New SmartWithFood App: a true food coaching companion
Personalised dietary advice for healthier living is on the rise, especially in times like these where people want to stay healthy at all costs. Belgian company SmartWithFood, specialised in Food as a service, is working with partners on a complete ecosystem to make personalised nutritional advice accessible for all. The first milestone is already here: a completely renewed SmartWithFood app, which has the ambition to guide Belgian consumers towards a customised healthy lifestyle.
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Belgian company SmartWithFood (SWF) was founded in 2015 as a start-up from Colruyt Group, has since focused on conscious food choices and wants to be a bridge between the food industry and consumers. Ignace De Nollin, managing director SmartWithFood: "We focus on consumer convenience, personalisation and transparent communication. In cooperation with our partners, we want to make healthier diets more accessible and help pave the way to a healthier lifestyle. For example, we are participating in several European research projects** and are setting up partnerships with experts in various disciplines.”
In the future, SWF wants to evolve into a true Health Coaching platform that goes beyond nutrition, guiding each user in a personalized way towards a better quality of life. This includes collaborations with brands and co-creation with coaches. De Nollin: “Indeed, we are building a true food coaching companion.”
The new SmartWithFood app: completely redesigned toinspire, to shop and to enjoy life
A first version of the SmartWithFood app was launched in 2016. It mainly allowed for scanning product barcodes to find out what exactly the ingredients were. The next steps included the indication of allergens and the Nutri-Score of the scanned products. Given the massive user feedback, the SWF-team concluded that there is a demand for more comprehensive support.
“Each individual has a unique background and eating habits can be deeply ingrained. Eating behaviour is quite complex and determined by many factors, which is why we believe in the power of a holistic approach. Unfortunately, excessive and unrealistic changes are often not feasible and sustainable in the long term. A subtle approach with a long-term effect is needed, as well as positive encouragement,” Ignace De Nollin points out. “With the renewed app, we want to go one step further to give Belgians personalised advice on a healthier diet.”
De Nollin: “We want to go beyond giving information about products, we aim to be present and support our users in their search for healthy food. Two years ago, the Nutri-Score was imported from France to Belgium, an extremely useful tool for consumers to make conscious choices. However, 'balanced eating' is more than the Nutri-Score, and we take up the challenge, together with all our partners and the users, to make a long-term impact on eating behaviour and food choices with the aim of guiding everyone to a better quality of life.”
How does it work?
Through a personalised profile in the SmartWithFood app, users receive tailor-made nutritional advice, taking into account food profiles/allergies and so on. Of course, you can still scan barcodes and see relevant product information too. A new feature is that users can receive personalised recipes and inspiration, and create their own recipe book, to which their favourite recipes from various websites can be added, automatically via the website’s URL.
There is also the option of creating a weekly menu plan, which can be linked to a shopping list. Users can receive tips that will help them move towards a healthier lifestyle, step by step. In time, it will be possible to use the app to call a coach who will guide you to a healthier lifestyle. If the user should not find sufficient information in the app for his specific demand, he can always use the expert chat function in the app itself: SmartWithFood’s certified dieticians are standby.
The new SmartWithFood app subtly aims to be a service that brings together real food and everything related to it in an easy, personalised way. And that with a focus on positive elements to promote health: more of the good, less of the bad.
De Nollin adds: “We focus on the positive evolution of a person’s diet. The idea is also to cooperate intensively with the food industry and food brands. We really see this evolving into a fully-fledged platform.” Meanwhile, the app has been integrated with Xtra, Colruyt Group’s loyalty formula.
Is there really a need? Consumers are looking more than ever for solutions to eat (more) healthily
Due to the current global corona pandemic, people are more concerned than ever with their health. They are genuinely worried about getting sick, and look for ways to build up strong resistance. Moreover, www.gezondleven.be showed that 70% of all chronic diseases could be avoided with prevention and an appropriate diet. And 5% weight loss already results in measurable metabolic changes. SmartWithFood wants to make a positive difference there. Ignace De Nollin concludes: “Only by cooperating in a positive way can the fight against a large proportion of chronic lifestyle diseases be tackled. SmartWithFood wants to facilitate this further, transparently and scientifically, and in this way it can help the Belgian consumer to live a healthier life. It is now a matter of recruiting as many users as possible for the app, and also to work with their feedback.
More info: https://www.smartwithfood.be/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIst_x7tav7QIVz7LVCh13awX7EAAYASAAEgIRAPD_BwE - The app can be downloaded in the Apple App Store and via Google Play.
*Swf is an active partner ofhttps://www.eitfood.eu/projects/healthtricous and https://www.eitfood.eu/projects/mtching-covid