Eatit.sg wants to put an end to lousy food at corporate events

A hungry journalist is a grumpy journalist.

That’s why it’s important to cater serviceable food at press events, instead of serving the usual fried bee hoon and fishballs, which is sure to dampen the mood of the occasion.

I’m exaggerating, of course, but the importance of good food at any event — corporate pow wows, birthday parties, and networking sessions — cannot be underestimated.

Eatit.sg, a Singapore-based startup, hopes to lessen the burden of event planners and the woes of event attendees with its one-stop online delivery service which features dozens of merchants.

The website was started by Jane Shen in November 2011, who’s also an event planner herself. Being a food lover and critic, she’s very particular about what she and her friends eat whenever they organize a party.

“Even though I was an event planner years back, I couldn’t fork out time to hunt for good food, apart from the boring buffet spread we always ordered. Friends complain about eating lousy food all the time, and that we have no fresh ideas to bring about food delivery. I have always wanted to visit a website to order all my favorite food, without having to open a few windows to hunt them down,” she told SGE via email.

That’s how the idea came about.

Eatit.sg works like any e-commerce site: Head to the merchant’s page on the website, order the quantity of food you desire, and proceed to checkout. Participating merchants are grouped according to food types.

Under “main dishes”, for instance, you have Fortune Food, a hawker stall which sells Popiah, Laksa, and Kueh Pie Ti. There’s also Umi Sushi, which sells (what else) sushi.

Since Eatit.sg sells mainly freshly prepared food, orders must be placed a few days in advance. There’s also free delivery for orders above a certain pricing. Specific details are set by individual merchants, which are personally selected by Jane, who has tasted the food herself.

She adds that Eatit.sg is in the midst of developing its own iPhone and Android app.

It’ll be cool if the website can incorporate customer feedback and rating features, so as to incentivize sellers to do a good job. Customers would also gain intelligence on which merchants are up to scratch.

Also, they can consider letting buyers have the option of purchasing plastic cutlery, cups, paper plates, or serviettes from a supplier, along with the food items. I find that way too often these items are forgotten in the hustle of organizing an event.