odacova: AI-supported nutrition tips for employee
Corinna Herrmann
odacova offers an AI-based solution for personalized nutrition in the workplace. In an interview Timo Sievernich,Founder and CEO at odacova, explains how their app enables employees to receive personalized nutritional recommendations directly in the company cafeteria.
How would you explain your solution to a healthcare professional in three sentences?
"odacova is an AI-based SaaS solution that enables companies to use their canteen to promote the health of their employees. To this end, we have developed a personalized nutrition app that makes it easy to find the best individual food selection in the company restaurant. We also offer our customers a data-based dashboard to measure the success of our solution for company-wide sustainability reporting."
odacova-App
odacova-App ©WISAGCatering
What problem motivated you to found the company?
"During our studies, we missed a digital solution for the canteen that would allow us to see transparently which nutrients are contained in the canteen dishes and how the dishes fit in with our health needs and sporting goals. At the end of our studies, we developed this solution and realized that we could offer many companies with canteens added health value for their employees. We are not only solving a company health problem, but also a social health problem, as 75% of all illnesses are diet-related and 16 million meals are consumed in German canteens every day."
How do you convince a pharmaceutical company, health insurance company, insurance company or other potential customer to set up a pilot project with you?
"In order to win over a caterer, a company, a health insurance company or another potential customer for a pilot project with odacova, we rely on a unique, personalized nutrition concept that focuses on the guests (or employees) and their individual needs. In contrast to other solutions, we offer not just general nutritional information, but tailored, individual recommendations that can be integrated directly into everyday working life. For caterers, this means a significant increase in the attractiveness of their services. They not only offer their customers innovative digital added value, but also actively help to change the image of the “unhealthy canteen” and increase guest and customer loyalty. For companies, our solution offers the opportunity to use the canteen as part of company health management. With odacova, nutrition-related absenteeism can be reduced preventively. In addition, we provide a dashboard for measuring success and transparent monitoring that positions the company as a progressive and health-conscious employer. For health insurance companies, odacova offers a cost-effective, digital and preventive nutritional measure that acts as a continuous nutritional coach in the everyday working lives of their policyholders. This leads to a sustainable improvement in nutritional habits without the high costs of traditional (nutritional) therapy."
Who are your current customers (groups) and who are the potential customers?
"Our customers are companies with canteens and a strong focus on occupational health management, which we reach directly or via our strategic partners from catering companies. Early adopters are often companies from the insurance, pharmaceutical and IT sectors whose employees are highly motivated by health and nutrition, or companies that actively promote healthy canteen food. In future, we also want to gain health insurance companies as partners who support our solution as part of the prevention guidelines."
Where do you see yourselves in 3 years and how can 5-HT support you?
"In three years, we will offer a comprehensive, highly personalized solution that uses wearables and sensor technology to collect live health data and deliver precise nutritional advice using deep learning. Through a strong network of strategic partnerships, we enable numerous corporate customers to promote the health of their employees through personalized nutrition. 5-HT can help us to expand our network and target health-conscious customers."
You took part in the 5-HT X-linker “Innovation in occupational health management” in June 2024. What is your impression of the event and what have you gained from participating (so far)?
"Participating in the 5-HT X-linker “Innovation in Corporate Health Management” was a great experience for us. The event not only gave us the opportunity to present our solution in the field of nutrition & exercise and receive customer feedback, but also to make valuable contacts with BGM contacts in leading companies such as BioNTech, Merck and SAP. The intensive discussions showed how important personalized and measurable BGM measures are. The keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Christoph Oberlinner from BASF was particularly inspiring. Overall, the event opened up new perspectives and valuable networking opportunities for us."
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