They say that if exercise was a pill, it’d be worth trillions of dollars. Its benefits on physical (and mental) health are remarkable. If there’s an equivalent killer app for loneliness, it may well be communal cooking lessons.
In reality, the multi-faceted benefits stemming from Diaspo, a fast-moving UK startup that offers intergenerational virtual cooking lessons, extend far beyond loneliness. The site “celebrates community and culture through cooking” with a mission to “preserve heritage and tradition, by unlocking the experience and knowledge of those who have lived it”. Diaspo uses Zoom to create real-time virtual cooking experiences, allowing those with a lifetime of experience and expertise to share their wisdom, know how and enthusiasm with those hungry to learn. And just hungry.
I was recently introduced to Diaspo as part of the Aging2.0 21 Stories initiative, and founder Harish was generous enough to arrange a special private class last Monday for our wedding anniversary. The timezone differences between UK and Australia meant it was an early start for our teacher, Tasniya, who was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh but has been in the UK for twenty years. She was full of enthusiasm and expert tips (who knew to use both chopped onions and blended onions in the same dish?), and we jointly prepared a delicious Bengali fish curry, Machher Johl, with 10,000 miles between us.
The lesson passed in a flash, and the result was both delicious and healthy (hardly any oil, no butter, sugar, salt…). I had invited the in-laws along; it made for an entertaining and socially connected evening.
Diaspo is making all kinds of impact: the teacher gets social connection, purpose and gets paid for the class while the students get new cooking skills, social connection, and health benefits of eating proper food. More broadly, society benefits from a preservation of cooking culture and techniques and greater intergenerational and intercultural connection.
How could this go big? With an impact-forward business such as this the question is not about is it worth doing – clearly the answer is yes, but rather how do we scale this up sustainably? It’s the kind of thing that millions of people, not just hundreds should have access to. With the growing interest in ‘social prescribing’ maybe before long enlightened GPs could prescribe it. But currently the onus is on small startups to prove out a complicated set of ROI metrics in order to justify such deals, hopefully government and industry-run accelerator programs will start to make it easier to prove out ROIs.
While it could be tempting to go down the government subsidised route, I would suggest that instead it doubles down on the commercial side. My hunch is that the ‘secret sauce’ is in a strong culture, talented chefs and loyal, repeat customers. Another business that brought in technology to disrupt and redefine what were traditionally in-person businesses, spin classes, – Peloton – has proved you don’t need to be in the same room to create a good vibe and a good business. Peloton made talented instructors VIPs, and they have become minor celebrities in their own right (with cult-like followings). Based on today’s announcement of a special Indian cooking class with Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar, Harish is clearly building a unique bench strength of talent.
Am excited for his next steps, and our little team here in Melbourne are looking forward to the next meal with Tas, or one of the other soon-to-be celebrity chefs.
