Technology Elite Awards 2019

US BUSINESS NEWS / 2019 Technology Elite Awards 17 , CertiStar™ Best Restaurant Allergy Threat Reduction Solution Designed to benefit restaurants and the clients they serve, CertiStar™ offers an innovative platform that helps to improve transparency and reduce hospitalization as a result of eating allergen contaminatedmeals. We spoke to Founder and CEO Shandee Chernow to find out more. Sep19066 With food allergies and intolerances on the rise, businesses are increasingly under pressure to update their knowledge and offer menu options to suit a variety of diners. As allergies become more widely recognized, restaurants and food service staff must understand their customer’s needs, reduce their liabilities and use the technology available to serve up safety with menu innovation. Award-winning CertiStar has taken food industry and food allergy data and matched it with patent-pending smart technology to create an easy-to-use web platform, MenuStar™, that helps company owners to manage their menus, recipes and inventory: all while empowering staff to serve those with food allergies in a competent and professional manner. The firm was established by Shandee as a result of her personal experience dining out with food intolerances. She discusses how she came to create this innovative company to meet the needs of both those who have allergies and those businesses that serve them. “Initially CertiStar was established two years ago as result of me wanting to provide a solution to the restaurant and hospitality industries. I wanted to make the dining out experiences safer and easier for those like myself, suffering from food allergies. I discovered I had food allergies a few years back and eating out was always such an anxiety driven and often scary experience for me and everyone I was dining out with. I knew there had to be something I could create that would provide ease and safety to customers dining out with food allergies, while also making the process easier on the operational teams from the restaurant, hotel or school at the same time. “Our success thus far with partners is in that they share our excitement and passion for wanting to deliver something to make their customers have an incredibly safe and easy dining experience too. The success for us also comes in the feedback we get from partners telling us how easy and fast it was to get them on boarded to start using it in their location. The software is truly a game-changing industry disruptor. I would say overall though, the biggest success for us comes in knowing that we’ve brought something to market that is not only impacting lives, but saving them too.” Over the years, CertiStar has flourished and worked with an array of renowned food providers nationwide, including Chompie’s in Arizona, National Restaurant Association Show, Bobby Rubino’s, Gelato Festival of America, Harlem Children’s Zone, What’s Crackin Cafe in Arizona and Yext. Since the firm’s inception many companies have worked to emulate its success, but, as Shandee highlights, CertiStar’s personal investment in the food allergies market and its commitment to both restaurants and diners is what sets it apart. “In today’s competitive food technology market, there are several other options on the market that touch the food allergy menu sector. However, we are the only solution that allows for any food allergy, not just the most common, and we take into account cross contamination and offer chef driven modifications. “Additionally, we also provide a recipe book for restaurants who may not have had a digital recipe solution before, along with nutritional calculations for the recipes entered into CertiStar. We are super flexible in terms of deployment in the restaurant and offer quite a few options for restaurants to interact with their food allergic guests. All of these factors combine to ensure that we offer the most complete solution, alongside the fastest implementation, and this makes us the best possible option for restaurants and food service providers across the hospitality space.” As she looks to the future, Shandee is optimistic that her company can grow even further thanks to its unique approach and creative technology. “At CertiStar, we are on a mission to protect and improve the safety and dining experience of men, women and children vulnerable to food allergens. No matter where food is prepared or served, we want our clients’ customers to eat, and their staff to serve with confidence. “This is our ongoing focus as a business. We understand how hard it is to run a busy kitchen safely and as such we have made it our mission to help. This will remain central to our success as we look towards a bright future.” Company: CertiStar Name: Founder + CEO, Shandee Chernow Telephone Number: 833-EAT-SAFE Web Address: www.certistar.com © Stephanie Heymann Photography