Dive Brief:

• The Shelby Report writes that food technology company Innit has purchased ShopWell Labs Inc., makers of the ShopWell app, which provides personalized health and nutrition recommendations for shoppers and lins it with retail loyalty cards. 
• Innit says it plans to integrate ShopWell’s platform into its soon-to-be-released food technology platform, offering personalized menu planning, shopping and cooking advice.
• The ShopWell app features more than 400,000 products in its database, and has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times.

Dive Insight:

With its acquisition of ShopWell, Innit has added an important link in a chain of customized, technology-driven culinary recommendations. The company plans to sync up food and recipe advice across each stage of meal preparation — planning, shopping and cooking.

What really distinguishes the platform is that third step, which incorporates smart appliances like Wi-Fi-connected ovens, touch-screen refrigerators and mobile operated stovetops. These appliances offer precision execution and assistance to home cooks, and are seen by some as the next innovative leap in the home.

Imagine: A meal-planning program recommends a chicken dish and provides a grocery list. The program then links to a shopper loyalty program to offer special deals and guidance in-store. And finally, the program syncs up with a smart oven to make sure the chicken dish is perfectly cooked.

Retailers could interface with the program to optimize pricing and merchandising. They could also receive data on the types of meals shoppers are cooking and ingredients customers are buying, which would drive better shelf intelligence.

It’s not clear, though, whether this scenario will play out as smoothly as consumers would hope. It’s also not a sure bet that people want this much help. Smart appliances have been met with a healthy dose of skepticism from the tech and food worlds, and their high price tag means most consumers will still opt for non-connected alternatives.