The restaurant industry has been devastated as a result of the pandemic with closures and layoffs. However, platforms that have emerged during the pandemic like WoodSpoon are giving chefs much-needed income and new forms of distribution while being safe. WoodSpoon is the craft, food marketplace that delivers homemade gourmet food from local home chefs. Over 10,000 diners have already downloaded the app that allows diners to schedule a meal ahead of time or order for immediate delivery. Chefs are vetted on the platform through a robust onboarding process consisting of a kitchen inspection, food audition, and comprehensive food safety training in compliance with the FDA to ensure that the platform offers a premium experience. Chefs on the platform have worked and trained in the kitchens of NYC’s most coveted restaurants that include Cipriani, Jean-Georges’ Nougatine, Nobu, and more.
AlleyWatch interviewed caught up with Cofounder and CEO Merav Kalish Rozengarten (originally from Israel) to learn more about how the yearning for the taste of home from the founding team sparked the launch of the company, future plans, and recent round of funding.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
WoodSpoon raised $2M in seed funding. World Trade Ventures and Silvertech Ventures led this round with participation from some angels.
Tell us about the product or service that WoodSpoon offers.
WoodSpoon is an on-demand craft food marketplace that delivers homemade food to diners from local home chefs. The New York City-based company, which launched last March, presently has over 10,000 app downloads. Customers can order for immediate delivery or schedule ahead on WoodSpoon’s free mobile app for iOS and Android, along with its website. WoodSpoon is currently available in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island City, Hoboken, and Jersey City — in addition to nationwide for shipping baked goods.
What inspired the start of WoodSpoon?
My cofounder, Oren Saar, and I are from Israel, and when we moved to New York, we felt a need to fill the void of the Middle Eastern dishes that we missed from our home country. Saar, who serves as CEO, graduated from MIT and has worked for companies such as Google and BCG.
I’m WoodSpoon’s CMO but was previously the first employee and CMO of AnyVision, a facial recognition cybersecurity startup. Lee Reshef, a fellow Israeli sharing the same passions for food, recently joined the company as a third cofounder and Head of Platform. Prior to joining us, Lee ran global marketing programs at Google for five years.
How is WoodSpoon different?
Our vision with WoodSpoon always goes back to the idea of connecting people through food that is unique, homemade, and full of love.
WoodSpoon empowers its home cooks to share their culture and passion with others. The company has provided a new revenue opportunity for over 100 talented home chefs, including those who’ve worked at notable restaurants such as Nobu, Cipriani, The Modern, and Jean-Georges’ Nougatine. With so many cooks, chefs, and food industry workers out of work due to the COVID-19 crisis, WoodSpoon has provided a safe alternative employment for them during this challenging time.
The top priority at WoodSpoon is to ensure that customers receive high-quality meals. The company has a comprehensive food safety plan with controls across every step of the supply chain. Home chefs go through an extensive onboarding process before they are accepted on the platform, inclusive of a kitchen inspection, food audition, and comprehensive food safety training in compliance with the Food and Drug Administration’s Good Manufacturing Practice requirements. Also, WoodSpoon insures customers under a comprehensive policy at zero cost for every order made.
The WoodSpoon experience is similar to ordering from any other food delivery app, but what sets WoodSpoon apart is that eaters get craft homemade food that they cannot get anywhere else.
What market does WoodSpoon target and how big is it?
WoodSpoon is currently available in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island City, Hoboken, and Jersey City — in addition to nationwide for shipping baked goods. We are exploring other markets in the U.S. with the hope of expanding soon.
What’s your business model?
WoodSpoon has two native apps for Android and iOS, two different apps for home chefs and diners, as well as a website that diners can order from. WoodSpoon charges fees from both diners and chefs that go towards the delivery costs, payment transactions, insurance, packaging, and marketing.
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How has COVID-19 impacted the business?
Since Covid-19 started, WoodSpoon saw a major increase in home chefs trying to join the platform and in sales. We tripled our revenues since the pandemic started. Unfortunately, a lot of people from the food industry lost their jobs due to Covid-19, and they were looking for ways to make a living in a safe environment. WoodSpoon was there to help them build their business from the comfort and safety of their home. For diners, WoodSpoon started offering safer and healthier ways to order food without the hassle of cooking every day.
What was the funding process like?
Raising funds is always a complex process. What helped WoodSpoon gain funding was showing investors our growth in the past six months and building our strong team.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Balancing the need to grow with the need to build a sustainable business for our home chefs.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
It is a combination of a unique product that answers a real need and a void that people had of missing homemade food. The other factor was having a strong team with individuals with unique backgrounds.
Our team was able to bring this idea of a homemade food marketplace to life, and we believe that we will be able to conquer the market with our entrepreneurial backgrounds.
Our team was able to bring this idea of a homemade food marketplace to life, and we believe that we will be able to conquer the market with our entrepreneurial backgrounds.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
WoodSpoon is aiming to onboard new home chefs in new areas, supported by new and happy customers. We are expanding our team with talented individuals to improve our operations, service, and technology.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
It really depends on what field/market they are in. They can bootstrap in the beginning (this is what WoodSpoon did), or, if possible, raise money from angel investors.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We want to see WoodSpoon scale in New York City and present New Yorkers with an alternative way to order on-demand homemade food.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC
It’s very hard to choose one restaurant, but I love La Atalaya, Le Bernardin, and the hot dog stand in front of the MET.
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