Traveling Spoon

Traveling Spoon is a San Francisco, California-based food tourism startup company that connects travelers with local hosts who prepare homemade local cuisine in their homes.[2][3] Travelers can also purchase cooking classes and visit marketplaces for cooking ingredients with their hosts.[4][5] The company offers home dining packages in 38 cities[6] in 15 countries located throughout South and Southeast Asia and Japan.[7][8]

Traveling Spoon
TypePrivate
IndustryFood tourism
Founded2011
Founders
  • Stephanie Lawrence
  • Aashi Vel
[1]
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
United States
Number of locations
  • Bangladesh
  • Cambodia
  • China
  • Greece
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • Sri Lanka
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • Turkey
  • Vietnam
  • Lebanon 🇱🇧 Abel, Ann (27 October 2014). "The Next Generation Of Culinary Tourism: Traveling Spoon". Forbes. Retrieved 2 November 2014.</ref>
Area served
Worldwide
Services
  • Regional cuisine
  • Cooking classes
Websitetravelingspoon.com

Traveling Spoon was founded by Stephanie Lawrence and Aashi Vel and its beta site launched in July 2013.[9] The bootstrapped[10] company is a graduate of the Venture Lab Program at the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.[11] The Venture Lab program also awarded the company $12,000 in prize money.[11]

History

Stephanie Lawrence and Aashi Vel founded Traveling Spoon shortly after they met in 2011 at the Haas School of Business, where they were students in the school's Master of Business Administration program.[10] The two connected over a similar desire to eat indigenous cuisine prepared by locals and learn about native cultures they encountered when traveling abroad.[12][13] Traveling Spoon started a pilot program in December 2011 and had its first customers in January 2012.[14] The company launched its beta website in July 2013.[15] In May 2014, Traveling Spoon raised funding from Erik Blachford, the former CEO of Expedia and The Chennai Angels.[16][17] In 2015, Traveling Spoon launched programs in the Philippines[18] and India, which includes 12 cities within the country.[19]

Operations

Traveling Spoon offers homemade meals from 200 local hosts in 18 countries.[20] Traveling Spoon has hosts in Mexico, South and Southeast Asia and Japan, including Turkey, China, Vietnam, India and the Philippines.[3][7][18][19] Aside from in-home meals, Traveling Spoon also offers cooking experiences and local market tours.[21]

Traveling Spoon pairs a traveler's food restrictions and preferences, group size and budget with a host.[19] When a traveler registers, they are able to specify dietary restrictions including vegetarian and vegan.[22] In the case a host is unable to meet dietary restrictions, Traveling Spoon ensures meals are tailored to the traveler's profile.[22]

All hosts are personally vetted by the company, which conducts interviews, in-house visits, and taste tests.[15] Hosts must have some proficiency in English and have Internet access.[13] The majority of hosts are women.[15] Hosts determine the price of meals and many offer special packages that include cooking classes or market trips.[12][14]

References
  1. "Touch, Feel, Smell...Travel". Sunday Times of India. 22 February 2015.
  2. Kim Fortson. "Featured Travelers: Stephanie and Aashi of Traveling Spoon". Afar. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  3. Pooja Bhatia. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?". Ozy. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  4. Jillian Tellez. "Authentic Travel: Bringing travelers a taste of the local's life". Online Economy. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  5. Ayyar, Kamakshi (3 March 2015). "Fund Your Travels By Hosting In Your City". National Geographic Traveller India. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  6. Kosoff, Maya (29 March 2015). "39 of the coolest startups founded by women". Business Insider. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  7. Sarah Ashley O'Brien (28 August 2014). "8 must-have travel apps". CNN Money. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  8. Mimsie Ladner (24 February 2015). "Grab Your Traveling Spoon and Get a Taste of Local Culture". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  9. Jillian D'Onfro. "6 Silicon Valley Startups Launched In The Last Six Months That Could Be Huge". Business Insider. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  10. David Weir. "Traveling Spoon Takes You "Off the Eaten Path" for Culinary Adventures". 7x7. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  11. "Venture Lab Awards Prize Money to Traveling Spoon". Fung Institute. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  12. Neeti Jaychander. "Click for the Culinary" (PDF). Femina. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  13. "An Interview with Traveling Spoon co-founder, Aashi Vel". Multilingual Connections. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  14. Sumedha Deo. "The Food Connect: track your favourite foods wherever you go!". The Hindustan Times. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  15. Valerie Gilbert. "Cooking Up a Cultural Culinary Exchange in Asia". Haas School of Business. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  16. "Traveling Spoon, An Airbnb For Home-Cooked Dinners Globally, Launches With $870K In Funding". TechCrunch. 2015-09-16.
  17. "Travelling Spoon: Helping tourists enjoy home-cooked meals". The New Indian Express. May 30, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  18. Murphy, Jen (October 7, 2015). "The Surprising Fact about Eating Filipino Food in the Philippines". Afar Magazine. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  19. Anju Maskeri (17 May 2015). "Home is where the hearth is". mid-day. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  20. Myers, Margaret (26 February 2016). "This Travel Site Finds You an Authentic Home-Cooked Meal Abroad". PBS Newshour. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  21. Olewitz, Chloe (October 10, 2015). "Traveling Spoon Curates Delicious Tourist Experiences in Local Homes and Kitchens". Techly. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  22. Michael Kaminer (1 June 2015). "Spoon-Fed: How traveling spoon helps hungry travelers". Vegetarian times. Retrieved 11 March 2016.

Further reading
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