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COMMUNITY EATS

A 48-hour hackathon brought together clinicians, scientists, engineers, psychologists, designers, payers, business, & finance to tackle the pandemic of COVID-19. 

We developed a sustainable community business model surrounding the problems of needs and social distancing

HOW THIS  STARTED ?

18:00 hrs , Friday - 2nd April 2020

CONFIRMATION E-MAIL

This was a virtual hackathon by the prestigious institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to find solutions for various problems which raised in the wake of the pandemic COVID-19. There were more than 4500 applications out of which 1500 individuals were shortlisted on the basis of their professions, skill sets and problem solving capabilities.We recieved acknowledgment mails and the schedule

 

3:30 hrs , Saturday - 3rd April 2020

INTRODUCTORY SESSION

Combined briefing session including snippets from different sectors of the affected communities of COVID were shown to set up a base.We were further assigned tracks which were to address different themes of the problem and generated problem statements under that umbrella. There were total 10 tracks and 150 individuals in each track. These tracks were all problems of the COVID 19 crisis, being directly or indirectly impacting the people.I was part of the Track I which dealt with space utilisation.

TRACK I

"As cities prepare for continued community spread and potential surge in COVID-19 patients, many are looking for new ways to convert exisiting spaces to treat more COVI-19 patients while finding new spaces for non-COVID people. How can we more effciently and creatively provide new expandable places, flex existing places based on active needs and provide better predictions on upcoming needs ? "

05:30 hrs , Saturday - 3rd April 2020

TEAM FORMATION

This was the team formation period, where each of the 150 memebers were encouraged to come up with ideas/problems they felt relevant in this thematic context - all of which were noted down in an excel sheet. Then everyone was asked to choose the problem they want to work with and create groups of max 7 members.

TEAM 10 - GOING THE DISTANCE

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Supermarkets present a major hurdle for even the most committed social distancer

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Restaurant closures and revenue losses are decimating local small businesses and staff

7:30 hrs , Saturday - 3rd April 2020

PROBLEM SPACE

There were two major concerns with which the team collectively agreed to work upon.The discussion initiated with the fact of keeping Social Distancing as a continued practice and coping with upcoming needs.

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1.0 APPROACH

Distributed grocery shopping relieves congestion in supermarkets​

With limited delivery options available, majority of consumers still shop in large format supermarkets. Repurpose unused spaces to distribute shopping across both  supermarkets and restaurants.

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Repurpose local restaurants to provide a safe and reliable shopping option

With limited delivery options available, majority of consumers still shop in large format supermarkets. Repurpose unused spaces to distribute shopping across both  supermarkets and restaurants.

"Atwood Tavern" registers with Community Eats to repurpose as a small-format community grocery store.

Kelly signs up for Community Eats to pick up meal kits or pre-selected groceries weekly.

Atwood prepares orders (meal kits and grocery packages)

Kelly selects desired products for next week - meal kits for dinners and fresh dairy products

Kelly heads to Atwood Tavern  for a safe, curbside grocery pickup

REVISED PROBLEM STATEMENT

“To develop an affordable  medium for transfer of wheelchair users from wheelchair to any medium and vice versa.” 

2.0 MODEL

Test Market : Boston,United States

Target Consumer & Restaurants : 

●Consumers in highly populated urban areas concerned with health risks of grocery shopping and food consistency

●Local businesses without infrastructure to facilitate consumer purchases

●Restaurants with wide selection of dishes

Consumers purchase subscription meal kits or pre-packed groceries

Community Eats is a  platform connects consumers to local eateries 

Restaurants make kits on the basis of orders - with materials coming from their supply chains

3.0 PRODUCT

Consumers trade off the specificity and risk of the grocery store for flexibility and safety with Community Eats

With limited delivery options available, majority of consumers still shop in large format supermarkets. Repurpose unused spaces to distribute shopping across both  supermarkets and restaurants.

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● Produce, Meat, Dairy options

● Similar to a CSA

● Add-on individual items as available such as paper goods and cleaning supplies

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● Change based on restaurant type and current product availability

● Examples: Tacos, pizza, stew, etc

● Allows consumers to learn the cuisines and recipes of their favourite restaurants

4.0 CONCEPT

Proof of Concept Website Design - Consumer Interface

-Estimated delivery for hassle free customer experience

-Added items/ingredients along with main supplies

-Full detailed display of Cart

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5.0 MARKET RESEARCH

Current Model : Dine In + Take Out ------> Takeout + Delivery (with reduced supply chain)

Current Market Trends : 

Current Coping Methods

●Bulk Buying (68%)

●Reducing Shopping Trips (68%)

●Using existing food items (68%)

Biggest Concern

●Health risk of going to store (84%)

●Meeting Food Needs in Timely Manner (49%)

Most needed items:

●Household Items (71%)

●Perishable/refrigerator items (59%)

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6.0 EXPECTED IMPACT

Estimated Reduced Social Interactions

Assumptions made based on typical American shopping habits, survey results, and population/grocery store information from Boston area

.https://www.everydollar.com/blog/grocery-shopping-habits-costing-us-time-and-money

.https://www.google.com/maps/search/grocery+stores+in+boston/@34.3188346,-95.7084137,4z/data=!3m1!4b1

1x per week

Shopping Frequency

X

1000

Population per grocery store

X

03

Interactions per trip

X

300

#Grocery stores in Boston(metro area)

X

2/3

Population willing to use our services

Upto 6,00,0000 reduced interactions per week

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