Cookisto: A new Greek way of getting dinner

A great way of building a more sharing and caring society...

Featured on BBC News Magazine:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24163742

Hey Geo, you should check this out and let us know how it works out:

In Greece:
https://www.cookisto.com/

In UK:
https://www.cookisto.co.uk/

 

Seems like this is going on for a bit more than a year. A couple of guys, for their diploma thesis started their business model and then they hired some more guys to set up the infrastructure.

Here is how it works:
The community is split in Cooks and "Gourmets". Each day, Cooks declare what and how many dishes they have available and Gourmets reserve those dishes.
Afterwards, the Cook and the Gourmet have to come to an agreement on the delivery. Either the Gourmet or the Cook have to come to a previously agreed upon location (each other's house is ok as well) and the Gourmet has to pay the exact price of the meal.

The community is based on social networks to gain popularity and advertizement. For example, you can post on facebook your dish of the day, as a Cook. Gourmets rate the cooks in order to build a trust rating, similar to eBay's.

The site claims that it currently has 15.5k Gourmets and 1.3k Cooks. I don't know to what extent this is correct. I also don't have a facebook account in order to monitor the relevant posts and judge the state of the business 14 months after its launch.
I read at a news article that they stated having 6000 members on the first 4 months. Having 17k at 14 months sounds like a healthy, stead increase.

Some problems that might hinder the success of the effort:
1. Technology has very little penetration in the Greek culture. I can't imagine a 50yo mother who has the time and will to cook for 10 people daily, having the knowledge to operate a computer profile, update her status and take online orders.
Younger people who might have the tech prerequisites are much less likely to become cooks.
2. Assume that there are 1300 Cooks on the network. Athens has about 5 million residents. I can't imagine Cooks and Gourmets living very close to each other at those rates. Thus, peer-to-peer, hand-to-hand transactions might be difficult to set up.

 

Some problems that might hinder the success of the effort:
1. Technology has very little penetration in the Greek culture. I can't imagine a 50yo mother who has the time and will to cook for 10 people daily, having the knowledge to operate a computer profile, update her status and take online orders.

I think you are underestimating 50-year-old mothers

2. Assume that there are 1300 Cooks on the network. Athens has about 5 million residents. I can't imagine Cooks and Gourmets living very close to each other at those rates. Thus, peer-to-peer, hand-to-hand transactions might be difficult to set up.

The city of Athens is only 400 km2. 1300 cooks is more than 3 per km2. Not too much of a walk for Europeans. For Americans, we would be driving in circles for a half hour looking for a parking spot near the gourmond.

NOTE (English clarification) gourmet a chef (cook), gourmond is a person who enjoys fine food.

 

I think you are underestimating 50-year-old mothers

I don't know a single 50yo mother who knows how to do a proper use of the internet and online services, while I admit that none really have need for it. Maybe they would learn, if they set their minds upon it, but I wouldn't bet on it.

The city of Athens is only 400 km2. 1300 cooks is more than 3 per km2. Not too much of a walk for Europeans. For Americans, we would be driving in circles for a half hour looking for a parking spot near the gourmond.

Yeah, walking 500-700m and back isn't too bad, especially if your time is cheap. The food might get cold in the way back though .

NOTE (English clarification) gourmet a chef (cook), gourmond is a person who enjoys fine food.

Thanks, Google Translate failed me.

 

I love this idea! I love alone and every time it's time to cook something, I realize that I don't feel like messing with products to cook one tiny portion. At the same time, I don't feel like cooking a large pot of pasta and throwing it away because I couldn't eat the whole thing. That's why I eat out pretty much every day(

 

I think you could cook a couple of portions and eat the second the next day. It's definitely edible the next day. Been doing this for a few years.

 

Pasta freezes (and reheats) really well. Half the frozen meals in the supermarket are pasta based.

 

This is a good idea! I wish it would spread all over the world