About us
Built by people who cook in real life, not perfect kitchens
Cenaplan exists to make meal planning practical, collaborative, and less stressful for households of all sizes.
We built Cenaplan to make meal planning simpler
It started with a familiar problem. Recipes saved everywhere, cookbooks, websites, screenshots, bookmarks, and notes, but never easy to find when it was time to plan the week. Shopping lists didn’t always match the meals, and deciding what to cook often took longer than the cooking itself. We believed planning meals at home should be easier. So we built Cenaplan: one organised place to collect recipes, plan the week ahead, and turn everything into a clear, ready-to-shop list.
Why the name
In ancient Rome, cena was more than just a meal, it was a time when people paused, gathered, and shared food together. That idea of coming together around a meal felt like the perfect inspiration for what we were building.
Cenaplan brings that idea into modern kitchens: helping households organise recipes, plan meals, and make the everyday act of cooking together a little easier.
How We Work
Build For Real Kitchens
We design around real cooking routines, not perfect kitchen scenarios. If something isn’t helpful between work, school runs, and weeknight dinners, it doesn’t make it into Cenaplan.
Keep It Calm
Planning meals shouldn’t feel complicated. Cenaplan keeps things simple, helping you organise recipes, plan your week quickly, and use AI when you need a little help deciding what to cook.
Designed For Your Phone
Meal planning doesn’t happen at a desk. It happens in the kitchen, at the supermarket, and on the go. Cenaplan is designed for phones first so everything you need is always within reach.
Milestones
The original planning board
This is where it all started. We wanted to be a bit more organised with meal planning and make the weekly shop easier.
So we bought a magnetic planning board for the kitchen, a simple way to write down what we were cooking each week and turn it into a practical shopping list. It worked surprisingly well, and it was the first step toward the idea that eventually became Cenaplan.
The original planning board
This is where it all started. We wanted to be a bit more organised with meal planning and make the weekly shop easier.
So we bought a magnetic planning board for the kitchen, a simple way to write down what we were cooking each week and turn it into a practical shopping list. It worked surprisingly well, and it was the first step toward the idea that eventually became Cenaplan.
Idea and proof of concept
After months of planning meals by hand, we started exploring whether AI could make the process easier. A quick prototype using early OpenAI models helped us test something simple but powerful, turning recipes from photos into organised, usable recipes.
When we saw it working, we knew we were onto something. At that stage there was no name or brand, we just called it the food planning app while we kept building what would eventually become Cenaplan.
Idea and proof of concept
After months of planning meals by hand, we started exploring whether AI could make the process easier. A quick prototype using early OpenAI models helped us test something simple but powerful, turning recipes from photos into organised, usable recipes.
When we saw it working, we knew we were onto something. At that stage there was no name or brand, we just called it the food planning app while we kept building what would eventually become Cenaplan.
Recipe importing began
One thing was clear from the start , Cenaplan needed to make capturing recipes effortless. Our kitchens were already full of cookbooks, food magazines, screenshots, and saved links, and too often favourite recipes would get lost somewhere along the way. So we focused on building the recipe importing and digital binder experience first.
We tried countless versions to get it right, refining how recipes should look, how they should be organised, and how easily they could be added from photos, screenshots, or links. Search and filtering quickly became just as important, because finding a recipe should be far easier than digging through stacks of books and magazines.
Recipe importing began
One thing was clear from the start , Cenaplan needed to make capturing recipes effortless. Our kitchens were already full of cookbooks, food magazines, screenshots, and saved links, and too often favourite recipes would get lost somewhere along the way. So we focused on building the recipe importing and digital binder experience first.
We tried countless versions to get it right, refining how recipes should look, how they should be organised, and how easily they could be added from photos, screenshots, or links. Search and filtering quickly became just as important, because finding a recipe should be far easier than digging through stacks of books and magazines.
The planner takes shape
The next step was recreating the experience from our original kitchen planner. Being able to schedule recipes for the week was essential so the app could automatically build a practical shopping list. The idea was simple: choose the recipes you want to cook, add them to the week ahead, and let Cenaplan organise the ingredients into a clear shopping list. It was the moment when everything started coming together.
The planner takes shape
The next step was recreating the experience from our original kitchen planner. Being able to schedule recipes for the week was essential so the app could automatically build a practical shopping list. The idea was simple: choose the recipes you want to cook, add them to the week ahead, and let Cenaplan organise the ingredients into a clear shopping list. It was the moment when everything started coming together.
AI assistant added
After working with AI technology for several years, we knew it had the potential to make cooking and planning easier. So we introduced the Cenaplan AI assistant, a tool that can help adjust recipes, suggest ideas, or answer questions when you’re deciding what to cook.
You can use it directly inside a recipe to tweak ingredients or instructions, or chat with it more broadly for meal ideas and planning inspiration.
AI assistant added
After working with AI technology for several years, we knew it had the potential to make cooking and planning easier. So we introduced the Cenaplan AI assistant, a tool that can help adjust recipes, suggest ideas, or answer questions when you’re deciding what to cook.
You can use it directly inside a recipe to tweak ingredients or instructions, or chat with it more broadly for meal ideas and planning inspiration.
Public beta
After months of building and refining, we’re opening Cenaplan to early users. The public beta will allow people to try the full experience , capturing recipes, planning meals, and generating shopping lists.
Their feedback will help shape the final improvements before launch.
Public beta
After months of building and refining, we’re opening Cenaplan to early users. The public beta will allow people to try the full experience , capturing recipes, planning meals, and generating shopping lists.
Their feedback will help shape the final improvements before launch.
Launch
The official launch of Cenaplan. The date is still TBC , we’re letting the public beta guide the final improvements before setting a launch day.
Launch
The official launch of Cenaplan. The date is still TBC , we’re letting the public beta guide the final improvements before setting a launch day.
