F.OO.D.L.Y. stems from the need for a more sustainable future. Food is one of the greatest polluters of the planet and students must take action by adopting and promoting sustainable consumption behaviours. F.O.O.D.L.Y is a platform where students can find one-person recipes, cooking ideas for leftovers, basic notions on sustainability and a community to share the vision for a cleaner and better world.
First and foremost, it is essential for us to hire a professional cook that will be in charge of cooking the 150 different recipes (25 starters, 75 main dishes, 50 desserts) in order to ensure a smooth start of the project. After having collected these recipes, we will have to test Foodly among several focus groups, that should in particular be students, by gathering their feedback. Their feedback will not only help us in terms of assessing the user-friendliness, but also it would allow us to get their feedback on specific features and design elements. The way students perceive the application is highly important to the development and improvement of our value proposition, as we plan to address primarily students that share the love for food and want to limit food waste. Once we have completed this step and gathered valuable feedback from our focus groups, we will concentrate our business development. One of the first steps regarding business development is the creation of an application by IT experts and designers that have experience in launching interactive and innovative applications. Equally important is to find resources for the funding of the project. As we are aiming at creating an anti-food waste application, we could apply for venture capital investment funds, launch a crowdfunding campaign and get in touch with business angels who could be interested in investing in our project. We could also apply to “L’incubateur Sciences Po” program. Additionally, we will start to develop strategic partnerships either with sustainable supermarkets or firms that aim to reduce food waste.
Secondly, we strongly believe that communication is highly important for a successful application launch. In order to find early adopters of Foodly, we need to develop partnerships with young influencers who are particularly interested in food, sustainability and reducing food waste. Social Media play an important and shaping role in our communication strategy, as they are an useful tool to make Foodly known among students. Another interesting opportunity is to attend events and to discuss with experts the possibilities surrounding the fight against food waste.