OrderEat: from optimizing dining rooms to avoiding the waste of two tons of food

OrderEat It was born as an initiative to help optimize the operation of a school cafeteria in Uruguay and over time, its extension has allowed its benefits to scale not only as a consumption tool in private schools, but to prevent food from being wasted. .

This service works as a cafeteria management software connected to a mobile app that allows customers to place orders and manage their accounts. In this way, parents or guardians are clear about what their children consume, are aware of their payments, students avoid long lines and schools save on supplies and waste.

Avoid waste and promote health

A study carried out by OrderEat in 30 schools in Uruguay, Mexico and Argentina showed that thanks to the implementation of the app, in 12 months they managed to reduce food waste in associated cafeterias by 22%, thereby avoiding the waste of approximately two tons of food.

However, according to Matías Craviotto, co-founder of the app, the long-term objective of the company is not limited to continuing to work as an application to manage dining rooms, but also to help as an agent of change in the financial education of minors. and generate healthier eating habits for its users.

“If in 10 years we are just a school cafeteria management software, I am not excited about continuing to work on OrderEat. But if we are truly generating an impact on nutritional education and financial education for all children in Latin America, then it is a project that I am excited to be part of for many more years to come,” he said.

The solution that became an entrepreneurship

According to Matías Craviotto, co-founder of this project, the intention was not to found a company, but to provide a solution to the organizational problem that existed in his school cafeteria.

“We were 17 years old (…) the cafeteria was not working well, there were long queues and there was a problem with cash handling by the younger children,” he recalls. “Two friends and I wanted to study Systems Engineering and we already knew how to program, so we thought it would be an interesting summer challenge to try to make an application to solve those problems,” he adds.

This platform was launched in 2019 at their school and although the intention was not to start a business, the reception from parents was so good that they were encouraged to implement their app in other schools. With the arrival of the pandemic in 2020, the project was paused but was resumed in 2021 with the help of Endeavor, an international non-profit organization whose objective is to identify and support high-impact entrepreneurs.

It was there that they realized that the problem that was presented in their “small city” in Punta del Este was present in more corners of Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico and “practically all of Latin America.”

When they turned 21, they raised $300,000 in private capital and in 2023 they moved to Mexico, where they raised $500,000 more that they will invest solely for this market, as it has positioned itself as one of the most important for OrderEat.

The application is limited to serving private schools, according to Craviotto, this has to do with the fact that they are the ones that have this type of canteen models, in which parents pay a fee so that their children have access to their food. diaries. Some of the schools in which they currently operate are:

Monterey

• Nezaldi
• Euro-Americans
• Saint Roberts

Guadalajara

• Newland School
• Taleny School
• Canadian School

CDMX

• Westhill
• Westhill Carpathians
• Innova Schools

Querétaro

Puebla

“In Mexico, what we realized is that the problem of childhood obesity rates, which are very high and is something that is very much on the minds of all schools. So, when we are going to come to a school in Mexico , we explain to them how we help improve children’s nutrition and that is like the reason why they end up buying from us,” said the co-founder of OrderEat.

Currently, the platform works with more than 100 schools in the country; The goal by the end of the year is 300 schools in Mexico and 500 in Latin America.