The Problem

1. ‘Price-Value-Authenticity’ gap when dining out: Consumers in today’s world are increasingly looking for more value out of their purchases. Dining has traditionally been one of two things: (1) Dine in - a meal at home or (2) Dine out - a meal in a restaurant. Historically, it was thought that the more you paid, the better the quality of the food and service you would receive. Nowadays, consumers are seeing that this paradigm no longer holds true. How often has it occurred that you look to an advisory site like TripAdvisor for top ranked restaurants, only to be disappointed by the ‘price-value-authenticity’ proposition?
2. No easy way exists to join a local dining experience: Whether you are a local or new to a city, it is difficult to access a local home dining experience. In today’s information- intensive world, people are busier than ever. In large metropolitan cities which have vibrant after-work cultures, encountering people may be easier given the sheer number of inhabitants. However, making genuine connections and having meaningful conversations that go beyond a general introduction can be difficult.
3. Planning ahead to eat well: And what if you do get lucky and find a great restaurant at a reasonable price? Often times, they are fully booked or have outrageous wait times, requiring us to plan ahead or accept the time unpredictability. In major markets like London, Paris and New York, popular restaurants are opting to not take reservations from consumers leading to wait times of up to two hours. And when looking at the surrounding process steps such as choosing a meal, ordering, waiting for the meal to arrive and paying, consumers can spend on average an additional sixty minutes, leaving only a portion of time dedicated to enjoying the meal.

The Solution 

GLEAT is the acronym for Genuine Local EATing, and it sets out to solve these problems:

1. Genuine because the food is home cooked, which taps into the breadth of diversity of a city, providing a world of flavors at our fingertips. The food is genuine because it is authentic. Offering a home cooked meal with lesser operating costs than restaurants provides a better ‘price-value-authenticity’ proposition.

2. GLEAT is local because consumers get a “local” experience every time. How so? The experience is as local and unique as the history and background of the host and guests around the table and is done in the comfort of a local home. Each of us is unique. Each of us has a story to tell. Each of us has something that makes us and our story distinctive, including our nationality and culture. Now multiply that uniqueness by the number of guests around the table and you are guaranteed a unique experience every time.

3. GLEAT pairs concepts of supply chain optimization with technology, to provide a time conscious and convenient solution with an authentic experience. With GLEAT, consumers can save an average of 60 minutes in choosing a meal, ordering, waiting and paying when compared to restaurants, leaving more time to enjoy the dining experience. We take a basic human need and provide a solution and interface that is centered on a unique experience.

How It Works

The current minimum viable product (MVP) is structured to allow users to set up a GLEAT experience and join a GLEAT experience in its simplest form. As a host, the user creates a title for the GLEAT, enters a description of the meal and experience, the capacity the user can host, price per person, key ingredients, date and time of the GLEAT and the latest time the host will accept bookings. As a guest, the user can search for GLEATs in their area, choose one to join also indicating the number of people in their party and send a request to the host. After the GLEAT experience, both host and guests have the ability to rate each other on a 5-star rating system and provide comments.

In the future, the native app will integrate features that will achieve the larger GLEAT vision and will showcase a design that differentiates the GLEAT service and experience. User profiles will be well-rounded social profiles and offer the ability to truly display each person’s unique interests and personality. Emphasis is placed on building out the user profile as this will be the key to matching users for the best GLEAT experience. In addition, the native app will integrate features of four provisional patents that GLEAT has filed.

Additional Benefits of GLEAT

Earning Potential/Cost Savings/Time Efficiency: Hosts earn money for each GLEAT they do and guests save money. Hosts can earn a margin of 71% after considering the guest itemized portion cost and GLEAT service fee and a margin of 57% when considering the itemized cost to also prepare a portion for the host. On the other hand, guests can save 25% when compared to a restaurant even after deducting the GLEAT service fee and VAT.

Integrated Technology: GLEAT’s vision for an integrated technology platform aligns with the current trends in the industry. Consumers are increasingly using technology to inform themselves about their food decisions, interact with their food and share their food with the world. They are seeing their food choices as an extension of themselves and looking to make those choices an experience. This is why our technology and user experience are key differentiators and play a huge part in our product and value proposition. GLEAT will make the user experience social and seamless.

Psychological Benefits: Sharing meals is good for one’s mental health as well. Mealtimes provide a great opportunity for us to socialize, relax, and as a consequence, improve our mental health. During shared meals, views and perspectives other than one's own can be discussed providing a platform to nurture qualities such as empathy and understanding. A study published online in 2013 by the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences holds scientific data to support this.

Physical Health Benefits: Obesity is a growing problem in the UK and in the world. Some of this can be attributed to dining out habits of consumers. We are dining out more often than ever and studies show that when we dine out we consume 302 more calories. Dining with GLEAT offers consumers the advantages of eating out (no cooking, no cleaning, good food and good company) while enjoying healthier home cooked meals.

Funding Requirement and Spend

GLEAT is seeking external funding in order to build the native app, support marketing to its target customers and sustain operations. GLEAT is registered under UK’s Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). 

Our Story

Mirko and Reggie wanted to change the world. An engineer and a finance professional with 8 years of experience in General Electric (GE) International Executive Leadership programs, they wanted to use their experience and skills to create something new and exciting, to share with others the beauty they’d seen in their travels.

For a few years, they bounced ideas off of each other until one day, a thought crystallized in Mirko’s mind: the best sort of change happens when you bring people together and let them share their passions. Sharing is the keyword.

Mirko is Italian, which means that when he thought about sharing, he thought first of all about food. And just like that, GLEAT was born. It would be a simple yet powerful platform, helping people share their cooking skills, their love for genuine meals and fostering the birth of a diverse and vibrant community through food.

The Team

Mirko Lagattolla (CEO, Founder) – 10 years of experience in GE, including supply chain, engineering, finance and project management.

Reginald Torchon (CFO, Co-Founder) – 9 years of experience in GE, including commercial finance, compliance, controllership and risk management.

Daniela Di Noi (Product Marketing, Co-Founder) – 10 years of experience including engineering and supply chain.

Livia Solustri (Inbound Marketing, Partnerships and Content) – 4 years of experience including account management, events coordination and music.