Starting today, there’s a new way to ensure you’re sticking to your diet, be it for health, weight loss or allergies and food sensitivities.
PlateJoy, a tech-enabled personalized nutrition start-up, determines exactly what you should be eating based on your own goals and preferences, then offers same-day delivery of groceries to fit your needs.
"PlateJoy is the equivalent of your fairy godmother and your personal nutritionist planning your ideal menu, grocery shopping for you every week, magically placing the right things in your fridge, and sending recipes and nutritional support to your phone," says Christina Bognet, CEO and founder of PlateJoy.
Backed by Y-Combinator in 2015, the company uses more than 50 data points gleaned from preferences and health goals to create customized menus, recipes and shopping lists tailored to each customer.
PlateJoy was founded in 2012 by Christina Bognet, an MIT neuroscience graduate who successfully lost 50 pounds by modifying her own diet. She launched the San Francisco-based company with the goal of making healthy eating easier and more sustainable through personalization technology.
"With 70% of the country overweight or obese, and food allergies increasing by 50% over the last 10 years, we now know that what you eat directly affects how you feel," notes Bognet. "Translating that knowledge into making the right choices at the grocery store is hard. Combining grocery delivery with a nutrition product is the natural next step in helping people make healthy decisions when they’re short on time."
Subscribers begin by taking a quiz during which they divulge information about their favorite ingredients, allergies, family size, appetite, weight loss, schedule and more. Using this information, PlateJoy generates meal plans to meet nutritional needs, taste preferences, skill level and time constraints.
Once the meal plan is established, ingredients for each individual’s unique menu are delivered local stores including Metro Market, Meijer, Pick 'n Save and Whole Foods Market, via integration with Instacart’s one-hour delivery service.
Each meal plan includes a shopping list designed to reduce food waste and costs, recipes with tailored portions for the entire family and full nutritional information. Subscribers also have access to a personal nutritionist.
The cost for PlateJoy is $69 for a six-month subscription. Subscribers will also pay for the cost of ingredients on Instacart, plus a delivery fee of about $7.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with each and every dish. She’s had the privilege of chronicling these tales via numerous media, including OnMilwaukee and in her book “Milwaukee Food.” Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or recording the FoodCrush podcast, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
