Food delivery system

Abstract

To provide a food delivery system that can deliver ingredients for daily meals and utilize the nutritional history information of those meals for individual nutritional management and for the health management of the businesses to which the users belong. [Solution] A system for delivering food ingredients according to an order, in which, based on the order information O of a user U, an instruction is issued to the business operator C to which the user U belongs to deliver the ingredients, and the nutritional information O of the food ingredients M ordered by the user U is recorded as nutritional history information I in relation to the user U for each order, and the nutritional history information I is configured to be transmittable to the user U and the business operator C.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for delivering food ingredients to a predetermined location in accordance with a user's order. [Background Art]

[0002] In response to the demand for saving time for meal preparation in busy daily lives, services that deliver food ingredients exist. In particular, services that deliver prepared side dishes are characterized in that users can easily enjoy a homemade-like meal simply by reheating and arranging the delivered ingredients at home. Furthermore, there is no small demand for paying attention to health while saving the trouble of preparing meals. Diet is a major factor that affects health. Among meals, dinner requires attention because people tend to consume a large amount of food despite the low amount of physical activity after eating.

[0003] Among food delivery services, there are also services that provide menus with low levels of nutrients that tend to be overconsumed, such as calories and salt. However, apart from cases where users themselves know which nutrients they should restrict, it is rare for most people to understand which nutrients they currently have in excess, or conversely which nutrients they are lacking.

[0004] On the other hand, in recent years, health-oriented management in enterprises has attracted attention. Health-oriented management is a management method in which enterprises view the health of their employees from a management perspective and implement strategic initiatives. Promoting employee health enables productivity improvement and sustainable development of enterprises. Thus, the impact of employees' daily diet on health has become an important factor also from the perspective of health-oriented management.

[0005] Conventionally, systems have been developed that record a history of nutrients in bentos (boxed lunches) ordered by users and provide advice on the nutrients the user has consumed. Patent Document 1 discloses a meal delivery system that delivers bento boxes containing ingredients selected on a website, and records nutritional information such as the calorie intake of the bento box. This meal delivery system allows registered dietitians to review users' order history and provide nutritional advice, which helps to prevent unbalanced diets and excessive calorie intake, thereby contributing to improved health.

[0006] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a system in which, when a user orders ingredients, the ingredients are delivered to a delivery location agreed upon with the corporation to which the user belongs, and the payment is settled between the user and the individual. This technology allows for the delivery of bento boxes to a location and time specified in the agreement between the individual user and the corporation, thus enabling smooth delivery of bento boxes without placing a significant burden on the corporation. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-215707 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2024-115223 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0008] The technology described in Patent Document 1 involves a nutritionist providing nutritional advice based on the order history of ordered lunch boxes. However, while this technology allows individual users to manage their own nutrition, it does not allow their companies to actively utilize the information regarding that nutritional management for health management purposes. Therefore, there was a problem in that the nutritional management information provided by the nutritionist was limited to the scope of the individual user's health management.

[0009] On the other hand, the technology described in Patent Document 2 allows for the delivery of daily lunches to employees at a location designated by the company, as part of the company's employee benefits. However, this technology is solely intended for the purpose of delivering bento boxes to designated locations for corporations, and it does not indicate that health information will be used for the management of those corporations.

[0010] This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a food delivery system that can deliver ingredients for daily meals and utilize the nutritional history information of those meals for the nutritional management of individual users and for the health management of the businesses to which the users belong. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The means employed by the inventors to solve the above problems are described below. The food delivery system of the present invention is a system for delivering food ingredients in response to orders, wherein, in accordance with the user's order information, instructions are issued to deliver the food ingredients to the business to which the user belongs, nutritional information of the food ingredients ordered by the user is recorded as nutritional history information associated with the user for each order, and the nutritional history information is configured to be transmittable to the user and the business.

[0012] The ingredients ordered by the user are delivered to the business to which the user belongs. This allows the user to receive the ingredients at the workplace where they work and take them home after their work is finished. Furthermore, nutritional information such as calories, salt content, and protein of the ordered ingredients is recorded as nutritional history information for each order and can be sent to both the user and the business to which the user belongs. By sending nutritional history information not only to the user but also to the business to which the user belongs, the business can advise on the nutritional management of its employees. This can help prevent illness and daily health problems, and prevent a decline in productivity.

[0013] In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention may also be configured to include, in addition to the above-mentioned means, a user terminal owned by the user, a business terminal owned by the business to which the user belongs, and a food preparation business terminal owned by the food preparation business. The user's order information is transmitted from the business terminal to the cooking company terminal, and the cooking company is instructed to deliver the ingredients based on the order information to the business to which the user belongs. Furthermore, nutritional information of the ingredients ordered by the user is recorded as nutritional history information associated with the user for each order, and the nutritional history information is configured to be transmittable to the user terminal and the business operator terminal.

[0014] By configuring the system so that users select the ingredients they want to order using their own terminals, the business compiles that information, and then transmits it as order information from the business's terminal to the caterer's terminal, the order information is easy to understand even when there are multiple users belonging to the same business. Furthermore, nutritional history information can also be transmitted to user terminals and service provider terminals, enabling real-time information sharing. In this invention, the term "cooking service provider" is not limited to businesses that only perform cooking, but also includes businesses that perform both cooking and delivery.

[0015] In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention may also include, in addition to the above-mentioned means, an administrator terminal owned by the administrator managing the system, and a configuration in which the nutritional history information can be transmitted to the business operator terminal by instructions from the administrator terminal.

[0016] Nutritional history information is related to the health status of individual users, and by understanding this nutritional history information, businesses can manage the health of their employees. This helps prevent the deterioration of health conditions, such as diseases caused by unbalanced diets and nutritional intake, and thus prevent a decline in business productivity. However, nutritional information is information related to the user's privacy, and should not be arbitrarily disclosed to the business operator without the user's consent.

[0017] Accordingly, a mechanism is adopted in which whether the user may provide nutrition history information to the business operator is agreed upon with the administrator in advance, whereby the nutrition history information can be transmitted from the administrator terminal to the business operator terminal only when the user has given permission. When this mechanism is adopted, when a business operator requests the administrator terminal to disclose the user's nutrition history information, and the user has previously approved the disclosure of nutrition history information to the business operator, only then the administrator issues an instruction for disclosure, and the nutrition history information is transmitted to the business operator. This makes it possible to construct a mechanism that allows the user to obtain compensation for the disclosure of nutrition history information, and when the compensation serves as an economic income, the economic burden related to food ingredients can be reduced.

[0018] As means adopted by the present invention for solving the aforementioned problems, in addition to the above means, it is also possible to adopt a configuration where transmitting said nutrition history information to said business operator terminal grants privilege information equivalent to money to said user terminal. When the user's nutrition history information is to be transmitted to the business operator regardless of whether it goes through the administrator or not, granting privilege information equivalent to money to the user can directly reduce the economic burden related to food ingredients.

[0019] As another means adopted by the present invention for solving the aforementioned problems, it is also possible to adopt a configuration where information on nutrients estimated to be insufficient or excessive for the user based on said nutrition history information can be transmitted to said user terminal and said business operator terminal.

[0020] Nutrition history information is processed statistically, so for a predetermined nutritional component, it can be determined whether the intake meets the appropriate amount based on the user's information such as gender and age. Accordingly, by enabling information on nutrients estimated to be insufficient or excessive for a user to be transmitted to the user and the business operator, bias in the user's nutrient intake can be corrected in advance. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] As described above, the food material delivery system of the present invention is a system in which the business operator to which a user belongs collectively transmits orders to a cooking vendor and delivers food materials to the business operator. Nutrient information of the ordered food materials is accumulated for each order, and can be transmitted to the user and the business operator as nutrition history information. This provides the effect that information on meal nutrition can be utilized for individual nutrition management of users and for health management of the business operator to which the users belong. [Brief Description of Drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] It is an explanatory diagram of the food material delivery system of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is an explanatory diagram showing an order screen of the food material delivery system of the present invention. [Figure 3] It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of nutrition history information of the food material delivery system of the present invention. [Figure 4] It is an explanatory diagram showing the food material delivery system according to Modification 1 of the present invention. [Figure 5] It is an explanatory diagram showing a website of the food material delivery system according to Modification 2 of the present invention. [Mode for Carrying Out the Invention]

[0023] A mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. A food material delivery system 100 of the present invention (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "system") comprises, as shown in FIG. 1, user terminals 1, 1,... owned by users U, U,..., a business operator terminal 2 owned by the business operator C to which the users U, U,... belong, and a cooking vendor terminal 3 owned by a food material cooking vendor D.

[0024] User U is, for example, an employee working for a company, and Service Provider C is that company. User U could also be, for example, a person who cooks meals at home every day, and could be either male or female. This system 100 can be used to envision, for example, a user U in a dual-income household who is busy with daily work and preparing dinner and has little time, but is highly interested in health.

[0025] In particular, in dual-income households, many families prepare or make meals in advance for the following week on weekends, meaning that the person who cooks has absolutely no private time during the week. However, if dinner is obtained from eating out or pre-made meals, nutrition will be unbalanced, and it will be difficult to know which nutrients are being consumed and in what amounts. Nutritional imbalances in meals can lead to poor health and illness, and for employer C, this directly leads to a decrease in productivity, making it a problem that cannot be ignored.

[0026] The system 100 of the present invention delivers ingredients M to business operator C upon order from user C who has such circumstances, and since users can receive the ingredients after work and go home, there is no need to purchase ingredients in advance or prepare or cook them beforehand. Based on Figure 1, the process from ordering to delivery will be explained. First, user U orders the desired menu using user terminal 1 by a specified time the day before the desired delivery date. Menu selection does not necessarily have to be done using user terminal 1; it is also possible to fill out an order form by hand, or to use telephone or fax. In the example in Figure 1, the method using user terminal 1 will be explained.

[0027] User terminal 1 could be, for example, a smartphone or personal computer owned by user U. The ordering method involves using user terminal 1 to access a dedicated website W, as shown in Figure 2, and entering the desired delivery date, menu items, quantity, etc. Website W runs on server S, and user terminal 1 accesses website W on server S via the internet. In addition to website W, orders can also be placed using a dedicated smartphone app, allowing for various ordering methods.

[0028] In the example shown in Figure 2, when you log in to website W, you can select from a variety of menus for each main and side dish. The menu is available in a cafeteria style, allowing you to choose your desired menu from multiple types of prepared dishes. These menus display images of serving suggestions as well as various nutritional information. The displayed nutritional information includes calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates, salt equivalent, minerals such as calcium, and various vitamins.

[0029] When user U selects and registers a menu item using user terminal 1, the registration information R, R… is sent to business terminal 2 via server S. The registration information R, R… registered by each user U, U… is then sent from business terminal 2 to cook D via server S as order information O by a representative of business C. When sending order information O from business terminal 2, the representative can send it manually, or it can be configured to be sent automatically at a set time. Furthermore, in the case of telephone or fax orders, the order information O may be sent directly from user U without going through business operator C. However, user U is not limited to one person; as shown in Figure 1, multiple employees working for business operator C may be contracting with the business operator. Therefore, it is efficient for business operator C to send all of this information together as order information O, completing the information transmission in a single step. If user terminal 1 is not used, business operator C can also send the order information O based on the completed order form.

[0030] As shown in Figure 1, the order information O transmitted from the business terminal 2 is sent to the cooking terminal 3 of the cooking company D, and instructions are issued to deliver the ingredients M to business C based on the order information O. Cook D prepares the ordered ingredients M in the morning of the delivery day and delivers them to business C by the afternoon when business C returns home. In the example in Figure 1, cook D is responsible for the delivery, but cook D may also request delivery from a separate transportation company or other party.

[0031] The ingredients M to be cooked are packaged in pouches and delivered refrigerated. By refrigerating ingredients M instead of freezing them, it is possible to prevent the leaching of nutrients from the ingredients during thawing, and to maintain good texture and taste. In addition to pouches, containers such as Tupperware may also be used for packaging.

[0032] The cooked and packaged food ingredients M are packed in a well-insulated box, such as styrofoam, along with ice packs, and delivered to business operator C. Business operator C places the food ingredients M in a predetermined location, such as the office or employee entrance, and user U picks up the food ingredients M when returning home. User U, upon receiving ingredient M, can either reheat the pouch at home or simply open and plate it to prepare a meal that looks homemade. Ingredient M can be ordered in quantities for the whole family or as a single serving.

[0033] The user U pays for ingredient M directly, without going through business operator C. Payment can be made with each order, or a lump sum for the month can be paid. Alternatively, if a basic fee is collected as a usage fee for this system 100, and only the cost of ingredient M is charged with each order, user U can perceive ingredient M as being inexpensive.

[0034] Here, each time user U places an order, the nutritional information of the ordered ingredients M is recorded on server S as nutritional history information I for each order information O. This accumulated nutritional history information I is then sent to user U. Nutritional history information I includes, for example, trend graphs of calorie intake and salt intake, as shown in Figure 3. When such nutritional history information I is transmitted to the user terminal 1, it can be transmitted by accessing and viewing the website W. In this case, by simply selecting the nutrients to be displayed as trend graphs, the graph display can be switched, and the intake history of all nutrients can be viewed. In addition to sending via user terminal 1, when sending directly to user U, for example, nutritional history information I printed on paper can be sent by mail.

[0035] The system 100 of the present invention is characterized by its ability to transmit this nutritional history information I not only to the user U but also to the business operator C. Generally, a user U's order history reflects the user U's preferences, and in particular, the types of nutrients consumed are treated as personal data that can predict their physical condition, body shape, and lifestyle. Therefore, after obtaining user U's consent to analyze the nutritional history information I and provide it to a third-party business operator C, the system is configured to allow the transmission of nutritional history information I to business operator C.

[0036] This allows business operator C to utilize the information for managing the health of its employee, user U. For example, it can advise user U, who prefers to order high-calorie meals, to exercise, or advise user U, who prefers to order high-sodium meals, to reduce their salt intake. By providing this advice, business operator C can prevent user U from experiencing poor health or falling ill, which in turn can lead to increased activity levels, reduced absenteeism, and improved productivity.

[0037] "Variation 1" Next, Figure 4 shows a modified example 1 of the present invention. System 101 in modified example 1 of the present invention differs from system 100 in Figure 1 in that it includes an administrator A and an administrator terminal 4 that manage the system.

[0038] Administrator A is the vendor managing this system 101 and can view and edit order information O and nutritional history information I as needed. In the example in Figure 4, the system is configured so that nutritional history information I can be sent to vendor C when administrator terminal 4 issues a command F. As mentioned above, nutritional history information I is personal data for user U. If nutritional history information I is transmitted to business operator C without user U receiving any benefit, only the risk of misuse of personal data remains for user U.

[0039] Therefore, the system is configured so that user U can provide nutritional history information I to business operator C in exchange for administrator A granting a benefit. For example, this could include granting points that can be used to reimburse the cost of food ingredients M, or enabling the purchase of food ingredients M at a discounted price. In this way, the system is configured to allow the transmission of nutritional history information I to business operator C on the condition that user U is granted a benefit equivalent to monetary value.

[0040] In this system 101, reward information equivalent to monetary value is provided, but this reward information may or may not be provided. In addition to rewards equivalent to monetary value, the rewards may also be designed to have a positive impact on personnel evaluations at business operator C.

[0041] "Variation 2" Next, Figure 5 shows a modified example of the present invention, specifically a second variation. The system 102 in the first modified example of the present invention differs from the system 101 in Figure 4 in that it is configured to transmit nutritional information estimated to be insufficient or excessive for user U to user terminal 1 and business terminal 2 via website W.

[0042] Nutritional history information I is merely statistical analysis of the nutritional information of the food ingredients M that have been ordered so far, and how to utilize this information is left to the judgment of user U and business C. However, determining which specific nutrients are deficient or in excess requires specialized knowledge, making the judgment difficult.

[0043] Therefore, the modified system 102 transmits information about nutrients that are estimated to be deficient or in excess for user U, based on pre-registered information such as user U's age, gender, height, and weight, to user terminal 1 and business terminal 2, thereby encouraging user U and business C to take more specific corrective actions.

[0044] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the claims of the present invention. For example, information on recommended foods from a nutritional perspective could be sent to users and businesses along with their nutritional history information.

[0045] As described above, the food delivery system of the present invention can deliver ordered ingredients to the business to which the user belongs, and can also deliver nutritional history information to both the user and the business. This makes it possible to deliver ingredients for daily meals, and the nutritional information of those meals can be used for the individual nutritional management of the user and for the health management of the business to which the user belongs. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0046] 100, 101, 102 Food Delivery System 1. User terminal 2. Carrier terminals 3. Cooking service terminal 4. Administrator terminal A Administrator C Operator D Food preparation company F Instructions I. Nutritional History Information M Ingredients Order Information U User R Registration Information S Server W Website

Claims

1. It is a system that delivers ingredients according to orders. The user is instructed to deliver the order to the business to which the user belongs, based on the order information. Nutritional information of the ingredients ordered by the user is recorded as nutritional history information associated with the user for each order. A food delivery system characterized in that the nutritional history information can be transmitted to the user or the business operator.

2. This includes a user terminal owned by the user, a business terminal owned by the business operator, and a food preparation business terminal owned by the food preparation business operator. The user's order information is transmitted from the business operator's terminal to the cooking operator's terminal, and the cooking operator is instructed to deliver the ingredients based on the order information to the business operator. Nutritional information of the ingredients ordered by the user is recorded as nutritional history information associated with the user for each order. The food delivery system according to claim 1, characterized in that the nutritional history information can be transmitted to the user terminal or the business operator terminal.

3. This further includes administrator terminals owned by the administrators who manage the system, The food delivery system according to claim 2, characterized in that it can transmit the nutritional history information to the business operator terminal upon instruction from the administrator terminal.

4. The food delivery system according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the nutritional history information is transmitted to the business operator's terminal, thereby granting the user terminal reward information equivalent to monetary value.

5. The food delivery system according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that it can transmit information on nutrients that are estimated to be deficient or in excess for the user based on the nutritional history information to the user terminal and the business operator terminal.

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