Online grocery shopping has been a great alternative to the traditional method of buying groceries. I have always wondered why supermarkets don't provide simple recipes that could be used to make homemade meals. This seemed like a missed opportunity. It was a missed opportunity, but it is now.Lollipop AI, a new British online grocery market, launches its public beta today. It was created by a serial entrepreneur from the UK who was involved in the creation of Osper, Monzo, and Curve.Tom Foster-Carter, founder and CEO, has envisioned a platform that allows people to create meal plans using recipes. The platform will automatically assemble the ingredients into their shopping bags and suggest other household necessities. The Lollipop, he says, could help achieve health goals, increase culinary skills and reduce food waste. It will partner with Sainsburys, BBC Good Food, and other partners. Retail partners will complete fulfillment. Retail partners will take a small percentage of the business model, which allows for selected advertising, e.g. CPG brand owners.While the site is free to use, a premium tier will be available. The startup will give premium features to all beta testers who sign up for the waitlist. Prices will be the same as in normal supermarkets.Foster-Carter came up with the idea after having a child and realizing how much time he spent trying to find a regular supermarket. The average household will be able to save many hours each week, according Foster-Carter. We will briefly mention the fact that this site was created by a man after he had done his weekly shopping. Lollipop estimates that 80% households spend more than an hour per week grocery shopping and meal planning.Former employees of Monzo and Farmdrop, Amazon and Sainsburys, as well as HelloFresh cofounders Chris Parsons, Ib Warnerbring, are part of the founding team.Foster-Carter doesn't disclose how much he raised for this approach. However, he claims he raised a preseed round that was backed by JamJar Investments and Speedinvest. He also boasts former leaders and founders of online grocery stores in the U.K., including Ian Marsh, who is currently UK GM of HelloFresh.The site will appeal especially to those looking to lose weight. Meal planning would be easier and could even have an effect on recipe-box startups.Lollipop's ambitions are not unique. Jupiter.co, a U.S.-based grocery site, describes itself as "groceries on autopilot". Jow, Side Chef, and Cooklist are both recipe-driven shopping services. Cooklist, meanwhile, is a meal-planner/cooking support service.Foster-Carter said to me: It's a marketplace so that we could partner with traditional grocery stores (Sainburys and Tescos etc.) + online retailers like Amazon, Ocado, Amazon, direct to farm / organic(Riverford, Farmdrop), mission led single component (Oddbox. Milk & More. etc. ); recipe boxes (Gousto. Hello Fresh. Mindful Chef. etc. ); and quick delivery (Gorillas. Getir.This is only the beginning. Our goal is to be your one-stop shop for all of your food needs. Dishpatch) is available from us. Groceries will be delivered by our partners. Then, when it's time to cook, you can use the cooking companion app (due to release next month). Lollipop will allow you to enhance your cooking skills in the future.Few players can buy many items quickly (50 to 100+) as fast as Amazon.
