Zestyplan - Easy, Climate-Friendly Meal Planning

Zestyplan helps busy households plan out what they are going to eat in a week so they save money, reduce food waste, and make climate-friendly decisions about their food. The platform is more than just a meal and grocery organizer, it provides education so people can easily take sustainable action and learn about innovative products and services that are making a difference in the sustainable food sector.

We know that our food system is having a huge impact on the climate crisis. Deforestation, loss of biodiversity, excessive emissions and huge amounts of food waste all need to be addressed. As consumers, we can play a huge part in helping to solve this problem by changing our behavior. We need to change how we meal plan, how we grocery shop and what we eat. While this may sound like a daunting task, people are already starting. They are trying alternative proteins, becoming more familiar with concepts such as regenerative farming and looking for products with less harmful packaging. But change can be hard, and that's where Zestyplan comes in. Zestyplan makes the transition sustainable eating easy by enabling people to seamlessly integrate climate-smart eating habits into their daily lives. 

So whether it’s cooking your own recipes, ordering a meal service, booking reservations at a restaurant or using our AI powered wizard to build a custom, personalized recipe from what’s in your fridge, the platform gives you a single place to plan from. You can collaborate with other family members too which helps by involving picky eaters and making sure everyone is working from the same grocery list. 

Meal planning is hard for busy families who are juggling work, various eating requirements (gluten free, vegan, celiac etc), and multiple activities and commitments outside of work. Families are also struggling with skyrocketing grocery prices, reducing food waste (we throw out as much as 30% of the food we bring home) and wanting to make the right choices for the planet but they are so busy they don't know where to start. 

We reduce the stress around meal planning and sustainable eating by focusing on 3 pillars: 

1. The Zestyplan App! In the app people plan out their meals for the week (including any meal services or restaurants), so they can reduce food waste, save money, and discover climate friendly brands. There is a planner, a recipe saver, a grocery list and a place to discover sustainable brands and news. We released our MVP in October, 2024. It’s in the App Store and the Play Store. We will eventually charge users for the premium version but for now are offering it free.
2. Education. Part of the problem with changing behavior is that people don’t know where to start. Through our blog, newsletter, and socials we’re publishing low climate-impact recipes, suggestions for climate friendly eating, and profiles of climate friendly brands. We also have a corporate wellness program where we offer the app to a company’s employees and run a challenge with an education component.  
3. Connection to sustainable food brands. We feature sustainable food brands right inside the app at the moment that planners are getting ready to make their grocery purcahses. We also feature these brands outside the app on our socials and blog to help amplify their products and services. 

The market size for our platform includes both the market for Sustainable Food which is projected at $132B and the market for Diet & Nutrition Apps which is projected at $15B. Direct competitors include apps such as PlateJoy, Mealime, PrePear and Kuri. We are distinctly different from all of these apps because we not only focus on planning and recipes but also on education about climate-friendly eating and introducing our customers to sustainable food products and services. Our platform is powered by AI so as meal planners use it, the suggestions become more personalized. We also have multiple opportunities for partnerships across the food ecosystem, including grocery stores, meal delivery apps, food bloggers and large food producers. 

We are seeking funding to continue the development of our meal planning app with a specific focus on metrics, and to launch a wider marketing campaign to spread the word about the platform so we can get as many people using it as possible. 

The company was started by Kristy Sadler, who had been scaling go-to-market teams at software companies for 15 years prior to this. She was joined shortly after starting the company by her Co-Founder Will Mero who has extensive experience in UI/UX, systems architecture and engineering and has been responsible for building out the app.

Thank you so much for your interest in Zestyplan. We are incredibly grateful to have so many people supporting us in this important mission.