Dey’s story will make you think before you waste food
How will you Introduce Yourself to the world?
Hi, I am originally a scientist turned engineer turned social entrepreneur with a mission to reduce food waste at home using technology.
Can you shortly tell us how Nosh was born?
When the pandemic began in 2020, it totally changed the food buying habits of most people — from stockpiling foods in the early weeks of the outbreak to shopping less often, at various times, and in different ways. This also indicated that individuals in the household were at risk of wasting food. I, personally, have faced the same problem.
So, I did quick market research within my network to see the breadth and depth of the problem and came up with a solution – an AI-powered food-management application – nosh. The nosh mobile app helps people to keep track of their food items in the fridge and pantry more effectively while suggesting recipes on the stocked items and also enabling you to plan for shopping so that you can decide what to buy before you go out to buy them.
The app also comes with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) in-app algorithm that learns the purchasing and wasting patterns of food from the consumer so that the user can make a more informed decision about how much food to purchase next time to minimize household food waste.
Within the first month of the MVP launch of our nosh app, we got a huge response from the market, which proved to us that there is a market for such an application. We eventually started our business, Nosh Technologies, based on the nosh app and with the mission to reduce food waste in the household.
Interested in apps? Learn What is the best time to launch an app?
Please share your successes and milestones.
It hasn’t been a year since we launched the nosh app (MVP) and we have already gained more than seven thousand users across iOS and Android in 172 countries. Currently, we are one of the top three applications for “food inventory” and “food management” in both Play Store and App Store, and also won the Best Mobile App Design Awards by BMA.
And, yeah, did I mention that we’re also called by Accenture’s Blue Tulip Awards as one of the top 50 inventions in the food & water theme!
Now, that being said, our true achievement is our user’s satisfaction! When we hear from our users about how useful they find our app or how happy they are with nosh as their personal food manager, we at Nosh Technologies feel really proud of what we have created. For us, your satisfaction and “Convenience comes first.”
Do you have any daily routines or tactics to be more productive?
Vison board! Yes, heard me right. I am a very messy and occupied person. On average, my daily workday looks like a 16 hr workday, and most of the time it becomes very difficult to keep track of everything that’s going on in my life, professional and personal.
So, I tend to priorities the events and things-to-do for the day and then for the week. And, after I have prioritized them (and assigned a rank) I write them down on a piece of paper and stick them to a place that is almost always visible to me and in my eyesight.
Research says that a person is more likely to take action if s/he writes down their goals or task-to-do and then follow it through.
Moreover, for tasks that are pressing and has to be done ASAP, I use the nosh app to keep track of them. Yes, once again, you didn’t hear me wrong. I also use the nosh app to keep track of my tasks and not just food, although nosh wasn’t initially meant for task tracking! I guess the useful feature and ability to track items with an expiry or best before a date can be used in many ways and not just-food. But, Hey, it’s just me.
Though a fair warning, don’t use the in-built recipe suggestions on your immediate to-do-items on nosh, I don’t want you to follow the wrong recipe. Just kidding.
What is your biggest motivation to be an entrepreneur?
I have always loved solving problems and help others. That’s why I became a scientist in the first place so that I can create technology that could make a positive impact on society.
While being an entrepreneur doesn’t just give me the power to help people through my business by solving an existing problem for the users or customers, but at the same time enables me to productify my inventions for the same purpose with a “lab to market” mindset.
Tell us about your company!
Currently, Nosh technologies are focused on developing an All-in-One food management solution so that the users don’t have to think about food management ever again.
From buying to storing to consuming food, everything can be done through one unified platform – nosh. We have also developed several intellectual properties using the latest techs such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, and Edge Computing to realize our vision and bring us a step closer to our goal.
Keep an eye out because very soon we will be launching new features within the app to make your food management more convenient.
What are you focused on right now, and how are you making it happen?
The food supply chain industry has a very different standard for different regions or countries, which affects food security and food waste globally. Many might think that this doesn’t affect an individual but that’s not true. Everyone in the food supply chain is affected, especially when it comes to food security and food waste.
Right now, we are trying to make the food supply chain more accessible and traceable as possible such that for the users we can provide better food security and reduce food waste at the same time.
We have already developed a Blockchain-based intellectual property that helps the user to trace and verify their food product back to its source if needed while also enabling them to keep a better track of those items in the nosh app.
Being a Deep Tech company in the AgTech or Food industry we invest a lot in our R&D and Engineering to develop the best tech products that we can produce.
What’s your take on your segmented/targeted Market?
First of all, if you are a multinational product or services company such as Nosh Technologies, you have to care about the segmented market because your users will vary based on different geography and demography.
But your user data is the key to answering the pressing questions that your segmented market may through at you. Use the data to find out what suits which types of customers and from where, and then offer them the product or service based on that.
What are the problems you have experienced and what are the new challenges?
Given a tech business evolves rapidly it’s difficult to just pinpoint the main problems because the list changes quickly change, however, if I have to put my pedal down then the top three challenges that we will be facing are as follows:
1) Maintaining a monopoly in business.
When we started we were one of the very few apps that were offering managing food inventory apps. However, recently, given the booming market of food management, a lot of new apps are starting to come in and saturate the market. So, as a company, we have to always think of what we can do to create a monopoly within the market and keep attracting users.
2) Staying on top of the game.
When we launched initially we weren’t ranked in the food inventory or food waste categories, however, now we are one of the top apps for these categories. So, one of our biggest questions is how can we maintain the top position within the stores. What feature, products, or services can we offer to retain and attract more users. This is also very much related to the aforementioned challenge as well.
3) Whether we are being a sustainable and ethical business.
A lot of big businesses made their fortune by not being either sustainable and ethical, however, people are becoming more conscious every day. For us, as a new startup, we are very much focused on making sustained products for the betterment of humanity and environments, while we take every business decision to maintain utmost ethical standards towards our customers and employees.
Why you have started up?
As I have already mentioned, I love to help people using technology and when the pandemic started I saw a unique opportunity to solve a problem that most people were facing. Moreover, food waste has been an issue for a long time and wasn’t just a cause of the pandemic. Nosh Technologies, as a startup, is not just solving an immediate market problem but an old issue of food waste!
Where do you want to see yourself in the next 5 years?
I want every human on Earth to be using the nosh app for their food management. Thinking about food shopping? The person starts using the nosh app. Thinking about food management? nosh app! Thinking about recipes? nosh app. Thinking about news on food? nosh app. Whenever people think about food management nosh is synonymous with that. So, I want to focus my full attention and energy to see this happen.
Please share your learning with fellow Entrepreneurs?
Always keep an open mind. I have mentored many entrepreneurs over the years. Sometimes, I have seen some entrepreneurs are bull-headed, and if you criticize (positively) their idea or product, or service they tend to get very defensive or outright reject your suggestions.
For me, criticizing your idea or product, or service doesn’t make me money nor benefit me in any way (until it’s a paid consultation). However, if I am not getting paid to do that yet I am suggesting something to you then it’s for your benefit only.
It’s good to have faith in your product or service or idea but try to keep an open mind. Sometimes, you might be surprised to hear others’ suggestions on your product, which could only benefit you in the long run.
That being said, always do your market research before investing a lot into your new venture. Not all ideas could be monetized effectively and not all ideas have a prospective market. But doing your due diligence research on the market can save you time and money in the long run.
And, last but not least: Don’t listen to Nay-Sayers! There will be many who will say you can’t do it. Instead, ask for their feedback and ask them why they think you can’t do “something”. Their feedback can be used to improve yourself or your venture. Learn and move on.
How can one find you?
I am available on most social media channels but if you want to get in touch then LinkedIn can be a good place. Or you can also connect with me via Instagram or Twitter.
Learn about Nosh here: Nosh
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