Project Overview

      Sous Chef is a sophisticated and interactive meal planning web site for use at home through a web browser or in a grocery store at a kiosk.

      Grocery stores do not provide meal-planning assistance to the unprepared shopper in the store. Grocery store shopping is more difficult for current consumers due to lack of planning. Another factor, which makes shopping more troublesome, is the fact that many American’s have special dietary needs and requirements. This is complicated by the fact that many shoppers do not know about the nutritional contents of the foods they buy and prepare.

Poor Planning

      One of the major problems facing grocery shoppers today is the fact that families do plan meals and therefore plan for what they need to purchase at the grocery store. A University of Indiana study revealed that seventy percent of consumers do not know what they are having for dinner at four in the afternoon. The study continued to show that over two out of three (68%) food purchases are based purely on impulse.

      In America, in the 1950’s women were seldom found in the workplace. They stayed at home and planned and cooked dinners for their families, but as women started to enter the professional workforce meal planning and cooking began to suffer due to lack of time. One may think that they are no longer the one’s preparing the meals, but according to the US Department of Women’s Labor meals are planned and prepared in 75% of homes by women. The problem is they do not have time they used to have. In 1900 women spent forty-four hours a week preparing meals, but by 1975 this number was down to under ten hours.

      Women and men at work find little time to come home, plan meals for the family.

      Women with children in the home (under the age of 18) have been steadily entering the workforce since at least 1980 according to a study by the US Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau. In 1980, 56.6% of mothers were part of the workforce in 2003 that number was up to 72.9%.

      Mothers and fathers, those who are responsible for meal planning, are spending an increasing amount of time at work. In 1977, dual earning couples with children worked a combined 81 hours a week at work according to a study by the Families and Work Institute. In 2002, this number was up ten hours a week to 91 hours. This additional time at work means less time to plan and prepare meals.

Dietary Requirements

      Besides lack of time another major problem facing grocery shoppers today is the varied and complicated dietary requirements needed by all members of the family. Cholesterol, fat, carbs, fiber and many other nutrients are some of the special dietary requirements that almost every American faces today.

      According to a Food Market Institute study 87 % of consumers are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about nutrition. To further demonstrate this point another study showed that “…55% try harder to eat healthier these days up from 45% in the year 2000” (FactsAndFigures.com).

      Individuals are concerned about what they are eating, health concerns and weight problems are driving are dietary needs and requirements. These needs complicate grocery shopping and meal planning. This is further complicated by individuals’ lack of knowledge and understanding of what fulfills these requirements, and finding foods and meals that meet these requirements and are appetizing.

Lack of Knowledge

      Shoppers lack the knowledge to shop efficiently and correctly to fulfill their families’ dietary needs. Many individuals see cost and confusion as barriers to eating better. In other words, shoppers do not know how to save money on the items their families need to eat better. The Sous Chef is designed to aid shoppers with this shopping problem. Sixty-percent of shoppers report that there is too much confusion in the news about nutrition (FactsAndFigure.com).

Budget Conscious Shoppers

      Everyone would like to save money when shopping for groceries and this can be accomplished in many different ways. Almost seventy-percent (69%) of shoppers list price as a “very important” factor in their food selection (AC Nielsen Home Scan). Shoppers use several techniques to economize their grocery spending.

      One of the most popular techniques is the participation in supermarket frequent shopper or savings club programs. Eight-one percent of shoppers participate in one of these programs and Sous Chef will take advantage of this fact to provide shoppers with quick access to their profile.

      Other saving techniques that shoppers use are outlined in the diagram on the left. The Sous Chef will offer shoppers a variety of ways to save money. Sous Chef will use weekly in store specials in its recipe selection so shoppers can more easily find recipes that correspond with the specials.

      Another popular method that Sous Chef will employ to help shoppers save money is the coupon. Not only will Sous Chef give customers coupons but those coupons will be for items that are ingredients in their recipe selections. This makes coupon selection easier than the troublesome cutting coupons out of the newspaper or other flyer.

      The shopping list has always been a good technique to not only organize shoppers but to save money. Shopping list help shoppers save money by helping them to only buy items in which they need. Sous Chef will provide shoppers with a shopping list which includes all the items they need for the various recipes they select. This list can be organized by store sections and put in a logical order according to store layout.

Solution

      Sous Chef plans to solve all the above problems associated with meal planning in grocery stores by providing stores a meal planning tool for their patrons in the store. The Sous Chef will also be able to store recipes and customer preferences consumers store at home, via a common web browser, and can then shoppers can pull up their stored information once they are in the store. The in store interface will be provided using a touch screen kiosk with multiple easy to use and intuitive screens for query criteria.

      The shopper will enter the system using their frequent shopper card. They will swipe the card at the kiosk via a bar code reader and this will access their profile. Their profile includes any previously stored recipes or meal plans and their last set of stored preferences. The preferences include diet restrictions. Sous Chef has planned to include several diet preferences which are: Weight Watchers; Low Carbohydrate; Atkins; South Beach; Low Sodium; Diabetic; Low Fat. Diet trends are constantly changing in modern society and Sous Chef will adapt to these changes and stay on the cutting edge of diet trends to continue to offer shoppers the information and choices they desire.

      Other query selection criterion includes the difficulty of the recipe (i.e. easy, moderate, expert) and the length of time it takes to prepare. Shopper can then restrict the recipes returns even further by requesting the type of meat in the recipe; this selection will also include a vegetarian choice.

      After the shoppers enter in their recipe criteria they will be given a selection of recipes to choose from that meet all their criteria. Shoppers then choose the recipe that sounds good to get more detailed information. This information includes nutritional information as well as cooking instructions and ingredients. The shopper can also find add-ons such as wine suggestions, side item recipes and dessert suggestions that accompany their entrée.

      When they have finished all their meal planning they will be provided with recipe specific coupons that correlate to items they have selected, as well as an itemized shopping list for use while shopping. In addition the Sous Chef will provided quick and easy cooking instructions for shoppers on various cooking techniques that they may be unfamiliar with. These video lessons can be accessed in the store or at home for more convenience.

      The Sous Chef will aid shoppers by providing nutrition information for each and every recipe they choose. In addition users can select query criteria that will filter for recipes needed for specific dietary and nutritional needs. In addition, shoppers can take advantage of many money saving techniques that the Sous Chef will provide, including utilizing in store specials for recipe selection, coupons, and providing a shopping list.

      The goal of the Sous Chef is to provide the grocery shopper with shopper specific recipes, and coupons that correlate directly to those recipes. In addition, Sous Chef makes shopping easier by providing a shopping list which is itemized and organized by the store layout. Sous Chef also offers the customer the ability to quickly find drink, side item and dessert accompaniments, as well as view quick cooking instructional videos for techniques to aid them in meal preparation.

      To provide stores with the Sous Chef several objectives must be met. A large database with thousands of recipes must be built and be able to query on several criteria. The data process must be designed and constructed to efficiently and accurately query thousands of recipes. User interfaces that are quick, easy and intuitive will need to be designed and constructed not only for the kiosk touch screen but also for the common web browser. The system will have to be integrated with the grocery store system as well to easily receive customer information form the card swipe as well as weekly specials, coupons and other information from the grocery store. These are the main objectives needed to bring Sous Chef to the market place.