Industry
Foodtech, Employee Benefits
Market
B2B, Ghana
Services
Product Design, No-code Development, Branding
Tools
Figma, Framer
KOOK is a tech-enabled meal program that helps companies provide affordable, healthy meals for employees. KOOK is designed to simplify ordering, subsidies, and delivery, and to reduce administrative burden while improving workplace well-being. My role helped to create an intuitive platform that allows businesses to easily manage their meal programs.
It started with a simple frustration: companies wanted to feed their employees, but the process was clunky, manual, and frustrating for everyone. Orders were placed in WhatsApp groups, payments were scattered, and HR teams had to reconcile Excel sheets at the end of every month.
Having worked for years and seen different workplace cultures up close, I realized food wasn’t just about nutrition, it was about team culture and convenience. So I started building KOOK, a corporate meal platform that employers could sponsor partially or fully, while employees could choose when and what to eat.
In many offices, food is offered as a perk, but managing it is anything but simple. Orders are taken through messaging apps, payments are made manually, and HR or admin staff are left with the burden of reconciling everything at the end of the month. Employees also deal with confusion around what meals they are entitled to, how to cancel if they are not in the office, or why they received something they did not order.
We saw all of this first-hand, so instead of rushing to build software, we focused on becoming part of the process. We fulfilled orders ourselves, handled delivery logistics, and spoke directly with admins and employees every week. The messiness was not just an inconvenience. It revealed a system-wide gap.
KOOK is our response to that gap. From the beginning, our goal has been to build the infrastructure for Africa’s corporate food economy. One that reduces admin work, creates clarity for employees, and helps companies turn meals into a meaningful part of workplace culture. But to do that, we had to begin with direct contact, not dashboards.
We don’t deliver everywhere, and that’s by design.
Most food delivery platforms allow users to choose their own delivery location through a map interface. While that works for individual orders, it creates unpredictability in cost, timing, and operations, especially when pricing is tightly controlled.
From the start, KOOK chose a different approach. We built our model around scheduled deliveries to known office locations. Instead of letting users select delivery points, we controlled which offices were part of our delivery network. This gave us two major advantages.
First, it allowed us to protect our margins. Since KOOK does not charge a delivery fee, we needed to be sure that every location we served could be reached efficiently and without compromising meal pricing. By evaluating each office before adding it to the network, we kept our unit economics healthy.
Second, it helped us keep our burn rate low. Rather than building a live location system and paying for Google Maps APIs early on, we focused our resources on building the core product experience and refining our operational systems.
Every decision was measured against the stage we were in.
This level of delivery control may seem limiting, but for KOOK, it was a strategic constraint. It gave us the clarity and consistency we needed to learn fast and serve well.
We designed the product and service with sustainability in mind
From day one, we knew KOOK couldn’t just be another food delivery platform. We wanted it to be lean, responsible, and sustainable, not only in how we operated but also in how we showed up in the workplace.
One of our early decisions was to work only with health-certified kitchens and follow safe food handling standards. This ensured consistent meal quality and minimized waste due to returns or complaints. We also opted for packaging that was eco-friendly by default, not just when clients requested it.
On the delivery side, our shelf-station model allowed us to drop multiple meals at once without unnecessary back-and-forth trips. This reduced our delivery footprint and helped avoid the inefficiencies that often come with on-demand systems. Since our deliveries are pre-scheduled, we batch orders and eliminate guesswork, which means fewer vehicle trips and lower emissions overall.
Even our meal labeling system played a part. By including the employee’s name and meal type on each package, we reduced instances of abandoned or misclaimed meals. It sounds like a small fix, but in office settings, even 10 percent waste per day adds up quickly.
Sustainability for us wasn't an afterthought. It was baked into the operations, packaging, and user experience helping us serve not just more meals, but smarter ones.
Every company gets its own portal, because no two meal programs are the same
Instead of building a one-size-fits-all platform, we designed KOOK to feel tailored for each company. Every employer that partners with us receives a private ordering portal with their subsidy settings baked into the experience.
We wanted to give clarity and control. We learned early that companies approach employee meals very differently. Some offer full subsidies, others prefer cost-sharing. Some want to set a maximum number of meals per month, while others allow employees to decide freely. The custom portal gives each company a clean interface to define how KOOK works for them, and how much flexibility their employees get.
Access to each portal is restricted in two ways. First, employees must log in using a verified email that matches the company’s domain. This prevents outside access and keeps the system clean. Second, each portal is locked behind a unique access code. Even if someone stumbles on the link, they can’t proceed without the correct code. Together, these safeguards allow us to protect data, enforce company rules, and avoid confusion around eligibility.
We didn’t want to build an app where users first had to figure out whether they were in the right place. We wanted a direct path from “I work here” to “Here’s my meal for today.” The custom portal was our answer.
Finally, we're testing the Pickup Plan, which is a new way to serve people who do not yet have employer buy-in for a workplace meal program
Not every company is ready to commit to an employer-sponsored meal plan, but many employees still want better food options at work. That insight led us to design KOOK’s Pickup Plan, a flexible alternative that doesn't rely on company-wide adoption.
Instead of selling directly to employers, the Pickup Plan allows us to serve individuals and small teams by placing KOOK stations near office buildings. Employees order through a shared portal, meals are delivered to a fixed spot at a set time, and they pick up their labeled packs just like any other delivery. No coordination is required.
We’re currently testing a nimble version of this: using vehicles as mobile pickup stations. By parking in strategic office zones during lunch hours, we avoid the cost and delay of setting up physical kiosks, while still offering reliability and presence.
This approach lets us scale access without overextending our operations. It also opens KOOK to buildings with multiple companies, freelancers, and co-working spaces, users who are often underserved by traditional meal programs.
The Pickup Plan is still in early stages, but the signals are promising. It’s a reflection of our larger philosophy: design around real constraints, move fast with the resources you have, and always stay close to the eater.
