Got Dietary Requirements? New App Foodini Makes Eating Out in Sydney Easy for Those With Dietaries

For people dealing with specific dietary requirements, eating out often isn’t the seamless experience it deserves to be. Inaccurate blog posts, misleading menus and uninformed waitstaff have inadvertently exacerbated the challenge to the cost of venues and diners alike. After seeing a number of forums and platforms fail to come up with a solution, Dylan McDonnell – an Irish-born lawyer turned app developer – and a team of dietitians have launched Foodini: an app connecting people with specific dietary needs to the restaurants, catering companies and venues that can best provide for them.

When he was diagnosed with coeliac disease as a 10-year-old, McDonnell didn’t have a particularly easy ride. “In rural Ireland 20 years ago, the words ‘gluten-free’ weren’t in the vocabulary,” he tells Broadsheet.

Although awareness is increasing, along with more flexible dining options, the challenge of finding restaurants to cater for specific dietary needs hasn’t disappeared. So, after struggling with the issue for long enough, McDonnell decided to do something about it. “I asked myself: why hasn’t someone come up with a solution to allow people to easily identify where and what they can eat? And I decided I’d have to do it myself.”

After analysing the options, McDonnell realised the app would have to involve collaboration between business owners and dietitians – to ensure accuracy and, ultimately, to improve the dining experience for everyone involved.

Users can choose from 31 allergy types and dietary preferences – whether vego, vegan or pescatarian – to create their unique dietary profile, and not only locate restaurants that cater to their needs but browse the exact dishes available. The group-dine option allows dining companions to input their various needs and find a restaurant that suits them all (a function likely to have an untold impact on friendships, marriages and workplace harmony).

In consultation with Foodini’s team of dietitians – led by accredited dietitian and nutritionist Jennifer Vera – partner venues upload their menus to the app, aligning menu items with the various dietary requirements they meet. The approach is rigorous, but necessary for a nation that loves to eat and isn’t always willing or able to settle for an ambiguous plat du jour. Research has found that Australia has one of the highest rates of food allergies in the world, with Melbourne taking the prime position. That challenge, along with the willingness of our restaurants to cater to those with allergy issues, makes Australia the perfect place to launch, according to the Foodini team.

“From the community of restaurants we’ve built in Sydney, we’ve seen a real appreciation … that dietary needs and food allergies are a serious issue for a lot of people. This is an issue that needs to be solved, and the majority of restaurants that have two or three hours to invest in this solution are happy to do so,” says McDonnell.

Foodini launched officially in Sydney in September 2021, with 100 restaurants and businesses already on board. Current partner eateries include Rising Sun Workshop in Newtown, Pilgrims in Bronte and Spiced by Billu’s in Barangaroo.

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