A Better Meal: Bringing Joy Back to the Kitchen
How does a petroleum engineer start a nutrition-focused app startup? The leap is not an obvious one, but after decades of consulting and running his own oil and gas-producing companies, Mark Semmelbeck was ready for something new.
In 2019, Mark wound down his company and took the longest break of his career – three months. During this time, he immersed himself in the world of technology, enrolling in a blockchain course at MIT that explored how AI was shaping the future. He didn’t know exactly what he wanted to build, but he knew he wanted to solve a real, everyday problem.
The answer came from an unexpected place: his daughter’s kitchen. Every Sunday, he would spend time with her as she meal-prepped for the week, a ritual that should have been joyful but often became stressful and overwhelming. Between tracking down healthy recipes, managing grocery lists, and juggling time in the kitchen, meal planning felt more like a chore than a pleasure. Mark asked around and realized she wasn’t alone—many people struggled with the same frustration.
The timing was perfect – his MIT coursework helped him see this widespread problem as an opportunity. AI was revolutionizing industries and automating complex processes. Mark, however, envisioned a simpler AI, one that could do more than maximize profit: He saw a chance to use AI to make his loved ones’ lives easier.
Drawing on his network, Mark launched A Better Meal, an AI-powered app designed to take the stress out of everything from meal planning and preparation to cooking and feeding a family. Unlike traditional meal planning apps that require manual input and tedious organization, A Better Meal simplifies recipe discovery by allowing users to import recipes directly from social media and online sources, eliminating the hassle of scrolling through ads or rewatching videos. With just a click, users can save and organize recipes, automatically add ingredients to grocery lists, and access clear, easy-to-follow instructions. Currently, there are over 5000 recipes in the app that can also be selected for recipe suggestions and meal plans.
But Mark and his team didn’t stop at importing recipes. They wanted to make the entire cooking process effortless. AI now suggests personalized recipes and generates complete meal plans tailored to users’ dietary preferences, grocery lists, and goals. It can even integrate with grocery delivery services like H-E-B. The app also offers expert guidance—from knife selection to full-length cooking tutorials featuring a professional French chef and a relatable, self-dubbed “Southern Mama” learning alongside users.
At its core, A Better Meal is about transformation—not just of ingredients into meals, but of stress into joy. “The goal has always been to remove the stress from cooking and replace it with something fun that you can share with your loved ones,” Mark says.
By harnessing AI, A Better Meal is redefining what it means to cook at home—making it easier, more enjoyable, and, ultimately, better.
Find out more at www.abettermeal.com or download A Better Meal on the App Store today.
