Inspired by a friend’s struggle to find suitable recipes due to an intolerance to dairy, eggs and nuts, three Ōtūmoetai College students have created a website to make cooking inclusive, easy, fun and accessible to all.

Year 12 students Chelsea Williamson, Saige McDonnell and Olivia Antcliff thought about how many people struggle with allergies, intolerances and health conditions that prevent them from being about to eat freely; and decided to find a solution.

“That’s how our website came about,” said Williamson. “We wanted to create a platform that made inclusive cooking easy, fun, and accessible to everyone.

The 16-year-olds have been best friends since Year 5 at primary school. “When we found out that we were in the same business class, we were all excited to get the opportunity to work together and create a business that has meaning,” said Williamson, who was the CEO and did the website coding and development.

McDonnell was the marketing and digital manager, and Antcliff was the CFO and sales manager.

“Together we all work hard to make our business successful putting in time, effort and money outside of school hours,” said Williamson.

“Food is such an important part of people’s lives, and we believe everyone should have the chance to enjoy what they eat without worrying about allergies, dietary restrictions, or time pressures,” said Antcliff.

When the group saw a friend struggle to join in when baking or sharing meals, and often felt like a burden due to her intolerances, the group decided to make something to give people like their friend a sense of belonging.

“Everyone deserves the chance to eat freely, confidently and without guilt,” said McDonnell.

Ōtūmoetai College year 12s Saige McDonnell, Olivia Antcliff and Chelsea Williamson. Photo / Brydie Thompson

Williamson said the biggest challenge the group faced was their lack of knowledge in coding or building a website.

“We had to learn through tutorials and Ai on how to do what was desired on the website. We had a setback when our free trial ran out on Squarespace [a website builder platform] and we weren’t financially able to pay for it so we moved to Wix where it was cheaper to run and easier to produce the website.”

Antcliff said learning how to build a functional, professional website from scratch while juggling schoolwork was a huge challenge and understanding payment systems, domain names, and legal requirements was a learning curve, “but it’s taught us so much”.

The group brainstormed the features they wanted, like a recipe filter and submission form, and refined the site based on feedback and their own testing.

McDonnell said many recipe sites cater to general audiences, but this site would put dietary needs front and centre so people can filter recipes instantly and find exactly what they need.

“We also allow users to submit their own favourite recipes that we will review then publish on our website. This is what gives our website a sense of community and inclusivity.”

The filtering system was an essential part of the website and ensured each user got a recipe that fit their specific needs. You can search for a recipe like ‘chocolate cake’ and then use the filter buttons for options like egg, nut or dairy-free or diet plans such as keto or vegan.

Each recipe included a breakdown of ingredients and notes on substitutions so they could be adapted for different dietary needs.

The site has 15 recipes, and the group continued to build a strong and reliable database. “We aim to have at least 50 recipes when we launch our site,” said Williamson.

McDonell said there was a page on the website where users with a monthly subscription could post their own recipes and contribute to helping the food community grow.

“This is encouraged by us as we believe that giving users a chance to add their own personal touch with their own special and treasured recipes with others will make our website more popular and well-known.”

The cost of the subscription was $10 a month with a seven-day free trial. Once launched, the group planned to adjusting features or the monthly price based on feedback.

“Once the site is live, we hope to add a range of new features such as step-by-step video tutorials, seasonal recipe collections, and collaborations with local chefs and nutritionists,” said Williamson.

McDonnell said the group would love to feature recipes from well-known Kiwi chefs to bring professional expertise into people’s kitchens, as well as highlight local produce and food traditions.

Antcliff said if they could collaborate with anyone, it would be Chelsea Winter.

“In future, depending on our website’s success, we’re also considering adding community recipe challenges, and perhaps even an annual digital cookbook created from our users’ submissions.”

The group had received great feedback from showing previews to friends, family and classmates. They also recently had a stall at the Young Enterprise Expo, where more than 30 people signed up to be notified of their website launch.