AUGUST 15 2024

Published in Startup Daily

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New Zealand meal planning and grocery shopping app MenuAid has rebranded to Appetise after raising NZ$4 million (A$3.6m) in a pre-Series A.

The raise was backed by Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures and OIF in Australia.

As part of the rebrand, Appetise’s consumer app is moving to a free model, cutting its $4 weekly subscription, while the data captured will be monetised on the B2B side as a marketing insights platform for the food and beverage industry.

The meal planning app offers custom recipe recommendations, and a simple process to order groceries through the platform.

More than 50,000 Kiwis and Australians use it, and the hope is that side will grow to provide more data on consumer behaviour for the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector.

The startup’s focus will turn to ‘Appetise Insights’, which captures data from consumer behaviour on the app to share with FMCG companies such as Fonterra, Tegel, & Farmland Foods.

Appetise CEO Toby Hilliam says there is immense opportunity on that side of the business.

“Until very recently, FMCG brands have made huge business decisions based on claimed data found in U&A [usage and attitude] studies and survey panels. Appetise Insights has created an accessible, real-time and reliable data source built with real shopper behaviour, so businesses can make better informed decisions,” he said.

“By helping Kiwis with all aspects of the dinner time process, from buying, to cooking, to eating, we’re getting an amazing understanding of our shoppers’ behaviours and the key drivers for making decisions.. For Appetise Insights clients like Lee Kum Kee and Fonterra, these insights have been invaluable in developing marketing strategies that get to the heart of what consumers want, allowing them to make the products that their shoppers love.”

Hilliam added the challenge for food manufacturers is that 90% of new food products fail. Appetise Insights will help brands understand the “who”, “what” and the “why” behind consumer purchases.

“While we can point blame at the fast moving food trends, it also comes back to brands’ inability to understand what consumers really want,” he said.

“If we can help businesses get access to better information, we’re going to see happier shoppers and a more sustainable FMCG sector.”

The Appetise CEO said the $4 million will primarily be used to scale globally, with a focus on Australia, the UK and Asia.

“For consumers, Appetise will only be better than before. We’re pushing forward on the same mission to make it easier for consumers to eat healthy, save money and reduce the stress of their grocery shop,” he said.

“For producers of food in New Zealand and Australia, they’re going to have better information on what things their shoppers want to eat.”

Icehouse Ventures’ Principal Mason Bleakley said Appetise has its eye on two distinct problems which are the flipside of the same coin.

“How consumers plan for dinner, and how producers are giving them the stuff these shoppers really want to buy,” he said.

“With very little initial investment they have managed to build a company that solves these two entrenched problems in a genuine way. The new capital should help Appetise raise the bar, yet again, to become inseparable from the Australian and New Zealand mealtime.”

OIF investor Oliver Darwin said they had followed cofounders Toby Hilliam and his wife, Elise, for the last two years.

“Over this time, they have consistently delivered on all of their promises,” he said.

“Not only have they built a fantastic product that addresses a significant pain point for consumers but the insights they’re able to deliver to FMCG brands are incredibly valuable across a range of use cases, and they’re something these brands have never had access to before.”