Sobeys' app puts eaters in the mood

Sobeys is bringing angry bird to Canadian mobile devices.

The grocery chain has introduced a free app called MoodieFoodie that makes dinner recommendations based on how the user is feeling. Users select their mood from a lengthy pull-down menu that ranges from “anxious” to “zesty.”

Users selecting “angry,” for example, are given 24 food recommendations including baked chicken Parmesan with spaghetti. Selecting “bitter” produces 21 food matches, including chicken with crunchy salsa topping and braised radishes.

Each item is accompanied by a recipe from Sobeys’ in-house magazine Inspired that showcases products from Sobeys’ Compliments line of private label products.

Users can post what they’re eating to Facebook or Twitter accounts, while the app also invites users to take pictures of their own foods and assign them a mood for other users.

Paul Flinton, vice-president of brand and product marketing for Sobeys, said that the app is based on the insight that a common response to the question “What’s for dinner?” is typically a variation on “What are you in the mood for?”

“We challenged ourselves to offer our customers a solution that was both distinctive and easy,” said Flinton. “We’ve recognized that those apps that have most ‘sticking power’ are very singular in functionality.”

Flinton said that Inspired makes good food easy and customers are more likely to shop at Sobeys once they read the publication.

“The app simply takes a collection of Inspired recipes from our database and delivers them into customers’ palms whenever and wherever they wish, in a simple and engaging way,” Flinton said.