Donegal food-tech start-up Siansplan.com wins at computer cooking contest in France

3 Oct 2012

Vincent Breslin, Siansplan, receives the 'Most Insightful and Intriguing Internet Innovation' award from Louise Phelan of PayPal at the Dot ie Net Visionary Awards last week

Siansplan.com, a new start-up founded by a mother and son who hail from Donegal, recently won the overall award at an international food technology competition held in Lyon, France.

The start-up is led by Vincent Breslin, an engineer, and his mother Sian, who runs Donegal Manor Guesthouse and Cookery School. The duo developed a web application to help people plan and create meals on a budget.

At the Computer Cooking Contest in France, start-ups converged from all over the world to present their digital applications to help disrupt the food-tech space.

As well as winning the ‘Most Innovative Digital Solution for Home Cooks’ award, Siansplan also won the overall award at the competition.

And last week Siansplan also won the ‘Most Insightful and Intriguing Internet Innovation’ award at the Irish Internet Association’s annual Dot ie Net Visionary Awards.
 
Vincent, who also has an MSc in sustainable energy, worked with his mother Sian, who has 25 years of experience as a home economics teacher, to develop the online meal-planning app. It includes a colour-coded plan for people, especially busy families, to help them create meal plans for each day of the week, especially on a budget.

The app also has advice on shopping for food, with the aim of helping people cut down on food waste.

Siansplan is now planning to launch its mobile app in Ireland and the UK.

The start-up has been supported by Letterkenny IT, IT Sligo, Donegal Enterprise Board, AIB and the Enterprise Ireland-funded New Frontiers programme.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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