I'm always that guy at the restaurant, asking for substitutions, dressing on the side, etc. Bento looks similar to SpoonRocket and Sprig at first but what makes it particularly unique is the customization options.
Congrats on the launch (at the LAUNCH Festival yesterday), @jasondemant. Is the customization aspect of Bento really enough to compete in this competitive market? I'm sure you have some tricks up your sleeve. 😄
@rrhoover Thanks Ryan! Huge fan of PH and really excited to finally have something to show! :)
While customization is definitely important, we think what will set us apart is our holistic approach to the entire experience. From an easy-to-use app, super fast delivery, being able to order exactly what you want, great value (only $12), gorgeous packaging, exciting experience opening your Bento and of course, delicious food. All of it is important and I don't think anyone has nailed the experience yet. We're going to try :).
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I'm not in SF... based on the description and the fact that there are already on-demand food companies, I would have immediately thought the problem solved here was cuisine specific. That this works because it's targeting Asian food. And the question would be whether we will see a wave of cuisine specific food ordering apps... which makes some sense.
I can't tell from the comments thus far if that's what people like about it, or it's just a really well executed version of a food delivery concept?
@JeremyZ123 Our general thesis on the space is that companies will begin to differentiate based on food type...just like restaurants. So yes, I expect there will be cusine specific apps starting to pop-up more and more.
And to your last question -- hopefully both :).
I'm assuming you're thinking about going into different verticals or is your plan to expand to other cities first? I like the concept. Congrats @jasondemant!
@vivekmgeorge Thanks Vivek! The answer is both :). We'll start by expanding into additional cities. Long-term though we plan on expanding into additional ethnic foods as well. The system, processes & technology will work really well with other types of cuisines.
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Interesting idea! Echoing other sentiments here, but I'd also like to know more about ingredients/where things are sourced from.
I'm also frequently saddened by the lack of more authentic items on Asian menus, so I'm curious if menus are designed more around familiar choices or if there's room for exploration/discovery? To me the greatest thing about Asian food is the diversity of possibilities!
@shinyee_au Thanks Cindy! We'll definitely be adding more transparency about our ingredients and source locations as we proceed.
As for the menu -- the answer is I don't know yet :). We're starting with more familiar choices, but the fun thing about what we're doing is it's easy to experiment, see what demand is and then make a decision on how to proceed.
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Love this idea! Really interesting play on food delivery with the modularity. Could be interesting to add some customization like if I wanted 3 portions-worth of one dish.
Are you creating meals themed around different cultures? I.E. a meal created out of Korean dishes vs Japanese dishes. I'm not particularly sensitive about this, but I can see how others could find it somewhat insensitive grouping all types of Asian food together, especially considering there's no Asian on the founding team. Just something I naturally thought of being an Asian American. Also could be a good way to encourage discovering new dishes!
Hope to try this some day! Good luck!
@evanczhou Thanks Evan! We'll be experimenting a lot with our menu and definitely will try different themed ideas.
We're big Asian food fans (and passionate about food in general) and we hope we can share that with a lot of other people. Our desire is to serve customizable meals, and so we looked to the bento box for that inspiration, along with how other cultures solve this problem.
Do you also have Korean and Thai menu items? I wanted to find out myself, but the UI to get download link didn't work for a non-US cell number -- it keeps forcing +1. Too bad I am out in Asia right now! Screenshot below.
Thanks David! We definitely plan on adding more information about the ingredients over time and will be as transparent as possible with everything. We agree this is important.
Can you explain more of what you mean by "take over the downtown of my city"? Are you saying to have a place to request we expand to your city?
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