A new online service will revolutionize plant-based cooking in the kitchens of the Portuguese people
A new online service will revolutionize plant-based cooking in the kitchens of the Portuguese people
Venn Foods, a startup incubated at UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of University of Porto, just launched a fundraising campaign at GoParity to transform the way people think about, buy and eat their food. The startup is already distributing plant-based meal-kits in the metropolitan areas of the districts of Aveiro, Braga and Porto.
Venn has created an online plant-based meal-kit delivery service that offers fresh produce and sustainability sourced ingredients to go along with recipes straight to the kitchen counters of their customers. The VennBox contains step-by-step instructions and pre-portioned ingredients to cook the 100% plant-based meals, inspired by various cuisines of the world.
“We are the first and only meal kit company offering a completely plant-based offering and one of the few that commit to the ideals of sustainable packaging by avoiding unnecessary plastic usage (a big issue in meal kit products).”, said Snider Rodrigues, Co-Founder & CEO.
Founded in 2020 – during the pandemic – by three friends united by a common purpose to ‘re-invent’ the current unsustainable food system, Venn currently operates out of downtown Porto. They are working logistically to expand its offering to the entire continental Portugal.
Venn’s supplier network is made up of national farmers and producers, with small holding farms and other family businesses, who use various techniques such as permaculture and regenerative agriculture to ensure sustainable management of water, soil and energy, in order to protect the environment and ecosystems and promote the local economy.
“Consumer behaviour moves towards valuing the convenience aspect of cooking while purchasing from ethically and sustainable companies (as local as possible). We are on a mission to start small and grow from Porto with the aim to eventually help people all over the world to discover better ways of cooking and thereby living smarter & healthier by reducing their food waste and consuming more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds and alternative protein sources (such as seitan, tofu, tempeh etc.).”, said Snider Rodrigues.
The GoParity campaign, which wants to raise 20 thousand euros, will help the startup incubated at UPTEC to add other service refinements to the website – such as increasing the number of delivery days, the weekly number of recipes, incorporating a subscription-based model, improve the UX/UI, and to accelerate Venn’s growth in the digital space
In the mid-term, the startup aims to develop its own brand products (sauces, spice mixes) and have a full-fledged online grocery store with sustainably run hyperlocal deliveries through 3rd party green delivery partners. In the long term, the aim is to further explore the space of food-tech and move into the creation of proteins with a view to solve some rapid approaching problems regarding the currently stressed conventional food systems we have today.