In this episode, Founder and CEO of Foodini, Dylan McDonnell, shares his journey from being a corporate lawyer to founding a tech company focused on providing transparency in food ingredients for those with dietary restrictions.
There are 33 million Americans who live with a variety of dietary restrictions, whether it’s an allergy, a religious choice, or even women who are pregnant. Dylan himself has Celiac disease, an autoimmune condition where the immune system reacts to gluten, sometimes causing damage to the small intestine, along with 3.2 million Americans.
Foodini has created a Dietary Intelligence Platform that creates AI-driven ingredient transparency and tagging solutions for foodtech and hospitality, from dining rooms to stadiums. Its API helps large menu datasets and empowers food delivery and hospitality platforms to cater to diners with specific dietary needs.
Together, we discuss the challenges faced by individuals with food allergies, the tech behind Foodini, and the importance of compliance with food safety regulations.
Dylan also touches on the political landscape surrounding food safety legislation, such as the new California law requiring establishments with more than 20 locations to list all nine allergies. If you’re reading this from the EU, you might think it’s obvious that menus would list allergies, but no mandate in the US requires this. The California legislation may be the catalyst the country needs to expand that obligation to other US states, similar to how California copied Europe’s GDPR law with its own CCPA, only for it to trickle down into other states as well.
Finally, Dylan offers advice for aspiring founders looking to make a similar leap into entrepreneurship - something that resonated with me strongly due to my recent move from traditional media into a fully independent creator.
Highlights
Dylan’s transition from a corporate lawyer to a foodtech entrepreneur.
How Foodini addresses the lack of transparency in food ingredients by using AI to personalize dining experiences based on dietary needs.
33 million Americans have food allergies, highlighting a significant market.
Lobbying for California’s new legislation, which may pave the way for more states to follow.
Personalization is key to customer loyalty in the food industry, especially among those with allergies.
The importance of passion in entrepreneurship.
You can learn more about Foodini here: https://foodini.co/
