Chomping down on SaaS
Paul Wilson from Chomp
Queenstowner Paul Wilson has been feeding chefs something to chew on when it comes to promoting food safety practices with his SaaS business Chomp.
Established in 2015, Chomp is a digital tool used by chefs to engage and promote food safety practices within their kitchens.
“Chomp gives chef clarity and supports them every day with simple to use, compliance and management tools,” Paul says.
With a strong hospitality background spanning an impressive 35 years, including owning his own small restaurant, Paul came to understand that using pen and paper to record tasks was not only inefficient but also creating barriers for staff.
That’s when the magic happened.
“I looked for a tool to make life easier when it came to helping me and my staff. The tool I needed didn’t exist… so Chomp was my solution,” Paul says.
Someone he was working with also fueled the idea.
“If I am honest, I felt the pain of daily compliancy years before Chomp came to life. A conversation with a staff member, on his OE, sparked my curiosity in 2013.
By 2016, Chomp was in market.
Paul has been living in Queenstown for the past 18 years and back in 2015 when he established Chomp, he had no hesitation as to where he’d launch from.
“A large percentage of my clients are derived from hospitality and tourism. Queenstown gave us an awesome testing environment with a supportive ecosystem for Startups.
“Queenstown is amazing, so many willing and supportive brains in our district and very collaborative.”
With hospo and tourism being two industries hugely affected by Covid-19, Paul has been navigating unchartered territory with his clients.
“We feel deeply for our many clients as they try to navigate business since March. In the early months of lockdown we supported and consulted our clients, offering additional tools to help with reopening and living with business disruptions.
“We continue to do this today and have been encouraged by the resilience of existing and interest from new clients over recent months.”
His advice for navigating the Startup world post-Covid is simple listen, talk, collaborate and “never lose sight of opportunities this will present”.
7 quickfire questions
Q: Name the last film you watched
A: Jojo Rabbit
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world for 24 hours where would you go?
A: I would chase the sun and white sandy beaches
Q: Cats or dogs?
A: Both
Q: Name a food you could eat for a week straight?
A: Spaghetti Bolognaise
Q: Typing or pen and paper?
A: Equally slow at both
Q: If you could have dinner with anyone who ever walked the earth, who would it be?
A: My Mum
Q: Being an entrepreneur is…
A: Doubt, excitement, failure, resilience, triumph all in the right quantities. Success is shared and not owned by any one person.
