Another app in the tsunami of apps. But this one stands out, according to CEO Pavel Cholakov: ‘It’s a personal nutritionist in your phone. It just takes a few seconds to generate a personalised menu for the whole week.’ The app also includes grocery lists, recipes, a calendar to evaluate your progress, and even medals when you comply to the suggested menus.
Pavel and his colleague entrepreneurs are creating the app in Bulgaria. ‘I have a strong network there, given my Bulgarian background. But the app is going to be launched globally,’ the UT student explains.
Trends versus science
The entrepreneurial team has put some serious thought into the algorithms that provide the food suggestions. Pavel: ‘We don’t follow latest food-trends because they aren’t always that healthy. Instead, we work with dieticians, nutritionists and medical experts. They know how to interpret academic research. We use their databases and expertise.’
When talking about personalised menus, the EatWell-app doesn’t only take into account food preferences or exercise intensity. It’s fit for people with health problems, such as diabetes, and food allergies. However, the app doesn’t give you any more than mere suggestions. ‘It’s not our ambition to replace medical devices or methods. It’s just an extra tool to help people with medical conditions live healthier.’
Ordering system
It’s the eventual goal to include an ordering system. Pavel believes that people will only eat healthy when it’s made easy for them. ‘We want to have restaurants cook our menus, which is a challenging task. But one of our dieticians came up with a subscription-based model, that we think could work. We’re finalising the details.’
Pavel is not in it to make money. ‘The app will be free, there will be no banners and the food suggestions will not be sponsored. We genuinely want to help people to eat healthy.’ Of course, Pavel and his team do have a business model in order to stay afloat. ‘We want to generate revenue from the ordering system, we have different ideas about how that will work.’
Pavel and his team have been working on this app for 1,5 years already. To get to the finish-line and to complete development, they are looking for funding. The app is expected to be available from early 2015.
