By Tristan Tierce, Founder/CEO of Allergy Voyage
I have had life-threatening food allergies for as long as I can remember. When I was ten months old, my mom had me try a sliver of cheese for the first time. I immediately started crying, prompting my parents to rush me to the hospital. I was soon discovered to have a vast amount of dietary restrictions, including dairy, gluten, soy, corn, egg, and many more allergies. It wasn’t until I was four years old that I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis, a condition that made dining out even more difficult.
Growing up, my parents never discouraged me from dining out, even if it meant bringing my lunchbox to most places we ate. I confidently advocated for myself, whether explaining my dietary restrictions to a waiter or showing a friend how to use my Epi-Pen. However, when moving into high school, I never wanted to be noticed by others. I stopped sharing my allergies with people, putting myself in dangerous environments around new friends who had no idea how to help me if I had a reaction. Looking back, it’s easy to see how many with dietary restrictions end up feeling isolated and unsupported - I didn’t want to “burden” others with my experience.
"Looking back, it’s easy to see how many with dietary restrictions end up feeling isolated and unsupported."
I was forced to re-learn how to speak up for myself when I left Texas to attend Barrett the Honors College at Arizona State University. My advocacy had to start as soon as I met my three roommates who had no experience with severe dietary restrictions. Although the Barrett dorms provided me with my own room, we shared a bathroom, a tiny sink, and a microwave. I stressed that I understood it might be difficult for them to deal with, but my allergies were real, and I truly could not touch the food that they were eating or clean out our shared microwave without wearing rubber gloves. I did not have severe reactions during my first few years on campus and appreciated that my roommates were mostly willing to support me.
Meal plans are required freshman year at ASU, and before enrolling I toured the campus, including the Barrett Dining Hall, and met the Campus Dining Dietitian. I was pleased to see the True Balance station and designated allergy captains. Although not always exactly what I needed, these services gave me peace of mind that the dining hall was at least aware of my allergy restrictions. The largest issue that I had while dining with a meal plan was time. Moving back and forth between classes could be challenging, as it wasn’t always feasible for me to flag down an allergy captain or go to the dining hall when the True Balance station happened to be open.
After freshman year, my friends wanted to travel together on an international summer trip - something I had never done before. I had absolutely no idea what resources were available to me. I researched dining options but kept running into walls that made me uncomfortable flying for 16 hours to a new country. Sadly, I decided to skip the trip.
This struggle and my past experiences contributed to the idea of Allergy Voyage, a concierge service to help people with food allergies with their dining experiences. One of my majors at ASU was Business Entrepreneurship, which connected me with mentors and faculty members who encouraged me to develop the idea further. I started with the idea of an international concierge service but quickly realized that I needed to focus first on my surrounding area, beginning with Tempe Arizona, and ASU.
"I competed in the ASU Venture Devils pitch competitions in front of judges, receiving funding and constantly growing community support to develop the concept."
Over the next three years, I competed in the ASU Venture Devils pitch competitions in front of judges, receiving funding and constantly growing community support to develop the concept. This led to a partnership with Sun Devil Hospitality itself, meaning that restaurant menus across campus would be hosted on our platform, providing students with easier access to allergen information.
Allergy Voyage enables users to filter hosted menus by the top 9 food allergens. They can discover which allergens are present and potential issues with cross-contact, and save menus and dishes to their accounts for future access. All of this helps our users feel safer and more confident while dining. Currently, we host menus for 30 local restaurants and plan to have all ASU dining halls and retail locations available by the end of the Spring semester in 2025.
Restaurants are excited about our service as it helps them reach an unusually loyal market. Participating in our onboarding program, they learn to use Allergy Voyage and update allergen and ingredient information as needed. We also share available allergen training programs and featured dining interviews to increase awareness. Each restaurant has a designated point of contact at each restaurant who is available to answer our allergen and ingredient questions when necessary.
"Currently, we host menus for 30 local restaurants and plan to have all ASU dining halls and retail locations available by the end of the Spring semester in 2025."
Our largest current client is Sun Devil Hospitality on the ASU campus. While I did not originally see Allergy Voyage starting in universities, the opportunity that Sun Devil Hospitality has provided us with is phenomenal, and we hope to leverage our position to assist students at universities across the country. As a recent ASU graduate, I am incredibly proud to help students with dietary restrictions eat more safely on and around campus. We hope to expand Allergy Voyage into a larger concierge service, eventually planning the dining portions of trips for users, enabling filtering menus based on any dietary restriction, and hosting menus across the United States and internationally.
Food provides a human connection, allowing for communication across boundaries. People with food allergies should not be excluded from this conversation.
Tristan Tierce is the CEO and Founder of Allergy Voyage. Tristan recently graduated from Barrett the Honors College at Arizona State University, majoring in Business Entrepreneurship and Art Studies. He is incredibly motivated to continue giving back to the allergic community.
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