Gousto partners with Living DNA to provide ancestry-based recipe inspiration

UK recipe box firm Gousto has partnered with biotechnology company, Living DNA, to match findings about a customer’s ancestry with meal recommendations.

The companies are collaborating to launch DNA Dishes, a pilot service that will offer free DNA kits with the aim of enabling home cooks to make more ‘meaningful’ connections with the meals they eat.

The kits – worth £99 – will be used to obtain a cheek swab that is then sent to Living DNA for processing. The results will be matched with Gousto recipe inspiration from some of the regions or countries that show up as part of the individual’s ancestral make-up.

A survey conducted by Gousto found that 84% of adults (in a sample of 2,000) are in the dark about their heritage; and half said that they would be more excited to try new dishes if they could connect them with their heritage.

Gousto says that its new mealtime personalisation service aims to inspire the nation to discover new flavours and try new recipes.

The company has previously built an ‘intelligent recommendation engine’ – due to be rolled out next year – that suggests menus tailored to an individual customer’s preferences.

“We focus heavily on innovation to inspire discovery and adventure when it comes to home cooking, and this partnership with Living DNA is an example of that,” said Shaun Pearce, Gousto’s chief technology officer.

“We make our data work hard through the development of intelligent algorithms that not only allow customers to discover menus catered to their preferences but importantly, helps them create a personal connection to the food they cook.

“With a strategy led by customer obsession, we invest in new ways to utilise data and evolve our proposition based on insights from our community. The future of food is so exciting and the learnings from this pilot will help accelerate our work in developing an even more personalised product for our customers.”

Earlier this year, Gousto announced that it will aim to triple its fulfilment capacity by 2022, in response to structural changes in the UK grocery market.