, right?
Your parents typically are putting so much effort into making sure that you're safe, you have your EpiPen with you at all the time.Then their kids go to school, and they're on their own,
And now they have to self go up to the office of the dietitian to tell them I need this special menu.I've got to go sit at this purple table away from my friends who I'm trying to meet.It's bad.It is really bad.So yeah, no, that's it.
It's a huge point, which is it's similar to online ordering in the beginning days, right?Which is like, You know, people don't want to have to call to place an order.
People want an opportunity where they can use the latest in technology to be able to get an informed data to make a decision.And that's how I kind of view where we're at today, which is why are we using word of mouth to communicate about this.
Why are we making people have to, to your point, be the person at the table that has to say, actually guys, could we also get this?And they feel bad or they're eating at home by themselves after because they were embarrassed to speak up.
And it comes to just like putting the information in their hands and letting people make their own decisions and you know, especially the younger generation, I really do think that, you know, it's, it's risky also, right?
And you hear the, you know, I think it's some status, like one in every 10 seconds, we send someone to the hospital right now because of food allergy.And it's like, it's costing the US billions a year.
And a lot of this can be fixed if we just get this information out there, people make their own informed decisions.
Yeah, no, that's, uh, you know, that's, it's awesome what y'all are doing.Um, I, you may have mentioned this, but just, just want to give myself also, but for the audience, like, what is the ultimate vision you have with Foodini?
Um, you know, whatever timeline that is, but what, what do you see?Is that like utopia moment?
Yeah.So we really view that food eating will power dietary needs solutions across the whole food ecosystem.
And so that's whether you are ordering food online, whether you are booking a table to reserve, whether you're on an airplane, whether you're at a stadium and you're looking for food, whether you're at school, when you are at the hospital, wherever it is that you
are looking to order food, we view it as this is the filter, the lens.You save your dietary profile and that allows you to then view exactly what you can and cannot have on the menu wherever food is served.
Nice.I love that.I mean, I think, you know, it's a true problem that needs solving.And again, the the the amount of people across the world, not only in North America that need this is, you know, again, we all know at least 10 people we can count.
Right.So that shows you how prevalent of a subject this is.So, um, Erica, you said some, you shared some really, really cool stuff.Um, and you know, typically how we wrap the show is, is with, with a quick lightning round.
So I'm just gonna ask you a bunch of questions.And first thing that comes to mind, let's hear it.So, uh, what's your current favorite cocktail of choice?
Oh, I'm a Moscow meal girl.
Ooh, Moscow meals.Okay.With the little, uh, the like, um, Oh, copper mug.
Copper mug.Yes.I'm going to think of the word copper.Uh, love it.Um, since we've been talking about this, if you were to start your own restaurant tomorrow, what would the vibe be and what would be the name?
Oh, again, I've been in this industry a long time.So I've had a lot of time to think about this one.So my concept would be called dips.And basically you've got one side of the menu, which is all finger foods.
So some healthy things, we've got some crudités, but we've got a lot of, you know, fried, baked foods, all chips, dips. or sorry, all like finger foods that you can then dip.The right side of the menu, dips.
So we've got all different, unique, seasonal, your go-tos, but essentially, and then a huge cocktail menu, because I understand they operate at, you know, good margins here.So I just think it's a fun concept, perfect for happy hour.
Obviously, maybe not the best for full service meals, but I've always wanted that when going out with friends after work.I feel like it'd be a fun concept.
It sounds like you've thought about this one.You had that one ready to go.That's nice.Nice.
Yeah.One day.What is your favorite?I mean, you've traveled quite a bit.What is your favorite food city?You live in L.A., but which is I know that's a good one.But what is your favorite?
I'm going to give you one you've never heard before.I promise you that.So when I when I was at Slice, we had offices in Macedonia. which is in the Balkans.I have a friend.
I have a friend that's Macedonian.
So really?OK, there you go.So, yeah.So I had never been, of course, before that.But in our city that our office was in a town called Overeem and deeper in the south of Macedonia, they have this.
The cuisine is essentially like some meats and then veggies and this Shopska salad.It's just like everything is so it's from the farms next to you, you know?Everything is grown locally, quite honestly, because they don't have any other option.
But it's tomato, it's cucumber, and then it's just covered with this cheese, this like local fresh cheese.And yeah, the cuisine there is just, I miss it all the time.Really, really good food.
That's awesome.Um, yeah, you're making me hungry.I mean, I love food in that part of the world is, is, is unbelievable.Uh, it's yeah, it's, it's very unique, but again, very fresh, right?It's like refreshing when you eat it.
Um, which, and we don't a lot of good places here, but this, I don't know something about eating food there.We're just very much from the table where you feel good about eating it.What is your favorite restaurant in LA?
Hmm. Um, I probably Jelena, um, in Venice, it's, uh, it's just, um, I am a farm to table.Just, I love the local fresh produce and I think they're creative with it and small dishes, but it's good at any time of day kind of thing.
Great for lunch, great for dinner, great for groups.So my, my, my kind of restaurant.
Nice.Love it.Well, Eric, I can't thank you enough for jumping on.Uh, I learned a lot on this show, which, which I, which is great.And then I think what y'all are doing there at foodini. is it's unbelievable.
So I'm excited to follow along the journey to partner with y'all and see what we can do.But, you know, essentially getting to that vision of creating inclusivity in a world that we interact with every day, which is food.
And, you know, to your point, I think It is just going to grow more and more of this, this prevalence of having to have, uh, you know, be able to cater different, uh, dietary preferences or, or, um, you know, restrictions and food.
And again, data is a big equalizer and that's what you're, you're using to help, uh, make life a better place for a lot of people.So thank you for everything you do.I'm going to kind of recap some of the cool stuff you talked about.
Cause I think you did, you brought up, I mean, everything you brought up was really cool, but some of the things that really stuck with me, um, you know, is that.
One third of the population has some sort of dietary restriction, but half the population put that just has preferences.Um, so you think of one in two people, which is, which is crazy.
Um, you know, that's a huge, huge market of people that need help with this stuff.And a lot of restaurants, they just don't, they haven't set up their menus or they just haven't set up the infrastructure in a way that can accommodate it.
They want to, of course, but it just a lot of resources and time to do it, but that's where you come in to really help make it easier for them, but also for the consumer.
where they can have, you know, again, speaking to the way we all work with today, digital is having a digital profile that covers all of that, which I think is great.
And, um, you know, using your direct to your team and the use of AI to then come up with like verification on, on what parts of the menu that people can look at and filter that stuff out.Uh, I think it's great.
And I think, you know, going to kind of the whole data component and, and. how you engage with your guests, it just takes potentially marketing to a whole nother level, right?
So you can now open up your marketing, be way more personalized with their marketing.And again, giving everybody that inclusive experience.
So any last thoughts, anything that I missed in my recap, but any last thoughts you want to share before we sign off here?
I think you covered it.Those are yeah, definitely some of the bigger points.But yeah, I think that the big point, especially I know you and I both restaurant tech and a lot of your audience as well.
I think the big thing is just making sure we all work together, right?I think you guys do a great job of it there as far as really helping the industry capture data and bringing that together.And obviously, that's what this podcast is about.
And I think the more we can really leverage that data to help improve the industry, the better off we all be.So thank you for doing what you do.
Love it.Love it.No, I appreciate it.
And, uh, if folks want to get ahold of you, Erica to chat, you know, whether it's a restaurant, wanting to understand more about what you do or, uh, another, uh, tech provider or just anyone in the industry that's like, this is cool.Let's chat more.
What's the best way for them to get in touch with you?
Yeah.I mean, I'm on LinkedIn, Erica Anderman, um, our website, get food, ed.com, or you can email me Erica, E R I C a at get food, ed.com.
Awesome.Which we'll share all those details in the podcast.Uh, so thank you for tuning in.This is another episode of data delicacies.Again, Eric Anderman from Houdini shared some awesome, awesome stuff here.
Please make sure to keep track of their journey.You can do, you can do a lot of really cool things.Um, and in the meantime, if you want to reach out to me or run an incentive.com, you can find us on LinkedIn on YouTube.
Our episodes drop every Wednesday.So until next time, peace.Thanks Erica.
Sign in
