26
JUMPSTART
INTERVIEW WITH
VERYBITE
WHO ARE THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BUSINESS? HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA?
Julie Ng is the founder of Verybite and a graduate of Accelerator HK. For Julie, life in Hong Kong is
fast-paced and for a workaholic, sometimes it is relatively hard to take time out to cook herself a
meal, let alone buying groceries and preparing the ingredients. Additionally, she faced frustration
that healthy food and food with no MSG is not easily available everywhere. Julie started to source
meals from local peers when she paid her roommate to cook for her. She found out that for her
roommate, it’s easier to cook for two people instead of one. In time, Julie started to think that this
might be a scalable idea if there are more people like her that would desire these types of services.
JUMPSTART
This contributed to the birth of the
idea of Verybite, which was modeled
on the travel website Airbnb. Verybite
is a platform that allows homecooks
to list their food and product
offerings, and a foodie to order that
service. All food are strictly no MSG or
additives, they are made-to-order and
there is zero waste in the system. The
menus come from local homecooks
who have great talent; each
homecook is certified by Verybite.
The vision is to create a lifestyle
where consumers can have healthy
food readily served wherever and
whenever they want. Not only do
our members eat healthy, but they
can also avoid the long queues at
restaurants. By organizing food listings
within a marketplace that is both userfriendly and personalized, members
can order food in a few clicks according
to their dietary preferences and get
personal recommendations.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE
FOODS AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE?
One of my favorite main course (and
great for yogis, too) are Ayurvedic
Spiced Spinach & Chickpea Stew, which
is a perfect dinner for me when I ate
a heavy lunch and feel like detoxing.
Also, when I crave something more
flavorful for my Malaysian taste buds,
I go for the Mexican Platter. As for
snacks, Banana Bread is a great sharing
food for me and my colleagues to
boost our energy during the day. Last
but not least, I like healthy desserts,
especially gluten-free brownies - it’s
like eating chocolate without any pang
of guilt. :)
TALK ABOUT YOUR CRITERIA FOR
ACCEPTING HOMECOOKS
All homecooks go through approvals
before getting featured on our
platform and all of their products
are open for public reviews by past
customers. We have everything
from a talented homemaker to an
experienced chef. They receive
orders, prepare them, label and
package them, and send them out [via
Verybite].
There are four main criteria for
homecooks to get approved - kitchen
hygiene, expertise, passion and
location. It is of utmost importance
for homecooks to demonstrate their
hygiene practices. The Verybite team
meets each and every homecook
personally to taste their food and
watch their preparation process.
We also speak with all homecooks
to understand their motivation for
joining the platform to ensure their
commitment when they start to
receive orders. Last but not least, as
Verybite is a location-based service and,
unfortunately, we have yet to cover all
Hong Kong regions, only homecooks
that are within our current service
area will be accepted. However, those
outside of the current service area will
be kept informed when we expand.
The vision
is to create a
lifestyle where
consumers can
have healthy
food served. ((