Pickl — “we get you outta them”
Finding food that is good for you and the planet, supports good labor practices, and reinforces issues you care about is complicated. Increasingly, consumers know less and less about their food and even more troubling, those who diligently read labels aren’t able to get all the information they need to make the best choice. Third party apps ease this process, but require consumers to spend time and energy researching all ingredients to even make a simple choice at the store. Many Americans are too busy to do this research, or would rather prioritize time with family and friends. This is where Pickl can help.
Pickl is an end to end solution for the busy shopper who wants to get in and out of the store quickly and find products that align with their values, budget, and health needs. Users create a profile to share key information about their dietary needs, budget, and what causes they want to support. Pickl then aggregates data from their profile, third party resources, and news feeds to curate customized menus and shopping lists.
With Pickl, you can skip the grocery store all together by exporting your menu and shopping list to a vendor such as Instacart or Peapod. If you prefer to scout out the freshest produce and meats on your own, Pickl, with the help of AR (augmented reality) technology, will help you quickly navigate the store by fading out products that don’t align with your profile and budget while highlighting choices that you would get excited about. Pickl enables you to make the tough decisions once when you create your profile and not every time you go to the grocery store. You leave the store with a balanced grocery cart and peace of mind.
As our team focused on the topic of ‘understanding food’ this week, we quickly realized how complex this issue is, because ultimately, everyone values food differently. Allergies, dietary restrictions, and perspectives on sustainable practices are only at the tip of the iceberg of all the decisions we make when making food choices. A shocking realization for the team that surfaced from an interview with a retail supply chain director was how manipulated our food shopping experience has become. Furthermore, trust in food labels is at an all time low. Honey is sometimes corn syrup with a trace amount of real honey and olive oil is likely canola oil cut with a little bit of olive oil. Our team believes Pickl has the potential to flip the industry on its head. Pickl relies on the ability to gather the best information, make it available to everyone, and let us simply act according to our personal preferences — this is really the key to bring the right foods into our homes. The hope is that Pickl will put pressure on vendors and supply chains to source foods more responsibly and make ingredients more transparent. We have a long way to go, but Pickl can help us get there by putting the ‘understanding’ back in the hands of the consumer.
From the Pickl team: Elaine Strunk, Kevin Yuen, Jenny Qiu, Andrew Bennett
Editor’s Note: This article was written by a Food + Future coLAB Fellow to share their concepts and experiences from the first week of our January 2016 program, focused on the theme of Understanding. For more information, please visit foodfuturecolab.com/understanding.
