Online meal planning and shopping platform Lollipop – which allows users to create weekly meal plans from thousands of recipes, and automatically generate shopping lists at supermarkets online – has rebranded to Cherrypick.
The rebrand also marks a pivot in the focus of the app – from primarily a tool to save users time to one that will help improve their health and is positive for the planet.
Cherrypick allows its more than 200,000 users to browse nearly 1,000 recipes and order the ingredients to make them in within minutes. The app partners with Sainsbury’s for products and fulfilment – so baskets built on the app can be quickly bought at the supermarket’s online store.
“Lack of time, tools and money has, understandably, seen us increasingly turn to low-quality convenience food. And the health of our planet and ourselves is suffering,” said CEO Tom Foster-Carter, former COO of Monzo. “But by helping millions of people make better food choices, we believe we can change the trajectory of human and planetary health.”
The app says its analysis of more than 100,000 orders found users cut their ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption by 26% compared with before using the app. UPFs make up 29% of a Cherrypick user’s diet, roughly half the national average of 55% to 60%.
As well as reducing UPF intake, Cherrypick says it has helped users reduce their ready meal consumption, with more than half of users (53%) reporting they eat fewer ready meals since before they started using the app. Three-quarters (74%) cook five or more meals from scratch a week, compared with 47% before. Overall, eight in 10 users (82%) say they are generally eating more healthily than they did prior to using the app.
The company has indicated a second major supermarket partner will be joining the platform early this year. Although it hasn’t revealed the new partner, the Cherrypick app now features an option to shop instore with Asda. Foster-Carter said many users were using the platform as a meal-planning and shopping list creation tool, and using it in physical stores.
In response to the cost of living crisis, the app has also rolled out a ‘spend less’ range of recipes, where the average cost per serving is £2.11.
“Half of the global population will be overweight or obese by 2035. But people are not to blame. Convenience food is,” said Foster-Carter. “Ready meals and takeaways are packed with ultra-processed, calorie-dense ingredients. Old-school convenience is killing us, but busy households don’t have the time or tools to fight back.”
“Cherrypick is helping to build a new era of convenience where everyone can eat better and health, convenience, and value are no longer in tension,” he added.
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