Craig Hogan is a UK-based founder and app creator with a background in data, technology and digital product development. His work has focused on using data, automation and digital tools to make complex information easier to understand and act on. He has worked across a range of digital projects, including ecommerce concepts and AI-assisted tools, and is the founder of Wellbeing Apps Ltd.
WellPlated is his first major health-focused consumer app, born from a personal family experience that led him to question how well standard food labelling serves individual needs. The app is available to download on iOS and Android
Your background in data, technology and digital product development has clearly shaped how you approach problem-solving. What was it about the health and nutrition space that made you want to apply those skills there, and how did that technical foundation influence the way WellPlated was built?
“My interest in health and nutrition became very personal after my wife needed emergency heart bypass surgery at the age of 43. It was not the result of poor lifestyle choices, it was genetic. This made the situation even more difficult to process because it challenged a lot of the assumptions people make about health.
“When she came home from hospital, I did what many people would do. I went food shopping and tried to buy what looked “healthy”. I focused on green traffic-light labels and products that appeared to be better choices. But when I got home, she explained that many of those items were not suitable for her specific needs. That was the moment I realised how difficult nutrition guidance can be for ordinary people trying to make the right decisions in real life, and that even “healthy” choices can be wrong if they are not right for you.
“My background in data and technology shaped the way I responded to that problem. I did not see it as a need for another calorie counter, I saw it as a data interpretation problem. Food packaging gives people information, but it does not necessarily give them context. WellPlated was built to bridge that gap by taking nutritional information, user goals, preferences and personal considerations, then turning them into guidance that is easier to act on.
“The technical foundation was important because it meant the product was built around structure, logic and personalisation from the beginning. The aim was never to create a generic food diary, it was to build a system that could understand the user’s situation and give feedback that felt relevant to them.”
Standard food labels are designed to inform everyone, which inevitably means they are not tailored to anyone in particular. How does WellPlated’s approach of factoring in an individual’s goals, preferences, allergies and health considerations change the quality of guidance a user receives, and why does that personalisation matter so much?
“Standard food labels are useful, but they are limited. They are built for the “average” person, and as my family’s experience proved, the average person does not really exist in a medical or personal context. A label might show what appears to be a “healthy” amount of sugar or fat, but it cannot tell a heart patient whether that specific product fits within their sodium or saturated fat limits.
“That is where personalisation changes the quality of the guidance. A product that may be perfectly reasonable for one person could be unsuitable for someone managing salt intake, avoiding certain allergens, trying to reduce saturated fat or working towards a specific nutrition goal. WellPlated is designed to take those individual factors into account so the feedback becomes more meaningful.
“Rather than simply saying a meal is high in calories or contains a certain amount of fat, the app can help explain why that matters in the context of the user’s own profile. It can also suggest healthier alternatives or ways to make the meal more balanced. That is a very different experience from just logging numbers.
“Personalisation matters because behaviour change depends on relevance. People are more likely to act on guidance when it feels connected to their life, their body and their circumstances. Nutrition is not one-size-fits-all, so the tools we use should not treat it as though it is.”
WellPlated uses photo scanning, barcode scanning and manual logging to analyse meals, then delivers personalised nutrition feedback and healthier alternative suggestions. Walk us through how the AI layer works in practice and how the app moves from a scanned meal to a genuinely relevant recommendation for that specific user.
“The process starts with the user choosing the easiest way to log their food. They can take a photo, scan a barcode or enter the meal manually. That flexibility is important because real life is not always neat. Sometimes you have packaging, sometimes you have a plate of food, and sometimes you just need to type something quickly.
“Once the meal is submitted, the AI analyses the available information and identifies the likely food items, portion context and nutritional profile. Where relevant, it considers calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats, saturated fat, sugars, salt and other key nutritional values. The important part is that the analysis is not treated in isolation. WellPlated also considers the user’s selected goals, preferences, allergies and health considerations where they have chosen to provide them.
“From there, the app turns the analysis into practical feedback. It might highlight that a meal is high in salt for someone trying to reduce sodium intake, or that a choice is less aligned with a user’s goal than they may have expected. It can also suggest alternatives that are more appropriate, rather than giving generic advice.
“The goal is to move beyond “this is what you ate” and towards “this is what this means for you”. That is where AI becomes genuinely useful. Not as a gimmick, but as a way of interpreting nutritional data in a more human and personalised way.”
You have described WellPlated as something distinct from a generic calorie counter, and the app’s early reception suggests users recognise that difference. Where do you feel the broader nutrition app market has been missing an opportunity, and what does WellPlated do differently to address it?
“The broader nutrition app market has become very good at tracking, but tracking alone is not enough. Many apps can tell you how many calories you have consumed or how much protein you have logged, but that does not always help users understand whether their choices are right for them.
“The missed opportunity is context. People do not just need more numbers. They need clearer interpretation. A calorie target can be useful, but it does not explain whether a meal is balanced, whether it suits your personal needs, whether the portion size is appropriate, or what a better alternative might look like.
“WellPlated is built around that idea. It still gives users useful nutritional information, but it does not stop there. It looks at the meal in relation to the person. The app is designed to provide feedback that is practical, personalised and easier to act on, including helping users understand portion size in a more realistic way.
“I think that distinction is important. A generic calorie counter often asks the user to do the hard work of interpretation. WellPlated is trying to reduce that burden by giving people guidance that makes sense in the context of their own goals, circumstances and eating habits.”
You are currently developing a companion sports tracking app called WellFit, with the intention of connecting activity data directly to nutrition guidance. What is the thinking behind that integration, and what does it allow WellPlated to achieve that it cannot currently?
“Nutrition and activity are closely connected, but they are often treated as separate worlds. You track food in one app, exercise in another, and then the user is left to interpret how those things relate to each other.
“The thinking behind WellFit is to bring those signals closer together. If someone has been for a long walk, completed a run or had a particularly active day, their nutritional needs may be different from a rest day. Likewise, if someone is working towards weight loss, improved fitness or better heart health, the relationship between what they eat and how they move becomes even more important.
“By connecting WellFit with WellPlated, the ambition is to make nutrition guidance more dynamic. Instead of only looking at food in isolation, WellPlated will be able to understand more about the user’s wider day and provide feedback that reflects both intake and activity.
“That opens the door to smarter recommendations. For example, it could help users understand whether they are fuelling activity properly, recovering well, or consistently underestimating the relationship between movement and nutrition. It allows WellPlated to become less of a static food tracker and more of a personalised wellbeing companion.”
Building a consumer health app as an independent founder, how have you navigated the product development journey, from the original concept through to launching on both iOS and Android, and what has it taught you about building in the health technology space?
“The journey has been demanding, but incredibly valuable. The original concept came from a very real problem at home, but turning that into a product required a lot of discipline. It meant moving from an emotional starting point into structured product development, testing, rebuilding and refining.
“There have been several iterations along the way. Some ideas worked, some did not, and some had to be completely rebuilt once I understood the user experience better. Building for both iOS and Android added another layer of complexity because the product needed to feel polished, reliable and accessible across platforms.
“One of the biggest lessons has been that health technology carries a higher level of responsibility. You have to be careful with language, careful with data, and careful not to overstate what the product can do. WellPlated is designed to support better decisions, not replace medical advice. That distinction matters.
“It has also taught me that trust is central. In health technology, users need to understand why the app is giving certain feedback, how their data is being used, and what the limits of the guidance are. Building the product has therefore been as much about clarity and responsibility as it has been about features.”
Personalised nutrition sits at the intersection of health data, artificial intelligence and consumer behaviour, all of which are evolving rapidly. Where do you see the most exciting opportunities for innovation over the next few years, and how is WellPlated positioning itself to be part of that progress?
“The biggest opportunity is moving from passive tracking to intelligent, personalised support. For years, health apps have relied heavily on users entering data and interpreting it themselves. AI changes that because it can help turn raw data into practical guidance much more quickly.
“I think the next stage of innovation will be about context. Nutrition advice will become more useful when it can take account of the individual, their goals, their routines, their health considerations, their activity levels and even their behaviour over time. The opportunity is not just to tell people what they consumed, but to help them understand patterns and make better choices in a way that feels achievable.
“WellPlated is positioning itself around that future. The app has been built with personalisation at its core, and the longer-term vision is to make the guidance increasingly relevant, practical and connected to the user’s daily life. That includes deeper insights, stronger links between nutrition and activity, and more intelligent recommendations that go beyond simple calorie counting.
“The most exciting part is that personalisation can make healthy choices feel less overwhelming. When technology understands the individual better, it can support people in a way that feels more human.”
You have taken a personal experience and built a live, functioning product around it. For CEOs and senior leaders watching AI reshape their own industries, what does the WellPlated journey tell us about how organisations should be thinking about personalisation right now?
“The biggest lesson is that personalisation should not be treated as a surface-level feature. It is not just putting someone’s name in an email or showing a slightly different dashboard. True personalisation means understanding the user’s context and using that understanding to make the product more useful.
“With WellPlated, the starting point was a very human problem. Generic information was available, but it was not enough. The value came from applying technology to make that information more relevant to the individual. I think that principle applies far beyond health and nutrition.
“For CEOs and senior leaders, AI creates an opportunity to rethink how products and services respond to people. The question should not simply be, “How can we add AI?” It should be, “Where are our customers currently forced to interpret too much, do too much, or make decisions without enough context?”
“That is where AI can create real value. Not by replacing human judgement, but by reducing friction, improving relevance and helping people make better decisions. The organisations that succeed with AI personalisation will be the ones that use it to solve genuine problems, not just to appear innovative.”