Daniel Perez (Benidorm, 1991) is the CEO of Knoweats, an interesting proposal for the sale of home-delivery food containers, based in La Nucía. CWith several types of menu available (general, vegan or balanced) and prices ranging between 2.95 and 7 euros per dish, Knoweats has been gaining customers throughout Spain. To find out a little more about his proposal and his plans for the future, we spoke with Daniel.
How did the idea of creating Knoweats come about?
When I was studying in Valencia, I lived with classmates and the truth is that I didn’t have to cook too much because my mother prepared me a veritable arsenal of Tupperware. Of course, when he had to cook, most of the time he always did the same thing and in the end he ended up resorting to something quick, like pasta, rice or chicken. I started to get interested in food delivery services and as a result I would say that I started to outline the idea of creating Knoweats.
How was the creation and release process? Was there a moment when you thought it would not work out?
To put a bit of context, before I started university, I took some time to think about what I wanted to do with my life. In the meantime, I got to work as food deliveryman for school canteens in the family business, which has been in the hospitality sector in the Valencian Community for more than thirty years.
The process of creating Knoweats began when I found out that in the Communication and Public Relations degree I was studying, we had the possibility of doing the TFG (final degree project) on an entrepreneurial project. I already had the idea in my head and the excuse of the TFG, it helped me to put it on paper. I took care to investigate more thoroughly how food delivery services worked and above all, how to add extra value to what was already on the market.
Precisely at the time of the launch I thought that the project would not go ahead. Now I laugh, but just on the day of the launch of the Knoweats website, I woke up excited to see how it had turned out, I went in and was surprised that the website was a real disaster, parts in English, the design totally meaningless… that was the first reality check and I knew that the path of the entrepreneur was not always going to be easy.
Based on your experience, what advice would you give someone who wants to start their own business?
The first thing to be patient and don’t rush in making decisions. The most important thing is to establish a good base on which the project will be built, establishing objectives and work dynamics with a competent and committed team. It is not something easy, but I think that spending time and resources on this is something that is appreciated in the long run and helps to carry out progressive growth, thus avoiding dragging on initial errors. There will always be mistakes, but you have to know how to accept them, learn from them and also know where the project is in order to take the next step.
What is Knoweats like today? How many clients do you have?
Knoweats is now like a family. Our operations center is in La Nucia, a town located very close to Benidorm, in Alicante. I can assure you that at Knoweats we have a committed team that celebrates our small achievements and that is getting involved from the very beginning to see the project grow. Each one in their plot contributes their ‘know how’ and this year, within our possibilities, we focus mainly on product R&D, marketing and communication. We all work so that customers choose us every day as a fundamental part of their diet and There are already more than 4,000 people who have tried our dishes.
How are those customers? What are the most recurring orders?
When you start a project you always usually study who your ideal client is. For a first contact it is good to get an idea, but we know that food can reach a large audience and Knoweats is designed for a very broad target. We have clients ranging from 25 to 70 years old, singles, couples and families.
Regarding the orders, recurrence is quite high, which means that whoever tries us, usually repeats. Currently, most of our clients reside in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia and also in Alicante, which is the area where we are located.
What do you think they value about your proposal?
In Knoweats the key is the quality of the product, we bet on raw materials and local products. We take advantage of the fact that we are located on the Alicante coast, we have the privilege of being able to go to the Vilajoiosa fish market for freshly caught fish and shellfish. It is also fortunate to be able to have a wonderful relationship with the farmers of the Marina Alta region of Alicante, who provide us with vegetables, straight from the garden.
We also believe that it is very important that our customers know where what they eat comes from. In the end, it is an extra value that brings greater quality to our dishes, that is why we always show the raw material with which we cook in our menus. In this way we value the local product and the producers of the area, both essential for our recipes to be tasty and natural.
We are very happy with the feedback we get from customers about our product, we are close and we try to carry out all the improvements that are proposed to us. In the end, it is the clients who make the project continue to grow and we do everything possible so that they enjoy the food and are part of their diet every day.
The sector in which you operate has been gaining competitors in recent years. How do you see it? How will it evolve? Will we continue to see new proposals appear?
That’s right, there are more and more competitors in this type of service, in fact when we started in 2019, there were already some projects that had been on the market for years. As a result of the confinement we realized that more food-related services began to emergein fact Knoweats was born a little before the lockdown and we noticed the growth in orders during that period.
We believe that it is a young market in Spain, there is a lot of room for improvement and above all we think that the specialization it may be the next step. New proposals will continue to appear, but I consider that it is not easy to enter this sector. It must be borne in mind that to start a gastronomic project, adequate facilities and machinery are needed, something that can become a first barrier to entry.
What goal have you set for this year?
The main objective is always to grow in sales every year, but that cannot be achieved without a team that is moving in the same direction. This year, we wanted to invest in the team of people who are part of Knoweats, to achieve more sustainable and solid growth over time. We are sure that little by little we will make more noise.
Imagine that you travel back in time ten years ago. What advice would you have given your Self at that time?
Think and appreciate the moment you are. Then make decisions.
Quick Quiz:
- What is the first social network you open in the morning? None… I only have Instagram from Knoweats, well, and Linkedin.
- iOS or Android? iOS 100%.
- App or website? Web.
- In which eCommerce and how long ago did you make your last online purchase? On Amazon a couple of weeks ago.
- And it was? A sports watch.
- Last book read? “Get Organized Effectively” by David Allen.
- Recommend us a fiction series. Rick and Morty 🙂
- What is your favorite thing to do that has nothing to do with digital? I recently started practicing martial arts and the truth is that I am hooked on Jiu-Jitsu.
- Let’s spin a magic chain: Which acquaintance of yours do you think we should interview? Why? I think you should interview , because he has a lot of experience in digital marketing from a long time ago. I consider him our mentor / coach, he is a crack and you will fall in luxury.
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