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New app lets diners rate food

Regina Pazvakavambwa
By Regina Pazvakavambwa, ITWeb portals journalist.
Johannesburg, 10 Oct 2016
The app aims to unearth SA's hidden food gems, says Grate founder Thokozani Skaka.
The app aims to unearth SA's hidden food gems, says Grate founder Thokozani Skaka.

South African start-up Grate has introduced an app to rate and review restaurant food.

According to Grate, the app aims to unearth SA's hidden food gems.

The app is was developed by CEO and founder of Grate, Thokozani Skaka (29) and software engineer, Sean Matabire (24) who only learnt how to develop apps a year ago, says the company.

Skaka says foodies can rate a dish on the app based on taste, presentations and price. The app officially launched on 22 July and to date it has more than 300 foodies - with a 73% month-on-month growth, he adds.

According to Skaka, the app was first available on Android, which was really used as a testing ground, but is now also available on iOS.

Grate is self-funded, he says. However, the company is now in talks with some venture capitalist to refine the app and scale, explains Skaka.

Also, the company says it is working on a video to go viral and other social viral techniques to help it market and expand.

Skaka says the app provides restaurant owners with a unique view, letting them know who likes what, when and why.

It gathers a great amount of data which is then turned into insight which can then made available to restaurant owners at a cost, he notes.

"We are self-funded, but are in talks with certain venture capitalists and plan to conclude those discussions very soon so we can start to refine and scale," he continues.

Grate started over a dinner at a restaurant with a couple of friends back in January of 2016, says Skaka. He says they saw that there was a need for an app where people can check out a restaurant and see what the best dishes are, based on other users' reviews - with pictures, comments and prices.

The company's go-to-market strategy relies on digital marketing and developing engagement through social campaigns, adds Skaka.

"We developed a Grate leader board where we display and publicise the top three Grate foodies on a week-to-week basis, we also publish a dish of the week, pic of the week and worst dish of the week," says Skaka.

All these initiatives drive engagement and help acquire new users while driving down customer acquisition costs, he adds.

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