Limassol-based startup Correctify is aiming to transform Cyprus’ hospitality industry by revolutionising the menu creation process with its innovative AI-driven solution.
Launched in 2023 by Marios Simou and his team, the company identified a number of longstanding challenges that the hospitality sector has to face.
Speaking exclusively to the Cyprus Mail, Simou explained how the industry “often struggles with manually proofreading menus, relying on general tools like Microsoft Word, which simply aren’t equipped to handle the complexities of culinary terminology”.
This lack of precision, he continued, “leads to costly errors slipping through to final, published menus, despite the best efforts of chefs, restaurant managers, and marketing professionals”.
Moreover, after conducting thorough global user interviews with hotels and restaurants, it became clear that most professionals in the hospitality sector face similar obstacles when it comes to creating new menus.
The process involves navigating a maze of specialist culinary terms—from dish names and cocktails to ingredients and cooking techniques—that are often misspelt or misunderstood.
Simou pointed out that many professionals resort to Google searches or use general-purpose tools like Microsoft Word or Grammarly for spell-checking.
However, these tools “are not optimised for the specific needs of the industry, often resulting in subpar results”.
He mentioned that menu creation, “by nature, is a collaborative effort”, requiring input from various teams, including chefs, restaurant managers, food and beverage directors, marketing departments, graphic designers, and translators.
“Typically”, Simou noted, “several iterations of a menu are crafted before the final version is agreed upon, with changes and comments often added to PDFs—a process that inevitably breeds confusion and inefficiency as multiple versions circulate”.
“Consequently, the creation and finalisation of a restaurant menu can take anywhere from a few weeks to two months,” he added.
In addition, the Correctify co-founder said that “at present, there is no other tool specifically designed for proofreading restaurant menus”.
He noted that existing proofreading tools fail to recognise specialist kitchen terms, ingredients, recipes, or even beverage brands.
As a result, costly translators are frequently required to convert menus into multiple languages.
Simou, who also serves as Correctify’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), has an engineering background honed across several high-profile tech companies, including Qmee, SKY UK, and Versa Networks in California.
In addition, he holds a master’s degree in Spatio-temporal Analytics and Big Data Mining from University College London (UCL) and a Bachelor of Surveying Engineering and Geoinformatics from the Cyprus University of Technology.
Simou said that combining his academic expertise with real-world experience enables him to drive Correctify’s ambitious goals forward.
The result of this expertise is Correctify’s custom AI model, SmartChef AI, which analyses documents within minutes of uploading, generating a preview and highlighting mistakes.
SmartChef AI has been trained on thousands of English menus and is fluent in a variety of culinary terms from languages such as French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.
“This allows us to provide corrections that are not only accurate but also contextually appropriate, drawing from trusted culinary vocabularies and official brand names,” Simou explained.
Users can upload files in a range of formats, including PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel sheets, and even images.
One of Correctify’s most innovative features is its collaborative platform, which streamlines team interactions during the menu creation process.
“Rather than dealing with disjointed email threads and confusing PDF annotations, all team members can access and edit documents simultaneously in real-time,” Simou stated.
This feature significantly reduces the time needed to finalise menus and eliminates the miscommunication that often plagues the process.
Simou also explained that by addressing the unique challenges of menu creation head-on, Correctify is seeking to “set new standards in culinary precision and operational efficiency”.
“At Correctify, we’re not just developing a tool,” he said.
“We’re fostering a culture of innovation in menu design, where accuracy and creativity merge seamlessly to revitalise how menus are crafted,” Simou added.
Looking ahead, Simou envisions Correctify evolving into an all-encompassing platform for menu creation.
“Our goal is to enable users to create, translate, design, and publish their menus quickly and effortlessly, turning what used to be a months-long process into something that takes just minutes,” he said.
Since its launch, Correctify has already attracted over 200 businesses globally, including some of the world’s largest hotel groups.
The tool is currently free, with pricing plans expected to be introduced by late 2024.
“We’re committed to making the hospitality industry more agile by streamlining the menu creation process, enhancing both productivity and creativity,” Simou said.
To see the tool in action, Simou created a fictional restaurant, named after myself, populating it with various dishes, which the tool then corrected.
“As a personal note, after testing Correctify at Souzana’s Restaurant, I can confidently say it saved us from a few culinary blunders. Who knew “Caesar Salad” could become “Ceasar Salad,” or that we had been serving “Chicken Shnitzel” and “Creme Brulle” for weeks without noticing? Thanks to Correctify, our menus—and our dignity—are now fully intact!,” concluded Simou.
