Ellie Horvath
- The food industry’s No. 1 ordering platform now available to the UK market
- FoodTech Unicorn Choco launches in UK with a £20 million investment
- Digitisation of food chain transforms buying process, cuts out error and reduces food waste
- Creating the new standard for the global food industry
A digital revolution is set to happen for the UK food industry with order management now having the ability to be fully automated by 2026. Choco, the food industry’s No. 1 ordering platform is launching to the UK restaurant and supplier market.
The easy to use mobile app simplifies order management. Less time is spent on ordering produce, human errors are eliminated, and food waste is reduced, resulting in efficiencies and cost-savings for the entire hospitality industry.
With the UK launch, Choco will be investing £20 million in its UK operations, with £80 million earmarked globally to develop its technology further. This will allow the UK food industry to go digital and optimise operations end-to-end from shelf to chef.
With operations in the USA, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Spain, the total value of goods traded through the platform since Choco’s inception in 2018 has been over €1.2 billion. Choco is working with over 15,000 restaurateurs, as well as over 10,000 wholesale businesses worldwide.
Digital ordering minimises financial losses for restaurants and suppliers
As the UK’s food retail industry prepares for a difficult few seasons, Choco can assist both suppliers and restaurants to make every possible financial and process efficiency, improving margins and strengthening the digital food chain.
Choco’s app enables suppliers to offer its customers a fully digital ordering process, replacing the ‘gut feel, phone and paper list’ system that chefs have traditionally used. All available products are shown on the interface in real time, so chefs have confidence in a few clicks exactly what products they are ordering and at what cost. Human error on both sides is eliminated. Scribbling down the wrong products or incorrect amounts is a thing of the past, meaning no unwanted items accidentally arrive and less waste.
As Choco is available via a mobile app, chefs can process orders on an ‘as and when’ basis, in between services. Suppliers can receive from the field, fishing boat or packing room if necessary. Invoices are also automatically generated so chefs have an accurate view of costs at any given moment and suppliers do not have to separately generate these, saving valuable time.
Alex Kiely, UK General Manager at Choco says of the UK launch: “Automation is particularly important in an industry where suppliers are working 24/7 due to a limited workforce, and restaurants are working round the clock to provide the ultimate gastronomic experience to customers.
The UK has a real appetite for tech. The food industry in particular knows that digitising their business is not an option anymore, and they have to act now.
Choco has proven experience and a strong customer base to take the UK market on its digitalisation journey and is already working with digitally receptive customers across the country to realise efficiencies.”
UK customers onboard seeing sizeable gains
Shaun Henderson, founder of Henderson Seafood, the Brixham-based, sustainable and ethically sourced fish supplier to the restaurant industry says:
“We use Choco as a platform for our customers to buy online from us. We wanted to digitise the process of food ordering to give our customers a better and faster experience and to make the process more efficient for us too.
We typically take 50 orders a day. WhatsApp or phone can be prone to human error. Choco eliminates that. It saves time for our customers as they simply tick box what they want, the order comes through to us, we process it, and the invoice is automated, saving us even more time.
Onboarding has been quicker than ever imagined and we were up and running within two weeks – two thirds of our orders are already coming through Choco, customers have really taken to it. Choco has really changed the way we do things, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Chris Bassett, Head Chef at Portland, a Michelin starred restaurant in London’s Fitzrovia district serving a seasonal menu of modern British cuisine says:
“I’ve never come across an online food ordering platform for restaurants before so when I was introduced to Choco I loved the concept. We’ve been using the platform for a few months now and it’s truly transformed the way we do things.
99% of our suppliers use the platform and we can see in real time what is available, and we can select exactly what we want any time of the day. It not only saves me approximately 20 minutes at the end of each service, but it also cuts out the human error, so I now get exactly what I ordered.
Previously, when done by phone, I could be waiting around to speak to someone, then I could read something out wrong or the supplier could have noted it down wrong so with Choco, we both know exactly where we stand so it’s a more seamless, efficient experience.
As a restaurant that produces a very seasonal menu, it’s paramount we have access to the best ingredients available at any given time and Choco gives us the ability to do this.”
Daniel Khachab, CEO of Choco explains: “Currently 30-40% of food produced goes to waste each year and nearly three-quarters of that waste happens in the supply chain before consumers are involved. Waste is the third-largest driver of climate change. If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest in carbon dioxide emissions on the planet.
Our ethos is simple. Reduce ordering mistakes and eliminate waste every step of the way. We estimate that, when using the Choco app, restaurants are saving on average 1.27 kilos every week, by reducing their ordering mistakes and saving up to two hours every week, improving their efficiency in the kitchen.
By building a powerful ecosystem that we are now expanding to the UK market, we will help move the industry into the 21st century. We believe Choco can be the backbone of food service in the years to come and create the new standard for the global food supply chain industry.”
Choco is now available free to all UK restaurants and UK suppliers can sign up for a fee to get listed – https://choco.com/uk/
About Choco
Choco is a company that brings restaurateurs and their suppliers together on a digital platform. Ordering goods becomes as easy as writing a chat message. By optimising purchasing processes, customers can save time, money and food. The latter is also Choco’s main goal. Choco was founded by serial entrepreneurs Daniel Khachab and Julian Hammer. Since its founding in 2018, the company has grown rapidly and is now active in markets such as the U.S., Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium and most recently the UK. In February 2022, the total value of goods traded through Choco exceeded $1.2 billion.
https://choco.com/uk/
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/choco-leads-digital-food-supply-chain-revolution-301634491.html
