Munch On Me is an online service that allows you to get discounts on specific dishes at various restaurants in your city. If you like chicken tikka masala, for example (see screenshot above), you can buy a coupon online to get 40% off the price of this dish at House of Curries in Berkeley. The discount coupons have limitations: they expire on a certain date, the discount may apply only in at a particular location, etc.
Munch on Me was created by Jason Wang, Richard Din, Andy Zhang, and Tony Li in Berkeley, California. It launched on 24 February 2011. Below is a short Q&A with Jason Wang.
Q: Why is Munch on Me compelling? Why is it better than anything else out there today?
A: “What am I eating today?” is a question everyone asks on a daily basis. Munch On Me aims to solve this dilemma, while providing a fun experience for users in the process. Everyone in the world is in the market of eating. A market study by Mint.com from August 2009 shows that restaurant visits, both fast food and sit down, are increasing faster than ever. A single American eats out an average of 4.2 times a week, which is equivalent to 1.3 billion across all Americans weekly and 473.7 billion annually. Munch On Me’s target market is everyone who enjoys going out for a meal.
There are two sides to the story: merchants (restaurants, food trucks, and snack shops) and customers (college students and workers). Merchants spend nothing or too much money on old-fashioned forms of advertisement with no way to measure effectiveness. Customers struggle during the hours of 8AM, 12PM, and 6PM with a repetitive cycle of figuring out daily food consumption.
Munch On Me will eliminate inefficiency in customers’ decision making, expand the reach for merchants, and reduce costs for all stakeholders. We will provide web and mobile platforms that connect merchants to customers by providing 3 experiences.
- Weekly Featured Meals and Dishes: Every week or so, Munch On Me will bring users a unique set of meals/dishes in different categories and/or ethnicities at a discount within local communities. Users will be able to redeem purchased dishes in real-time.
- Dish Feed: Merchants who partner with Munch On Me can push deals directly to users, providing instant viewing access to all subscribers. Anyone who has browser access, including a smartphone, will be able to view the feed.
- Gaming elements through achievements: People enjoy eating food, so Munch On Me is making the whole experience fun. As a tool for retention, our users can earn points, levels, and badges while competing with friends and the local community for prizes and recognition.
Competitive Advantages of Munch on Me:
- First food platform to offer 100% off on a specific dish, which will greatly drive user awareness and acquisition.
- Munch On Me will offer real-time redemption for users. When people are hungry, they do not want to wait for a “tipping point” to be reached.
- Food is our niche. While competitors have a myriad of deals and offers, Munch On Me will be the portal people use to discover great food around them.
- Food is social, and so is Munch On Me. Users will be engaged with our gaming elements that no other known competitor in our space offers.
- Merchants are long-term partners. Because of specific dish offerings, merchants can be repeatedly featured and submit new offers anytime through the dish feed.
Q: What inspired you to launch your product/service?
A: You wake up everyday and ask yourself the same question: “What should I eat today?” With so many choices around us, the decisions are endless. Growing up, I loved to eat out and considered myself a foodie. As a recent college graduate and former young working professional in the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District, I dined at restaurants and local eateries nearly 100% of the time. I went through life accepting the fact that figuring out daily food consumption is a repetitive cycle. My entire outlook changed at my previous employer, Google. The rumours are all true; you are fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner (if you stay until 6:30 PM) and there are micro-kitchens stocked with snacks and drinks. My daily food consumption was pretty much figured out for me, and I essentially had one less problem to worry about.
But what about everyone who doesn’t work at companies that feed you? I often see friends who go through the same daily ordeal that I experienced. Our go-to service was Yelp; we type in a dish we were craving along with a specific location and Yelp spat out a whole list of choices. Don’t get me wrong (I’m a huge Yelp fan), but when my friends and I had a coupon, the decision was made for us and almost always unanimous. We would joke around saying “If there only was a site I can use to find all the great deals for delicious food around me”. Lo and behold, the idea for Munch On Me was born. We chose the name Munch On Me because it’s easy to remember, fun to say, and the acronyms spell out MOM (think of your mom nurturing and feeding you).
I didn’t become serious about embarking on the entrepreneurial path until I took a step back and thought about what I could do to disrupt the way we discover food. Everyone in the world is in the market of eating, and latest statistics from Mint.com show that restaurant visits (both fast food and sit down) are increasing faster than ever. In fact, a single American eats out an average of 4.2 times a week, which is equivalent to ~470 billion annually. There is a unique problem, a huge market, and Munch On Me aims to be the service people rely on for food.
Q: How are you making money (or how will you make money in the future)?
A: We take a percentage of every offer we sell for merchants through Munch On Me.
Q: Where do you see your product/service within a year?
A: The go-to service for people who want to figure out daily food consumption in their location.
Q: Are you self- funded?
A: Yes, we are self-funded and we are looking for angel investors.
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