Interview with Tamir Barzilai, CEO & Co-founder of Honeycomb.ai Solutions Inc., May 2019
What is Honeycomb.ai?
Honeycomb is a mobile and web app that helps people with dietary needs find nearby food based on their diet. Unlike other food discovery services such as Yelp and Google, Honeycomb recommends the most suitable menu items based on ingredient and food preparation methods. It is available on both Apple iOS and Android smart phones and makes dining out choices much simpler for those with dietary restrictions, including Celiac Disease and many other food sensitivities.
Background: Founded by: Ashaya Sharma (left) and Tamir Barzilai (right)
Tamir Barzilai, is young, entrepreneurial and willing to take risks. He saw a need for a restaurant application when in 2013, he was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, which is not 100% based on diet, but diet causes flare-ups. Concurrently, he was embarking on his career as a consultant to restaurants and got tired of visiting Subway and Whole Foods to meet the needs of his dietary restrictions. He saw a need to identify restaurants quickly, by location that could meet his needs, as well as anyone else with any dietary restrictions.
The co-founder of Honeycomb.ai, a Software Engineer, Ashaya Sharma, had been a friend and soccer peer of Tamir’s. He agreed to partner with Tamir in a very ambitious venture to support both end users with dietary restrictions and restaurants in serving their customers. They started working on a prototype in August 2015 and their company, Honeycomb.ai Solutions Inc. was incorporated, April 11, 2016. The first app was launched April 2017 and they learned that they needed to go deeper into user expectations. The application was very complex and user experience needed to be improved. Subsequent enhancements were made to the app in January 2018 and the latest version March 1, 2019. There was no precedent in the marketplace, combining the complexity of the many dietary needs of end users as well as analyzing the menus of a multitude of diverse restaurants. The app needed to meet the needs of many diets and consider the behavioral aspects of the end user as well. Achieving the goal of the end user(s) meeting the exact dietary needs of an individual as well as a group by finding eating options in the locations they wished. Tamir worked closely with the end user by setting up focus groups and meeting one on one with those with specific dietary needs. Initially, focus groups mixed end user needs together in one focus group, however, they soon learned to simplify the focus groups by working specifically with a need like vegans, celiacs, or keto.
The complexity of the information gathered was overwhelming, making the choice of the best business model for their application difficult. Finding out what information would be of value to participants took time and trial and error. They developed a provisional patent that uniquely predicts ingredients in a menu, based on context of the menu. Honeycomb.ai developed a system of applications in order to meet the needs of restaurants and the end-users. Research and development completed was extensive.
When Tamir started his business, he did not get into it to make money. There were easier ways to make money. This was a personal challenge as he had seen many companies start and fail and there was no successful precedent. If he succeeds, other business opportunities will follow. It is the tiny learnings along the way, using trial and error that have moved the initiative forward. If he had to start over, he would aim bigger and make it more immediate. He took advice from others and should have been more confident in himself by not making compromises.
Future:
Within five years you will be able to use your smart phone, anywhere you are, to find where you can safely eat.
What can we do?
Try the app….it is free to the end user. The more you use it, the better the app gets.
Download the application at: https://www.honeycomb.ai/ Available on both Android and Apple iOS or get it on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
If you find a restaurant that meets your needs, refer them to Honeycomb. Let your friends and families know about the app. Ian Tostenson, President & CEO of BC Restaurant & Food Association gave the following testimonial:
“Based on my experience with restaurants across the industry, I believe that Honeycomb is solving a growing problem for both customers and restaurants. Customers want access to dietary information, and restaurants want to showcase their diet-friendliness. Anything that reduces friction between restaurants and customers is a good thing.”
Honeycomb is a mobile and web app that helps people with dietary needs find nearby food based on their diet. Unlike other food discovery services such as Yelp and Google, Honeycomb recommends the most suitable menu items based on ingredient and food preparation methods. It is available on both Apple iOS and Android smart phones and makes dining out choices much simpler for those with dietary restrictions, including Celiac Disease and many other food sensitivities.
Background: Founded by: Ashaya Sharma (left) and Tamir Barzilai (right)
Tamir Barzilai, is young, entrepreneurial and willing to take risks. He saw a need for a restaurant application when in 2013, he was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, which is not 100% based on diet, but diet causes flare-ups. Concurrently, he was embarking on his career as a consultant to restaurants and got tired of visiting Subway and Whole Foods to meet the needs of his dietary restrictions. He saw a need to identify restaurants quickly, by location that could meet his needs, as well as anyone else with any dietary restrictions.
The co-founder of Honeycomb.ai, a Software Engineer, Ashaya Sharma, had been a friend and soccer peer of Tamir’s. He agreed to partner with Tamir in a very ambitious venture to support both end users with dietary restrictions and restaurants in serving their customers. They started working on a prototype in August 2015 and their company, Honeycomb.ai Solutions Inc. was incorporated, April 11, 2016. The first app was launched April 2017 and they learned that they needed to go deeper into user expectations. The application was very complex and user experience needed to be improved. Subsequent enhancements were made to the app in January 2018 and the latest version March 1, 2019. There was no precedent in the marketplace, combining the complexity of the many dietary needs of end users as well as analyzing the menus of a multitude of diverse restaurants. The app needed to meet the needs of many diets and consider the behavioral aspects of the end user as well. Achieving the goal of the end user(s) meeting the exact dietary needs of an individual as well as a group by finding eating options in the locations they wished. Tamir worked closely with the end user by setting up focus groups and meeting one on one with those with specific dietary needs. Initially, focus groups mixed end user needs together in one focus group, however, they soon learned to simplify the focus groups by working specifically with a need like vegans, celiacs, or keto.
The complexity of the information gathered was overwhelming, making the choice of the best business model for their application difficult. Finding out what information would be of value to participants took time and trial and error. They developed a provisional patent that uniquely predicts ingredients in a menu, based on context of the menu. Honeycomb.ai developed a system of applications in order to meet the needs of restaurants and the end-users. Research and development completed was extensive.
When Tamir started his business, he did not get into it to make money. There were easier ways to make money. This was a personal challenge as he had seen many companies start and fail and there was no successful precedent. If he succeeds, other business opportunities will follow. It is the tiny learnings along the way, using trial and error that have moved the initiative forward. If he had to start over, he would aim bigger and make it more immediate. He took advice from others and should have been more confident in himself by not making compromises.
Future:
Within five years you will be able to use your smart phone, anywhere you are, to find where you can safely eat.
What can we do?
Try the app….it is free to the end user. The more you use it, the better the app gets.
Download the application at: https://www.honeycomb.ai/ Available on both Android and Apple iOS or get it on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
If you find a restaurant that meets your needs, refer them to Honeycomb. Let your friends and families know about the app. Ian Tostenson, President & CEO of BC Restaurant & Food Association gave the following testimonial:
“Based on my experience with restaurants across the industry, I believe that Honeycomb is solving a growing problem for both customers and restaurants. Customers want access to dietary information, and restaurants want to showcase their diet-friendliness. Anything that reduces friction between restaurants and customers is a good thing.”
What does the app look like?
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