Lettuce Love: Dating App Connects Salad Lovers
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Salad Match dating app by Just Salad matches salad enthusiasts with one another. (Credit: iTunes)(NEW YORK) — Chopped salad has become a go-to lunch for many cosmopolitans in search of a healthy, convenient meal on the go. But can it also lead to love? A new dating app suggests it might.
SaladMatch, launched by the Just Salad cafe chain, asks users to indicate their salad preferences by filling out a short in-app profile, then allows them to peruse a series of other like-minded diners. If two individuals select each other, it’s a “match.” The app then suggests meeting in person at the nearest Just Salad location and initiates a text conversation between the two salad enthusiasts.
“It’s definitely an app that doesn’t take itself too seriously. We don’t claim to have the best matchmaking algorithm out there or anything,” said Nick Kenner, co-founder of Just Salad and one of the creators of the app. “We’re just creating a fun environment for customers and users and trying to get people together in places they are already going to for lunch.”
Launched at the end of August, the SaladMatch app is actually the next evolution of a dating website the chain launched in 2010. With more than 10,000 profiles on the site before it was shut down, customers were clearly interested in meeting one another online and, potentially, in store.
The site has since been closed as it moves to the app, which Kenner said is a highly improved matching model. “We currently have over a thousand users and over 200 matches,” he said, but he would not elaborate on any romance success stories stemming from the app just yet.
While the Just Salad chain currently only has locations in New York and Hong Kong, the app is available to salad lovers everywhere, according to Kenner. And if chopped salad isn’t your thing, other dating sites for matching people with similar eating habits abound.
GlutenFreeSingles.com caters to the celiac set, while Veggie Date links up possible meat-free mates and SamePlate.com invites users to create profiles according to any palate preferences.
“There are definitely certain characteristics of people who choose to eat healthy when eating in a rush,” said Kenner on the notion of a food-based connection leading to a romantic one. “While you’re in line, you might as well talk to someone and just go with it.”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio