I'm Asher. And I'm Drew. So Drew and I are in the process of developing a website called
needbee.com. Needbee is an online allergen and gluten-free marketplace, a place where
bakeries and individuals can share their allergen and gluten-free foods with the food-sensitive
communities that in most cases don't have any good alternatives. Our plan is to specialize
in gluten-free, dairy-free, tree nut-free, soy-free, and egg-free products. We've separated
needbee into three main ideas.
About a year ago, we found out that my wife had celiac disease. At the time, we thought
it was a horrible thing. We didn't know where we could find gluten-free food in the town
that we lived in. We thought that over time this would get easier, and although we now
know which products are gluten-free, we're still not satisfied with how these foods taste.
In our travels, we've noticed that the best gluten-free foods come from small bakeries
and the kitchens of individuals who have celiac disease. This is how the idea of needbee
came about.
What if there was an easy place for us to find good allergen and gluten-free foods? What
if we didn't have to scour the shelves of Walmart looking for something that tasted semi-good?
What if there was a site that was made for people with food sensitivities by people who
have food sensitivities? Needbee is the answer to these questions, where all you have to
do is simply visit our site, browse our products, and make an order. With needbee, you'll even
be able to make reoccurring orders, so you can rest assured that you'll always have the
best gluten-free and allergen-free foods right at your door, right when you need it.
What excites me most is the opportunity to provide a platform for small businesses and
individuals to get their goods into homes nationwide instead of just their local communities.
We notice that as much as there's a need for delicious allergen and gluten-free foods,
there's also a need for a marketplace where people marketing these products can sell what
they're creating. Our goal is to give these sellers a ton of exposure by bringing them
customers from all over the country with our Twitter, a Facebook fan page, blogs, and a
search engine marketing campaign that we're working on. We see what we're doing as supporting
local on a national scale.
The last part of needbee is simple. Be happy. This section of the website will be a place
where you can read our blog, connect to our Twitter and Facebook pages, purchase needbee
merchandise, post and find recipes, and make suggestions. It'll basically be the needbee
community hub.
Here's how our three main ideas take shape. By choosing to shop, you'll be able to browse
through different products for various food sensitivities. Search your browse products
by state, your preferred food sensitivity, by seller, or even search for the food item
of your choice. Products will be color coded so you can easily find food according to your
food sensitivity.
Users will be able to create accounts and have their order history remembered, so reordering
is simple. Reoccurring orders will also be available from sellers who offer it. By choosing
to sell, visitors can register and create their own store for free. From there, they'll
be able to log in, upload products, and customize their storefront. Sellers will be able to optionally
offer reoccurring orders. By creating an account with needbee, you'll be able to communicate
with other users, give us feedback, and participate in other ways in the needbee community.
As you can see, we've got our work cut out for us if we're going to make needbee as great
as we think it can be. Our plan is to devote the next several months to developing, marketing,
and launching needbee. The only way we can do that relatively quickly is if we can get
some financial help so that we don't have to do odd jobs making ends meet when we could
be making the needbee dream a reality.
On the right, you can see some of the amazing gifts we're offering to people who support
this project. If you can't give any money at this time, don't worry about it. There's
another huge way you can help. Spread the word. If you like the idea, tell your friends.
