Cookisto vs Spoonmates

Cookisto VS Spoonmates

What is what and what’s the difference? – by the Explorers of the Network

Cookisto – What is it?

Cookisto is a social network that connects home cooks with all the more hungry food lovers who are looking to eat fast and cheap.

Cookisto’s idea and development is based on the master degree thesis for entrepreneurship of aGreek student named Michalis Gkontas, who created Cookisto inhis effort to limit the daily quantity of wasted food that wasproduced by home cooks in the Greek capital city and provide

witha creative way of putting food on the table in times of economiccrisis.

Is it popular?

This particular site has managed to attract 12.000 cooks around Athens during the past few months. In Greece, the Cookisto community has spread outside the internet realm, as unemployed people have started to gain new confidence via becoming part of this community.

How does it work?

These cooks, after they make their own dishes, have to upload the details regarding those dishes including the number of portions they have prepared, a picture and their food’s cost.

In addition to this, they have the ability to share their overall menus over the social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.).

The eaters can arrange either for a delivery or go on to pick up the food they ordered themselves depending on what is on offer at Cookisto.

Values

Strangers trust strangers. Cookisto makes it easier for members to seek other members that provide food on their own responsibility, fully understanding that the site is not involved in this process in any other way beyond the communication between them.

Emphasis is given on experience and online reputation of each member is really important. In order to appreciate the quality of the meals provided , there is a rating system and reviews for the character and the culinary skills of each member

Something that rejuvenates, fulfils and gives pleasure to some people can be a difficulty and a problem to solve for others. People get close thanks to cooking. Extra rations can be distributed to other community members who contribute to the cost of the needed ingredients for a meal.

How does one make money?

All marketplaces receive a very small commission for providing interconnection services among users. Cookisto is trying to do the same via an online payment system.

On the other hand…Spoonmates – What is it?

Spoonmates is anonline Greek communi-ty that helps people come close and enjoy food and sharing.

One can be simply a guest, a host or both.

But, how does it work?

First, as always, you sign up. You can use your facebookaccount or just your e-mail.

When you first sign up you become a guest. That means that you can

take partin any event that you want but you can’t

organizeone. If you want to be a host as well you

can simply press the button that says “Become host” .

So, after you sign in, you can go to the labelthat says “events” and check out what’s comingup next, the “next big thing” in town.

Some of the events have a payment, 10-20 euros max per person, which benefits a cause that’sdefined by the host or it simply helps him to buy the materials for the recipe he or she will cook for us. Someevent are free!

If you see an event that you like, check it out and if you want to take part press the label that says “Count me in”.

This way the host of the event sees that you want to go to his event and if he likes you, based on your spoonmates profile, he will count you in.

If he does, you will receive an e-mail with the exact address of the event and how you will pay for it.

Your next step is to just attend the event, meet new people, have fun and enjoy the food!

On the other hand, as a host, if you want to organize an event, you write a few words about it, define a cost, a dress code and say what you will serve in the event – what you will cook – and the place. You upload it at the Spoonmates website and on facebook/ twitter etc and wait for your guests.

When you become a member of the Spoonmates community you can check out the hosts and the other guests and gain some information about them before you meet them in person.

Why should I use it?

Because it is an amazing example of how thecollaborative consumption community works in general.And that’s because we have: Sharing economy: everyone gives money for the

event to be accomplished and everyone who takes part enjoys the food.

Unique experiences: the guests get the chance to meet new people, new places and enjoy flavors they never had before and all that in an easy and cheap way.

Reputation statements: when the event is over, every guest can write a review about it and evaluate the food, the place, the host and the company.

Cookisto VS SpoonmatesWhat’s the difference?

Both start-ups have to do with food and they both are very good examples of how the collaborative consumption theory works.

BUT (!) – besides that they are totally different:

Cookisto offers to the user home-made food, with a little cost that can be delivered to his or her place and the chance to meet new people. On the other hand, Spoonmates offers home-made food, the chance of meeting new people but all this is packaged into a whole event.

In other words, joining Spoonmates isn’t just about food but also about the whole unique experience that one gets from going to a party for example. The user gets to have fun, dance, meet new places, learn things, cook with the host, play board-games or clean a beach (all these are events that actually happened through Spoonmates).

Closing…

So, even though through both start-ups the user shares food, money and communication for that matter, using Spoonmates provides much more than that.

Both Cookisto and Spoonmates are useful, creative start-ups but at the end of the day the experiences they provide differ in many ways.

The Explorers of the Network

Alexiou Melissa Gewrgakopoulou Hara Sapounas Sokratis Charalampopoulou Stavrianna