Food Network Canada is sponsoring the Eat St. iPhone application that lets food lovers search for their favorite street vendors, browse menus and deals.

The company is sponsoring the application along with The Bell Broadcast, New Media Fund and Paperny Films. Users can search for any kind of food they want whether it is a two pound grilled cheese sandwich or a taco they can grab at a truck that is open till the early morning.

"The strategy behind the app is a fully integrated digital campaign for Food Network's Canada's TV show Eat St.," said Peter Lanfear, project manager for Eat St. at Invoke Media, Vancouver, BC. "Essentially we set out to build a geo-located food cart app to help people find the tastiest street eats in their city.

"Above all, we wanted to build an app that provided value and was usable and useful to both vendors and consumers."

Food Network Canada rolled out the application in correlation with the premiere of its Eat St. television series.

Invoke Media developed the application.

On the go food
Users can watch the show to explore street food eats in cities such as Los Angeles, Portland, New York and Austin.

Additionally, when starting up the application, users can opt-in to allow their location to be used to find the closest street food vendors near them.

There is also a search feature in the application that lets users access and search for specific food carts.

"Eat St. really had to encompass mobile and be geo-location based," Mr. Lanfear said. "It was paramount for users to be able to find carts local to them and mobile is the best way to do this.

"We designed the app with local, social and mobile in mind, hoping that these attributes would make Eat St. gain critical mass with end users and food cart owners," he said.

Recommendations
Via the application, users can view recommendations of food carts based on their location and they can see how far away the are.

When consumers click on a certain street vendor, they can view its Twitter feed, menu, hours of operation and photos.

In addition, the app includes a TV show feature that when clicked on, users can catch a preview video of the show.

Future versions of the application will include an in-depth rating system and a Facebook and Twitter integration so street food lovers can share info about their favorite eats with friends and family.

"In addition to the iPhone app, we have implemented an online version that offers all the great app features for any smartphone or desktop to use," Mr. Lanfear said. "Eventually we may also consider moving into Android if there is demand for it.

"For phase two, we intend to roll out social features so users can connect via Facebook and Twitter, as well as make comments and upload photos of carts they've enjoyed eating at," he said. "We are also listening to feedback from the Eat St. online community."

Final Take