Client Background

A Rwandan tech initiative launched during COVID-19 to revitalize Kigali’s culinary scene. Mealpass partners with 85+ local restaurants, roasteries, and vineyards to offer subscription-based access to meals, coffee, and wine—keeping kitchens busy while making gourmet experiences accessible to locked-down residents.

The Challenge

Restaurants operated at 22% capacity due to pandemic restrictions. Diners hesitated to prepay for meals without menu flexibility. Limited smartphone storage on budget devices caused 34% app uninstalls during beta.

Our Approach

We built a frictionless "Netflix for Dining" model optimized for Rwanda’s tech landscape, blending dynamic restaurant partnerships with offline-first functionality.

Key Features

• Taste Roulette: Algorithm curates daily options based on proximity, dietary tags (#PlantBasedKGL), and partner kitchens’ real-time ingredient stocks.
• Wine Wall: Scan any bottle at partner shops to unlock 1 free glass/month via subscription—drives foot traffic to local merchants.
• BrewTracker: Live map showing coffee pickup wait times at partnered roasteries.
• Zero Waste Mode: Redirects unsold meals to subscribers’ app wallets 2 hours before closing time.

Technical Breakthroughs

• Menu Magic: Compressed 300+ menu items into 12kb/day using custom SVG-based dish icons.
• Offline OTP: SMS-based one-time passes for meal collection without internet (integrated with MTN Mobile Money).
• Fair Split: Blockchain ledger automatically divides subscription fees among partners based on redemption rates.

Impact

• 63 restaurants retained full staff through 2020 lockdowns.
• Subscribers saved 41% vs. à la carte dining while discovering 5.2 new venues/month.
• 78% reduction in partner food waste via last-minute redemptions.

Client Testimonial

“Mealpass turned empty tables into community tables. Our chicken brochettes fed nurses night shifts and startup founders alike—all with zero contact.”
— Mealpass Co-Founder

Client Note

Expanding to “Coffee Credits” for remote workers—trade unused meal passes for coworking café hours.

Technologies Used

USSD Gateway, Hyperledger Fabric, Mapbox GL Offline, Flutter for 512MB RAM Devices, M-Pesa API