Cultina - customer growth after app relaunch
Cultina - part of the Bertelsmann Group and responsible for company and communal catering - was founded in 1998 and offers high-quality meals for company restaurants and schools, among others. The Gütersloh-based company places particular emphasis on regional products and maintains a network with ten suppliers.
Launch of the lunch app for Cultina
Year:
2021
Product:
Lunch App with Order
Customer:
Cultina (Bertelsmann SE)
Service:
Project management
Branding
Commissioning
Every day, over 6,000 meals are served at 30 locations in North Rhine-Westphalia and in Munich. More than 200 employees are currently responsible for quality and freshness.
Contact between kamasys GmbH and Cultina was established via Bayer/Gastronomie as part of an exchange of experience between the large self-service caterers. In 2016, the IT company and the Gütersloh-based caterer launched their first joint project: At Neumarkter Straße in Munich - now Random House - monitors were put into operation for digital food promotion and the lunch app (available as the "Cultina" app in the Play and Appstore) was made available to guests.
App without added value
While the monitors were a real innovation for the company restaurant and enhanced it, the app only had a pure reading function. Modules that create added value for users were not implemented. Accordingly, the app had little acceptance among guests and the usage figures remained manageable. This state of affairs remained until responsibilities changed: when Kai Trempel joined the company in 2020, the subject of the app was put to the test. "An app that doesn't offer any added value won't be used," the new area manager for company catering made clear, and wanted to offer users the added value they expect from digitization.
At the same time, there was also a change of contact person on the part of kamasys GmbH. The change of personnel at both companies brought a breath of fresh air into the project: a partnership at eye level began to develop from a pure service relationship.
Intensive exchange for app relaunch
An active exchange between Cultina and kamasys was the basis for the further development of the Cultina app. In addition to the presentation of individual modules and functionalities, this also included several demo presentations. In addition to the original menu, the order module, the feedback function, and a bonus program were implemented, among other things.
At the same time, Cultina worked intensively on introducing the new features to its users: staff and guests were familiarised with the current possibilities. As a result, satisfaction and acceptance were significantly increased, making the project even more successful.
"Cultina has clearly grown through kamasys: without the app and its features, we wouldn't have gotten some of our customers"
- Kai Trempel
Relaunch ensures customer growth
After the relaunch of the Cultina app, the number of users has increased significantly: Currently, about 10,000 people use the app regularly. "We have clearly grown thanks to kamasys: without the app and its functions, we would not have had some of our customers," Cultina makes clear.
The company is currently the only kamasys customer to use all facets of the order module: Pre-ordering, delivery, instant purchase as well as the connection to vending machines. This allows guests to order and pay for their food and beverages completely independent of location. Finally, pickup at the counter or vending machine is done with the help of a QR code. Cultina also offers its own delivery service for employees in the home office.
With 12,100 orders per month, the app's order module is used intensively: Every day, around 550 orders are placed for the company restaurants, and at peak times even more than 1,100. In addition, 10-15 orders are placed every day for home office meals at the food vending machines - another boost to sales thanks to the Cultina app.
The decision to launch our own delivery service, Cultina@home (launched in February 2021), has proved to be absolutely right: Currently, 24 deliveries per week are recorded, and the record is 40 orders per delivery day. Temporarily, the @home offer was rounded off with "cooking boxes": Five different dishes for four people each, including instructions, provided a tasty change for guests during the lockdowns.
Digtialization becomes a constant companion
For Cultina, the digitization of mass catering is at the top of the agenda. This also means that new products have to be presented: The company is already well positioned in the area of digitization - but as is well known, the competition never sleeps and, according to its own assessment, it has to be careful not to be overtaken by market competitors: "We always have our customers' needs in mind and have to adapt to current special features."
There is still potential in the app area in particular, where a change process has taken place in usage that makes new features indispensable.
Quote: "We always keep an eye on the customers' needs and have to adapt to current specifics."
For the future, Kai Trempel would therefore like to see even more digital solutions in order to become even smarter: further added value for guests should be created.
Niklas Dorn will be responsible for this. The young man will take care of the project on the Cultina side and drive the digital transformation.
With kamasys as a partner, ideas and added values are developed and implemented accordingly. Currently, the introduction of plate scanners - a fast self-checkout for the guests - is on the agenda. Further ideas and projects to bring the Cultina restaurants up to a future-proof digital level are being planned.
* Note: This Case Study was first published in February 2022. In the meantime, Random House Munich operates as "Penguin Random House." In addition, Kai Trempel has sought new professional challenges. Regardless of this, digitization at Cultina will continue to be driven forward. Niklas Dorn is responsible for this: He has taken over Kai Trempel's responsibilities in the area of digital transformation.