Thanks to the launch of Sendwich, there is a first application for schools that allows students to quickly and easily order their lunch in advance. Entrepreneurship in Covid-19 times is challenging, but young entrepreneur Sien De Vriese is a firm believer in Sendwich.

"The ordering app contributes to social distancing, as well as supporting local sandwich stores. I also know from market research that 140 schools are actively looking for a fast, digital solution for ordering sandwiches. The traditional queuing during playtime and processing a mass of orders requires a lot of time from students and school staff," says Sien. Sendwich is supported by MAD Factory from Machelen.

From thesis inspiration to unique IT product

The young entrepreneur Sien De Vriese conceived SENDWICH during her final thesis for Social-Technical Sciences and was looking for a sustainable solution to a real problem.

"Having just come from school myself, I know how unstructured and old-fashioned ordering lunch is. Students spend an entire playtime impatiently queuing to order sandwiches. School staff must then process long, handwritten lists, and mistakes regularly happen during delivery. The Sendwich app offers a perfect solution to this," says Sien De Vriese.

The online cloud application brings three different parties together on one platform: the sandwich store (supplier), the school (organization) and the student (customer). This creates a structured and controlled ordering service with minimum effort for the 3 parties.

Entrepreneurship in times of Corona

The corona crisis makes it difficult and especially very unpredictable for schools to know clearly what the next few weeks and months will look like. This is not stopping Sendwich from sitting down with schools and forging new collaborations. Especially now that social distancing is the norm, it is even more important to make students' lunches as smooth as possible. Through a digital solution, coronagraphs can also be respected even better.

Sendwich also aims to provide additional support to local sandwich stores through its application.

Despite COVID-19, I persevere because I believe very hard in the application. Of course, it is not easy to establish new collaborations with schools that today have to operate in total uncertainty. Digital solutions like SENDWICH can eliminate long queues for ordering sandwiches. I developed the application as a solution against the long waits that annoyed me at the time as a student. In the present context, of course, it is a perfect alternative to cash or receipts, thus reducing the risk of COVID-19 contamination. Finally, I am also very happy that we can help keep local sandwich stores running," Sien De Vriese sounds determined.

School retains control, more convenient for sandwich stores

Sendwich differs from all other ordering apps in that the school is given a central, controlling role in the ordering process. This is also appreciated by the Don Bosco Institute in Groot-Bijgaarden, the school from which Sien graduated and, not coincidentally, the app's first user.

"We are delighted that Don Bosco is the first customer to receive a first from Sendwich. Thanks to the ordering app, we can save a lot of valuable time. It is very good that the school plays an active role. We make a selection from the full range of suppliers. This way, the available menu corresponds to our guidelines for healthy eating and nutritional values," echoed school organization director Bert Vermaanen of the Don Bosco Institute.

The school also makes arrangements with all vendors for order deadlines. In the app, students can order, change or cancel their lunch before the deadline. The fact that all orders arrive at the supplier via Sendwich also saves them time. In addition to sandwich stores, soup shops or fruit suppliers can also easily register as external suppliers in the app.

Ordering sandwiches: easy, error-free and up to 2 months in advance

Sendwich is available for free to Apple and Android users. In the app, students can order a sandwich in just a few clicks. This can be done on the day itself, but just as easily up to two months in advance.

Payment is made through a digital wallet in which users can upload money. This can be done through Payconiq or through QR checks that students purchase at school. Each order is immediately transmitted to the sandwich store, which in turn delivers to the school at the appointed time. To avoid errors during pickup, each product is given a unique numerical code that is linked to a personalized QR code of the customer.

MAD Factory

To make this project successful, Sendwich partnered with the software company MAD Factory. They programmed the secure cloud application and maintain the app.

"As an innovative company, we have extensive experience in digitizing manual processes. Sendwich is an application by a 19-year-old young lady with great ambition and entrepreneurship. We are proud to further develop Sendwich with her," says Managing partner of MAD-factory, Stéphane Colot.

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https://www.horecaplatform.be/19-jarige-sien-lanceert-sendwich-app-om-op-school-broodjes-te-bestellen/

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