A product story
MVP in a Weekend: How a Food App Saved Hotels from COVID Waste
Delivering an MVP in a weekend to help hotels sell stranded food stock during COVID.
Headline outcome80%
Platform Adoption (of 400 Hotels)
01 / The problem
The situation
before the shift.
When the pandemic hit, hotels shut overnight. Many were sitting on thousands of pounds worth of food stock with no guests to serve — facing massive losses. Hotels needed a way to sell when nobody could come in.
02 / The hypothesis
A rapid MVP allowing hotels to sell food stock in baskets at scale could help hotels recover losses and turn a crisis into an opportunity.
03 / The approach
- Rapid MVP: Delivered an MVP in a single weekend with a small team of 2–3 developers.
- Simple Solution: Built a straightforward app allowing hotels to sell food stock in baskets (e.g., £50 veg basket).
- Iterative Evolution: Post-launch, rapidly evolved the platform based on user needs.
- Feature Expansion: Added delivery radius, add-ons, restaurant ordering, room service, and table ordering within 7 months.
04 / Execution
- Delivered functional MVP in a single weekend to address immediate crisis.
- Launched simple basket-based food stock selling functionality.
- Iteratively expanded into full food ordering platform with multiple features.
- Built and shipped delivery radius, restaurant ordering, room service, and table ordering capabilities.
- Completed full feature set within approximately 7 months.
05 / The result
80%Platform Adoption (of 400 Hotels)
Adopted by ~80% of the 400 hotels on the platform, turning a crisis into a new revenue stream. What started as a stock clearance tool became a lasting product line.
- ~80% adoption rate across 400 hotels on the platform.
- Turned crisis into new revenue stream for hotels.
- Evolved from weekend MVP to full product line.
- Delivered complete feature set within 7 months.