A new Ann Arbor-based app, which helps diners with food restrictions find menu items they can eat, is reaping the rewards of a publicity stunt that distributed 1,000 care packages across Ann Arbor.
Early on March 6, Edible Project cofounders Mike Copley and Ish Baid and a team of helpers distributed 200 doormats and several camp chairs with the Edible Project logo around the University of Michigan (U-M) campus and other parts of Ann Arbor. They also
distributed 1,000 care packages, each containing a special-ordered fortune cookie with messages about food restrictions, a $3 gift card to
Piada Italian Street Food, a piece of candy, and a flyer with more information about the app.
Baid said his team wanted to create buzz across campus and around town, and the publicity stunt accomplished what they had hoped.
"In the past week, we've had more downloads of the app than over the entire life of the app. And we're still getting 150 to 200 new users coming in daily," he says.
Baid, who serves as chief technology officer for the Edible Project, says the idea for the app was born from his partner's dairy allergy. The two were friends while students at U-M, and Copley's allergy made eating out a chore.
"It could take half an hour to order, because if he has even the smallest trace of dairy, it would put him in the hospital," Baid says.
According to Baid and Copley's research, one in five Americans have similar diet restrictions, ranging from eating a "Paleo" diet to being kosher or halal to being vegan. (A survey conducted on the U-M campus by the Edible Project team suggested an even higher ratio of one in four respondents with dietary restrictions.) These restrictions often mean that diners will stick to just one restaurant where they know the menu, or to ordering a salad at every eatery.
Copley and Baid knew there had to be a better way and released the first iteration of their app in January of 2016. They started by going to different eateries in Ann Arbor and trying to gather ingredient information.
"We realized it was a bad approach," Baid says. "Who is really the expert in dietary restrictions? It's the people with the restrictions. They know exactly what food is good in Ann Arbor and that fits a specific diet."
Within the next month, the app will be opening to user submissions. Users will be able to sign up as Edible Project "scouts" and report back on the best gluten-free or vegan menu items in the city.
Other plans for the future include competing in entrepreneurship events, networking, and working with a startup accelerator program. Their long-term plan, though, is to take the app nationwide.
"Our goal is to have every menu in the country documented," Baid says. "We're in an era when people are info-hungry, so I think it's possible, and we want to be the ones who make that happen."
Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.
Photos courtesy of the Edible Project.
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