With Our Meals Just a tap Away InnerChef and HungerTap Have Announced The Future of Food

Remember there used to be a cartoon series called The Jetsons who had almost everything mechanized? To the extent that they didn’t even have to brush, bathe or cook, and as kids we’d be like “Woah! That’s so cool!” but knew that it was just someone’s imagination. Only that now we might have started approaching the Jetsons’ way of living!

Start up activity in the foodtech space has been ballooning this year with companies offering healthy food (Nutritown, iTiffin), restaurant food pickup (Swiggy), grocery delivery (Grofers, BigBasket, Delyver) and some covering the entire chain (InnerChef, Box8). Cutting through the clutter has therefore become challenging.

The growing number of food joints and the overwhelming number of options regarding what to eat is a question that often puts a consumer in a fix. Keeping this in mind, Rajesh Sawhney, who launched a food tech startup, InnerChef, a few weeks back has announced the launch of HungerTap, an Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled device for InnerChef customers.

The Delhi-based start up is introducing an automatic ordering device HungerTap, a groundbreaking device, that helps people in understanding what they should eat, based on their eating habits. The device can be attached to a workstation or refrigerator. When a smartphone is tapped against it, the customer is directed to the website or the app and gets recommendations for food based on past orders.

What is InnerChef?

InnerChef is an online food discovery and delivery platform, with a mission to help everyone #EatBetter. It offers Ready-To-Cook recipe kits and Ready-To-Eat combo meals all over Gurgaon and South Delhi, with plans to expand further.

Its Ready-To-Cook products enable anyone to order a delicious meal in 10-20 minutes flat. InnerChef currently offers 20 Ready-To-Cook recipe kits and 10 Ready-To-Eat Combo meals. It plans to take this number to 30-40 options at any given time that will be refreshed on a weekly basis in a month’s time. Further, it also plans to add to its menu Oriental and Modern Indian dishes in the coming weeks.

The startup also delivers fresh food twice a day i.e. Lunch (11 am till 2 pm) and Dinner (5 pm till 9 pm). As of now, this service is only available in Gurgaon and South Delhi, and will be launching in Mumbai and Bangalore over this year. “Our hub and spoke model enables us to launch multiple kitchens in every city and plan for hyper local distribution and delivery,” said the company.

How does HungerTap work?

The HungerTap device looks a lot like a simple fridge magnet and can be fixed to a fridge or work desk. The consumer can then use their phone’s in-built QR code scanner or NFC reader to scan the device. Based on the customer’s past behavior or orders, the device helps them provide new offers and food choices.

InnerChef plans to leverage the platform’s funded infrastructure and get a deep understanding of consumer behavior and preferences. The data collected with the use of this device will enable them to offer an even more personalized service.

Rajesh has founded InnerChef along with Bal – the founder of DiGhent Cafe, Heena Karia Thakkar – a professional chef, Uday Bansal – founder of Skybulls, and Rahul Samat – ex-product manager at Barclay’s.

It will be given to 1,000 customers in the first phase, Sawhney said. The company’s offerings include pre-cooked, cut food with all the necessary ingredients as well as the recipe packed in a kit, an Indian adaptation of US-based Blue Apron.