4A - Forming an Opportunity Belief

4A – Forming an Opportunity Belief

Beginning Point

My belief is that there is opportunity that exists in restaurants having scannable menus that connect to food tracking apps. Consumers will scan an item from a menu and be able to see the nutrition facts and with a push of a button be able to add that to their food log all from one page.

Description of my Belief

What is the unmet need?

While many restaurants have become more health conscious and have added healthy meals to their menu, their online listing of nutrition facts can often be a headache to look at due to jumbled small typing or only listing the calorie amounts.

Who has the need?

Scannable menus can be beneficial for dedicated dieters, consumers with food restrictions, and restaurants who would like to promote being health conscious.

Where did the need come from?

The need has developed recently since consumers have become more health conscious and restaurants need to keep up in order to cater to the masses and keep consumers looking for healthy options coming back.

What are people doing to meet this need?

Restaurants have listed the calories on a menu and have dedicated sections for “lighter meals.” Consumers are using food tracking apps to track their food and calorie counts which have the option of scanning the package and updating directly to the app, but I have not seen a scannable menu that easily corresponds to a food tracking app. I am about 70% sure that this opportunity exists.

Identify the prototypical customer

1.     Paige, USAPL powerlifter

Paige fit into many different categories; powerlifter, busy mother of 2, and surgical technician. She defined her eating habits as always calculated to either make weight for a competition or holding a certain body weight so she can comfortably cut weight before competing. She described the need for a scannable menu as a great luxury and explained that often she only goes to restaurants if she has viewed the menu online first and they have an option that fits her needs. She sees a scannable menu as convenient because if she would like to meet with friends after work she can scan and track quickly without having to scroll through the nutrition facts on the restaurant website and opening another app to track the food while trying to remain present with her company. She thought the opportunity was very innovative but was afraid not enough restaurants would offer it, so she would end up not using it.

Reflection

Paige seemed very responsive to the idea of a scannable menu. It surprised me most that she noticed that I was trying to make the scannable menu a one stop shop to include a food/calorie tracker. After this interview, I felt like getting the support of an athlete such as herself would be easy. However, I did wonder why she felt not enough restaurants would invest in the opportunity.

2.     Brandon, Avid gym goer & macronutrient counter

 Brandon is another consumer that is health conscious and uses a fitness app called My Macros to calculate his food intake daily. He goes out to eat no more than twice a week but frequents only a handful of places including Chipotle and Starbucks. He spoke especially high of the user friendliness of Chipotle’s nutrition calculator where he can customize his burrito bowl and it will calculate the nutrition for him. He also mentioned not so easy to use websites such as In-n-Out, that gives you the calculation of every individual ingredient, leaving too much unwanted math for him. He really liked the scannable menu as a solution to the problem but feared it wouldn’t allow the same flexibility as Chipotle’s nutrition calculator (Not being able to calculate the difference of a burger with/without ketchup).

Reflection

I really enjoyed this interview with Brandon because I felt he had so much insight about different things that really work for him vs things that did not. While I still like the simplicity of the nutrition facts to be listed when you scan, the opportunity might work well with having a level of customization with it as well.

3.     Ryan, Regional Manager of Dunkin’ Donuts

While Dunkin’ Donuts wasn’t my ideal restaurant to pitch to, it was the only person I knew in the restaurant industry. Ryan explained that Dunkin Donuts was trying to keep up with consumers change to healthy lifestyle. They offer egg white bowl and mentioned that its been pretty recent since they have added the calorie count on each donut type on the case. He says the idea of having to list the nutrition for a donut is weird, but he understands because sometimes customers will switch donut choices for a lower calorie option (from apple fritter to a glazed). Another Dunkin employee, Alison, pitched in and reminded Ryan of the multiple times customers have asked for exact nutrition information on coffee syrups and not having the information on hand. While Ryan said he wasn’t sure how useful the scannable menu would be, Alison thought it would be good because with the location close to an Air Force base, they see many Airman who come in after passing their physical fitness test looking to stay kind of healthy but also indulge a bit.

Reflection

It was an interesting interview as I felt Ryan did not see the value of a scannable menu at a donut/coffee spot where generally, people aren’t looking for healthy. Alison works in store with customers directly so maybe I should’ve interviewed her directly as she saw the opportunity as much more useful to her as an employee who needs to be able to answer nutrition questions. I realized the opportunity can be great for employees to be able to answer hard nutrition questions that customers may have about their products!

Summarize

How much of your original opportunity is still there?

I do still feel confident in the opportunity but customization may have to be tweaked to add more value.

Do you believe your new opportunity is more accurate than when you started?

Yes! I received some great feedback from all perspectives, the aspects that make the opportunity worthy and those things that may need to be changed or even focusing more on selling the opportunity to restaurants to deal with menu nutrition questions.

How much do you think entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunity?

I see the value in making the scannable menu customizable but I also feel that scanning a menu item and having it list the nutrition as easier and still desirable.