Hackathons have emerged as a way to bring together developers who are passionate about solving problems using innovative software solutions. Food+Tech Connect recently partnered with Studio Industries to unveil a new hackathon model called Design Hacking, blending hacking with design thinking. As the leader in restaurant software technology, Avero is excited to attend these thought-provoking industry events.
Food presents some of the most complex problems around, and no good solution can be designed without a careful understanding of the users and the other techonologies at play. Hack//Dining brought in four great partners, each with a unique industry-wide challenge: Google, Chipotle, Applegate and B&B Hospitality Group. Some of the issues presented included improving supply chains for high-quality ingredients, digital strategies for scaling up small businesses, and streamlining food safety compliance.
Greg Peppel, Avero’s Director of Product Marketing, participated in Google‘s Corporate Wellness Challenge at the event: “How might corporate foodservice use technology to help people make food and behavior choices that allow them to achieve their personal and professional lifestyle goals?”
According to the challenge details, Google wanted to help their employees stay active and eat high quality, nutritious food because healthier and happier employees are far more productive. This challenge focused on how corporate foodservice providers can use technology to help people make more purposeful food and behavior choices, so they can achieve their personal and professional lifestyle goals. Considering over 20 million people dine at the two largest campus food service providers each year, the potential impact on health and wellness by solving this problem would be immense. Greg and his team designed a mobile application called DecisionBytes — realizing that at the core of this challenge was the difficulty of choice, and the typical cafeteria exacerbates the problem. Diners are confronted with hundreds of healthy and unhealthy meal and snack options, and DecisionBytes grabs the user’s attention right when they enter the cafeteria (made possible with beacon technology like Proximity 5). The app then uses push notifications to recommend the best option from the food service provider’s menu and recipe database. The option is aligned with the user’s DecisionBytes profile, which includes allergies, health and fitness goals, and past likes and dislikes.
Greg and the rest of his DecisionBytes team were chosen for the final pitch round where they had three minutes to sell their concept to a panel of judges. Ultimately they came up short of bringing home the grand prize, but in many ways, going through this hackathon process was its own reward. Avero was delighted to particpate and plans to continue to be a key player in the discussion of food, technology and the future of hospitality.
