Zipongo Acquires FillMyFork to Expand Cooking, Grocery, Delivery and Rewards Components of its Food Benefits Management Platform

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Zipongo, "Eating Well Made Simple," today announced it has acquired the team and assets of FillMyFork, a provider of healthy cooking recommendations, nutrition rewards, passive tracking of grocery purchases and related analytics. The acquisition aids Zipongo, the leading personalized digital nutrition platform, in its expansion of its Food Benefits Management offering to health plans, employers and health systems. Zipongo provides digital dietary assessment, nutrition counseling, advanced personalization using Nutriomics data, meal planning, cooking tools, grocery delivery, discounts, rewards and guided meal ordering. 

Arun Nijhawan and Kartik Shastri founded FillMyFork in 2014 with a mission to help people incorporate evidence-based nutrition into their daily lives. FillMyFork employs incentive "points" for healthy food choices at the grocery store and removes points for unhealthy choices. Points can be converted into gift cards for Whole Foods, Starbucks or other retailers.  Mr. Shastri and Mr. Nijhawan built FillMyFork's passive grocery scoring and analytics, which are key elements of Zipongo's effort to make the healthy choice the easy choice.  Zipongo scoring and rewards weave into its tools for providing custom healthy food shopping lists, coupons for healthy foods and grocery delivery option.

"The FillMyFork team pushed the boundaries on passive tracking of food buying, and rewarding healthy food purchases," said Zipongo CEO, Jason Langheier, MD, MPH. "Kartik and Arun bring a strong focus on the science of effective product development, and knowledge of the food and nutrition data that underlies the healthy cooking utility tools we are continuously evolving. This acquisition demonstrates our continued commitment to be the most effective and complete Food Benefits Management platform available, aiding employers and health plans to reduce the burden of chronic conditions that are heavily influenced by diet."

FillMyFork's analytics have revealed nutrition trends in tens of thousands of grocery purchases. Zipongo and FillMyFork will use the combined power of their analytics to leverage behavioral science to drive healthy eating choices.

"Zipongo was a natural fit for our analytics and product experience," said Mr. Nijhawan.  Mr. Shastri shared, "We're excited that Zipongo's talented culture and engaged customer base allow us to continue our journey with expanded resources and greater impact."

Today, over 150 companies and the majority of national health plans and wellness platforms work with Zipongo to drive engagement, health impact, cost savings and happiness of their people.  Zipongo's comprehensive digital nutrition coaching platform and food utility tools support people from all walks of life, from those that cook and leverage grocery discounts regularly, to those who eat prepared meals from restaurants frequently.  Just as Pharmacy Benefits Management companies help drive adherence to the most cost-effective drugs that lower disease-related costs, Food Benefits Management powered by Zipongo helps people eat the right foods for them—the ultimate personalized generic drug—to lower healthcare costs and deliver a return on investment.  Zipongo's goal is to reduce the burden of chronic disease, reduce risk from the unintended side effects of taking multiple drugs and in-hospital disease care, and help rein in unsustainable healthcare cost growth. 

About Zipongo

Zipongo is "Eating Well Made Simple."  Zipongo's platform enables digital nutrition coaching for large employers, health plans and health systems, and provides food utility tools to families that make it easier to consistently select and buy healthy food people love.  Zipongo provides trusted food selection and buying environments for cooking and eating prepared meals, that meet the needs of diverse groups of people, with tools ranging from meal planning, recipes, grocery rewards and online grocery ordering, to menu coaching and mobile meal ordering. Zipongo's HIPAA secure software-as-a-service platform is built to meet people where they are—at home, at work, or on the go, and deliver robust, anonymized population analytics back to enterprises. Learn more at www.zipongo.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact
Todd Stein
Amendola Communications for Zipongo
916.346.4213
[email protected]

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SOURCE Zipongo

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