One key to fighting the coronavirus pandemic
could be strengthening our immune systems, and one award winning start-up
has launched an initiative to help shoppers identify foods and nutritional supplements
that may do just that.
In late March, Spoon Guru
announced the immediate deployment of its proprietary Immunity Support TAG,
which its in-house data scientists and nutritionists developed. Because 70% of
our immune system is located in the gut, Spoon Guru believes the right foods
and supplements can make our immune systems stronger and boost our bodies’
natural defenses. Making better choices about what we consume, including
focusing on foods packed with zinc, antioxidants, vitamin C, and probiotics,
can make our body more resilient and help it provide a better immune response.
Here’s how the Immunity Support TAG
connects people with these types of healthier foods:
Many consumers already are moving to
more specialized diets; it’s common for people to make dietary choices ranging
from gluten-free to vegetarian to low-sugar. According to Spoon Guru, 84% of
shoppers say they would switch to a supermarket that better catered to their
dietary needs, and many report that they have trouble finding the healthy food
they want.
Spoon Guru combines machine learning,
AI, and nutritional expertise to figure out how each food product or recipe is
suited to an individual’s dietary preferences, analyzing every ingredient and
nutritional value. The company allows grocery stores and food retailers to
provide a more personalized shopping experience.
Typically, a grocery store’s search
engine (if they have one) isn’t specific enough, as a shopper searching for a
term like “cereal no sugar no gluten” may find no or limited results. Spoon
Guru’s app allows shoppers to choose labels they want, such as “vegan,” and
shows which food products fit that diet.
Spoon Guru’s TAGs platform continually
analyzes products, so the information that shoppers receive is accurate and up
to date. As a result, shoppers can confidently buy a pasta sauce the system identifies
as “vegan” or a cereal it labels as “low sugar.” The filters remove the anxiety
and confusion customers may face when trying to read food labels and determine
whether a certain item fits their diet.
In response to COVID-19, Spoon Guru has
used its proprietary algorithms to quickly add “Immunity Support” to its TAGs.
This will allow shoppers to process items quickly and choose high-quality foods
that may regulate and strengthen their immune systems.
“Although there isn’t a cure for
coronavirus yet, what we can do is give our body the best possible chance of
operating at its optimum level by making better-informed choices,” Markus
Stripf, CEO and co-founder of Spoon Guru, said in a press statement. “We know
the use of our technology can help support people choosing the right foods
during the current health crisis.”
The new TAG is a multi-channel solution
for retailers. It can be used on everything from labels on physical products to markers
on grocery store aisles to indicators on online products. For example, retailers
can use the Immunity Support TAG to write emails to customers
highlighting products that support the immune system, create special sections
of immune-supporting products in stores, or tag products in their online
shopping platform.
About Spoon Guru
Based in London, Spoon Guru was founded in 2015 by Stripf, Tim Allen, and Simon O’Regan. Its approach to health and wellness was unique, as it created an app using AI technology to help people with very specific dietary needs and preferences. The result was a personalized experience for shoppers, as the app helped them filter thousands of products to find those that fit their diet. The Spoon Guru platform provided additional value in that it sorted through billions of data points every day to analyze nutritional values and update and add products and recipes.Spoon Guru quickly secured seed funding, and soon after its app launched, it was featured on BBC TV. The company now is in partnership with large retailers including Tesco in the United Kingdom, Woolworths in Australia and New Zealand, and Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, where its technology helps stores cater to shoppers’ diets. In 2018, the Spoon Guru app became available in the United States, and in 2019 the company announced that it was ready to expand to American retailers and was pursuing additional partnerships.
The company has received many awards since it was founded, including the Retail Week Customer Innovation Award for it work with Tesco. At the World Retail Awards, Spoon Guru won the Retail Game Changer Award, and its founders received the Retail and E-Commerce Tech Founder of the Year Award at the BMW i UK Tech Founder Awards in 2018. The next year, the company was named a 2019 Red Herring Top 100 North America winner and won a Personalized Nutrition Initiative honor at the NutraIngredients Awards. Spoon Guru also earned a Gold Stevie in the category of Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year at the American Business Awards.
