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Expo 2015 helps: 10 great ideas for a food start-up that you might have had
Expo 2015 helps: 10 great ideas for a food start-up that you might have had

Video: Expo 2015 helps: 10 great ideas for a food start-up that you might have had

Video: Expo 2015 helps: 10 great ideas for a food start-up that you might have had
Video: 4 simple ways to have a great idea | Richard St. John 2024, March
Anonim

Who said that Italians are good only at cooking and eating? They are also very good at capitalizing on the business that revolves around food, as demonstrated by the fervent fabric of small girls start-up that every day try to penetrate the market of food with original ideas or simply riding the prestige of made in Italy.

In the end it thundered so much that it rained, and in Milan the Seeds & Chips were invented, the first International Exhibition dedicated to the new realities of the food sector, where silicon meets saltimbocca, open to the participation of anyone, from mega-super-ultra-multi-nationals. to any Pinco Pallino.

The opportunity could not be missed, especially a few months after Expo 2015, which will act as a sounding board for companies and initiatives related to the sector between 3D printers for food, precision agriculture, hydroponics, cognitive cooking systems, smart kitchens and smart labels, in the hope that they are not applied on stupid foods.

The Seeds & Chips will be held from 26 to 29 May, with the first two days dedicated to professionals, while the last two are open to all.

The Seeding Box is also fundamental, a space where young promises in the sector can meet large companies and potential investors, to present their projects and hope to be financed without being indigestible.

Being a start-up, we have decided to freshen up on what are (or have been) some of the most promising initiatives and ideas of recent years born in our country.

10 start-ups are enough for us. Let's see them.

Cortilia
Cortilia

COURTYARD

Born in 2011 - sometimes I wonder if a company can still be called a start-up after four years of activity, but let's skip it here - Cortilia was born with the aim of creating an online agricultural market with a short supply chain.

Members of the site can choose fresh, seasonal and zero-kilometer fruit and vegetable products, grown by the hands of local farmers, presumably located in the area adjacent to the user's geographical location, and have them delivered comfortably at home.

You can opt for a hit and run of a single order, or subscribe and receive tons of fruit and vegetables (and other products) every week or fortnight, depending on the needs and the harvest. A joy for those like me who would also buy petrol for cars online.

The big limit of Cortilia lies in the modest coverage of the territory. To date, the areas served are Milan and its province, Monza and Brianza, Varese, Gallarate, Como, Lodi, Pavia, Novara. Practically 95 percent of potential Italian users first go to their local market, myself included.

Perhaps this is why they still call it a start-up after four years and it is unlikely that it will succeed in breaking into the market without a more widespread penetration.

In any case, the company obtained a loan of 1.5 million euros last November and its CEO Marco Porcaro is optimistic and focuses entirely on enhancing the product:

“Our effort is to enhance the producer and the product, to create an engagement between those who produce and those who consume. A courgette is a courgette, but if I tell you the story of that courgette and of those who produce it, I will make you fond of the producer.

Of course if I can't even taste that courgette …

PizzaBo
PizzaBo

PIZZABO

That of PizzaBo seems to be the classic American story. Two university students, Christian Sarcuni and Livio Lifranchi, in 2009 reflect in front of a mailbox full of flyers for pizza at home and pull their idea out of the hat: "And if we created a system for ordering pizza online from home in real time?".

The basic idea of PizzaBo lies in a terminal that is placed in the pizzerias participating in the circuit: every time a user places an order online in one of the pizzerias on the circuit, the terminal rings and issues a receipt with the order to be executed.

After 5 years, the site, which generated more than a million orders out of 240 thousand users and 312 between pizzerias and restaurants at the end of last December, is noticed by Rocket Internet, a German incubator that counts among its successful names such as Zalando, Dalani and CityDeal, buys 100% of PizzaBo for an undeclared amount, but which could be between 55 and 5 million euros.

From precarious to millionaires in five years, not bad.

Even if at the moment PizzaBo's coverage on the Italian territory is limited, with the support of Rocket Internet, already a winner in the food delivery sector with Foodpanda, the prospects for PizzaBo are extremely rosy.

the question, click, pizza
the question, click, pizza

THE COMMAND

Still of the philosophy "if Mohammed does not go to pizza, the pizza will go to Mohammed" is the Click'N'Pizza of the start-up La Comanda, which identifies its DNA already in the name.

The Click'N'Pizza is in fact a gadget to be placed on the refrigerator and which with a simple click on the display will allow you to order a pizza at home. You don't need a smartphone or computer, just your finger is enough to scroll through the list of pizzas and order them.

Although the company is very Italian, the tool aroused the curiosity of PizzaHut (sigh …) who decided to start an experiment in Canada and it will be the Pizza Hut places to receive the orders and then deliver the pizzas to the home of the hungry users..

The presence of the gadget on your refrigerator could trigger obsessive compulsive disorders and lead people to order repeating pizzas as if there were no tomorrow, but the channel is two-way and even partners will be able to use the device to send offers directly from the refrigerator. pizzofagi, offers that obviously will not be able to refuse.

In addition to Click'N'Pizza and other Click'N'Something, La Comanda also offers Trillio, a device that will always remind you when to take your medicines.

After the binges of familiar fourteen cheese pizzas, don't forget the cholesterol tablets. Who knows if we will ever see him in Italy … for me it would be the downfall …

Left-handed cooking
Left-handed cooking

LEFT KITCHEN

If your eating habits have always made you feel "marginalized" - or on the contrary miraculous - like left-handed people, here is Cucina Mancina, which can be considered the Italian gastronomic equivalent of the legendary Leftorium by Ned Flanders, or a place capable of offer solutions to culinary needs and problems that only a part of users (gastrosnob or not) ask themselves in nutritional terms.

In simpler terms, Cucina Mancina wants to offer a large and rich community for heterodox eating habits: vegans, vegetarians, diets with low sodium, low sugar, hypoallergenic, low calorie or simply for those who want to experiment.

The site is "a food community, a virtual platform that offers creative solutions for the left-handed food community, which satisfies the taste of people who for health reasons have given up the pleasure of food and, at the same time, tickles the palate of" curious food "with original preparations" as stated in the official presentation, and was born from the idea of Lorenza Dadduzio and Flavia Giordano.

Given the explosion in popularity for alternative cuisines (pass me the term) Cucina Mancina has found a lot of fertile ground, suggests to "culinary lefties" tips, recipes and suggestions on what, where and when to eat, and has recently launched a new campaign of crowdfunding to create the "left-handed market", complete with videos, where users can also buy products.

Now that the people of the network have to hunt for money, we will see if they will suffer a "leftover": the goal is 10 thousand euros in funding.

Guk Kim, Cibando
Guk Kim, Cibando

FOOD

Born about four years ago, Cibando will soon disappear. No, it has not gone bankrupt, on the contrary: the company founded in Italy by Guk Kim was recently acquired by Zomato, one of the emerging Indian powers in the food sector. The points of contact between the two companies are many: both offer a rich database of restaurants, with accurate information, reviews edited by the editors, advice and suggestions on what to eat, with suggestions that go beyond food.

Zomato has a database of over 310,000 in 20 countries, plus 150,000 photos and 7,000 reviews of Cibando. Soon, Cibando will no longer exist and will be incorporated into Zomato Italy, a local reality that will be enriched with 30-40 new employees between Rome and Milan.

The main difference between Cibando and Zomato is the presence in the latter of a very active community of "fooders", who exchange advice on their eating habits.

The Zomato model certainly does not stand out for its originality: it is commonly referred to as the Indian TripAdvisor, but it is growing at the rate of many acquisitions in different countries around the world.

For Kim, there should be greater control over reviews, with greater interaction between accommodations and the site, but for now the numbers that allow this strategy - compared to the figures ground up by TripAdvisor - are much more limited and it will be difficult to maintain the same controls. when the volume of user-generated content becomes massive.

Open a restaurant at home, gnammers
Open a restaurant at home, gnammers

GNAMMO

Gnammo is the platform for Italian-style social eating. If you don't know (yet) what social eating is, I tell you briefly that it is the trend of transforming your living room, dining room or hovel into a restaurant, and inviting complete strangers to let them eat and get paid, all in a convivial environment.

If you haven't done it yet, I suggest you read the chronicle of a social eating evening in socks written by our Carlotta.

Both those who want to eat and those who want to cook can register on Gnammo, becoming “gnammers” and participating in events or simple hit and run dinners, communicating online and interacting with the community.

The trend of social eating is literally exploding, thanks to the crisis effect, capable of meeting the demand of those who want to eat out spending less and those who want to invent an activity and make ends meet.

Concerns about social eating have already arisen of a fiscal, but also hygienic nature, and regarding this last point it is worth mentioning what you read on the Gnammo website, answering the question “If someone feels bad, whose responsibility is it? ":" The responsibility in this case is the same as if you invite your friends to dinner and one feels bad because you served the spoiled mussels: it is naturally yours, but we are sure that you will be careful what you serve. We will plan to have Cook insurance in the future, but it does not currently exist."

Social eating is a relatively new sector and as it is happening for other sectors and other start-ups (Uber and Airbnb) it will not fail to raise some fuss.

foodscovery
foodscovery

FOODSCOVERY

An interesting proposal is that of Foodscovery, a reality founded by Fabio di Gioia and Mario Sorbo from Foggia, who have decided to create what they like to call a marketplace, in contrast to the classic e-commerce. In the case of Foodscovery, users can browse the product catalog and order what they like best, but the order will be forwarded to each individual manufacturer, who will then take care of the shipment.

Foodscovery therefore acts as a "glue" between producers, mostly small local businesses that need to obtain diffusion for their brand and their excellence, and the most curious and demanding users, always looking for news, goodies and niche products but qualitatively guaranteed.

From this perspective, Foodscovery is a very interesting showcase, with great care also from the point of view of the contents, among which images and photographs of other value stand out.

The idea of Foodscovery was liked so much that it obtained substantial funding from IntesUP, the Italian "venture capitalist" incubator that finances projects in our country. Would you like it huh?

It's a lie, I made it up, just to emphasize the harsh reality once again.

As with many other start-ups, were Axel Springer and TechStars, two giants of the German and US sector respectively, who set their sights on Foodscovery, who convinced the company to move to Barletta? er no, in Berlin, to apply the model also in Germany and expand it to Europe.

The vegetables from my garden
The vegetables from my garden

VEGETABLES FROM MY GARDEN

The proposal of the small Le Verdure Del Mio Orto is original: the start-up, born in the province of Vercelli in 2009, allows you to create your own virtual garden and rent it to guarantee you a weekly supply of vegetables, depending on the cut required.

Sounds like a real, remote version of Farmville, doesn't it?

It starts with plots of 30 square meters, which guarantee about 3-4 kilos of vegetables, to climb as needed. The watchwords of Le Verdure Del Mio Orto are km0, total control over the origin, freshness, authenticity and seasonality. Ideal for those who have always wanted a personal garden, but cultivated by someone else.

For those who are not satisfied with vegetables, it is also possible to adopt a small paddy field to guarantee a certain production of rice, also choosing between the Carnaroli, Sant'Andrea and Arborio qualities, the drying method, the aging times and whether white rice or whole wheat.

Finally, it is possible to simply purchase a test cassette to test the terrain.

At the moment the areas served by Le Verdure Del Mio Orto are still limited and although different regions are indicated on the map on the site, it is not certain that they are really served.

I tell you this from personal experience. I and many others interested can go back to playing Farmville.

Paisan
Paisan

PAISAN

Resolutely Italian but oriented to a public that is anything but Italian, Paisan is a start-up in Rome that shows how much made in Italy in the gastronomic sector is an inexhaustible source of business, especially in exports.

In fact, the site, in English, offers all lovers of Italian cuisine the opportunity to buy typical Italian products to make their favorite recipes.

Imagine an American who wants to make a nice pizza at home, without using products such as Parmesan or Mozarela, but truly Italian raw materials.

Go to Paisan, choose the recipe for true Neapolitan pizza, buy the package, pay and receive at home in the order: olives, peppers, dried tomatoes, taralli, Mulino Marino flour, Paglione tomato sauce, capers, oregano, anchovies, salt, Italian extra virgin olive oil, a pale ale from Birra Karma and a chocolate limoncello from Paccti di Capri.

And the mozzarella? Cabbage your, will have to go to Parmesan.

The fact that whoever receives it is able to make it is a different matter, but certainly the great prestige of Italian cuisine and traditional dishes are an effective driving force for an activity of this type.

Paisan offers several menus to choose from, a list of producers and as if that weren't enough, it also sells its dedicated merchandising, just to monetize a little more.

If the crisis in Italy bites, lovers of made in Italy will bite our recipes abroad.

EdoApp
EdoApp

EDOAPP

We close this roundup with Edo, a company that has developed the homonymous application capable of transforming your smartphone into a sort of food consultant.

Just wield the mobile phone with Edo installed, scan the barcode of a product and the app will indicate if the product is healthy based on a score from 1 to 10, will suggest any healthier alternative products and will also indicate any allergens. in the event that your personal profile contains food allergies or intolerances.

The idea is not bad but judging by the comments of users who have tried it (including myself) at the moment the product database is quite skimpy and you will struggle to find products known by the application; in most cases Edo will remain strictly silent with regard to your questions and to date its effective usefulness seems to have been reduced to a minimum.

However, the idea is original and with the increase of the product database, the application could become really interesting, especially considering the increasing awareness that users want to have about what they are eating.

Little big apps grow.

After this feast of Italian start-ups, two very brief considerations: the food sector and business are able to produce many interesting realities and truly capable of revolutionizing a market increasingly permeated by technology.

Too bad that these realities and their turnover, in most cases of success, are destined to emigrate abroad, as evident from our overview.

Will Seeds & Chips be able to make a difference or will it be just the umpteenth fair of chatter? To date, Italy does not seem like a country for food start-ups, not to stay there, but hope is the last to die, indeed, to emigrate.

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