How byFood Turns Culinary Tourism Into a Force for Good

Co-founder Serkan Toso on bridging cultures, giving back, and feeding more than your appetite.

Image source: byFood

From day one, byFood has been more than just a food experience platform—it’s been a catalyst for social good. Founded with the belief that you can solve a problem and make a societal impact at the same time, byFood connects travelers with unique culinary experiences across Japan, while giving back through its Food for Happiness program, which donates meals to children in need with every booking.

In this interview, we speak with Serkan Toso, COO and co-founder of byFood, about how the platform is making Japan’s food culture more accessible, helping redirect travelers to local areas, and creating a lasting impact through the simple act of sharing a meal.

What We Cover:

The Why Behind byFood

Food for Happiness

Opening Doors to Local Japan

Travel With Purpose

The Bigger Picture

Serkan Toso, COO and co-founder of byFood. Image source: byFood

The Why Behind byFood

Emma: Launching a platform business in Japan—far from your home country of Turkey—is a big step. Were you always entrepreneurially minded? 

Serkan: I attended One Young World in South Africa (a summit that brings together changemakers from over 190 countries) in 2013 because there were so many young people doing projects and helping their communities with their businesses. It really inspired me to start a business in the future.

Emma: Before launching byFood, did you envision it being a platform for social good, or did that evolve over time?

Serkan: I always wanted to contribute to society through my business. While a lot of organizations and NGOs rely on donations, I wanted to create a model where the company is profitable—and from that profit, we can continuously give back. That’s the idea behind Creating Shared Value (CSV) (i.e., addressing societal needs and challenges with a business model). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), on the other hand, (the idea that a business has a responsibility to the society that exists around it), is usually something big companies do often through donations, perhaps for tax benefits or other reasons (such as marketing). 

I wanted to build something that’s designed from the beginning to have an impact. That’s why, on day one of starting byfood, we launched the Food for Happiness project. For every guest who joins an experience or dines at one of the restaurants on our platform, we donate 10 meals to children in need.

Food for Happiness 

Emma: Tell us more about the Food for Happiness program and how you decided on the format of “1 Guest = 10 Meals”?

Serkan: We worked with a variety of NGOs on different projects—like buying school uniforms for kids in Bangladesh or building homes for families in Cambodia. Each project varied in size—some needed $1,000, others $3,000 or more—as we got more bookings, we’d increase the donation amount until we hit the target. Then we’d send the funds to the NGO, and they’d carry out the project and share the results with us. 

At one point, we were running several projects at once, but partly due to the challenge of maintaining clear messaging, we decided to return to our original model: donating 10 meals to children in need for every guest booking. That shift made it much easier to convey the impact to users. “1 Guest = 10 Meals” is simple and clear, and people immediately understand it.

Link to video: Food for Happiness Program | 1 Guest = 10 Meals | byFood

Emma: How do you choose the organizations and communities that benefit from the donations?

Serkan: Sometimes NGOs reach out to us directly, and we do our own research to make sure they’re trustworthy. But for the past three or four years, we’ve been working exclusively with one organization—Seibo Japan. They run meal programs for children in Malawi, and we support their activities there. (Read more about how Seibo supports communities here.) 

Since the headquarters are based in Japan, we know them personally and trust how they operate. We send the donations to them, and they carry out the projects. Every month, they send us reports so we can see the impact they’re making. 

Opening Doors to Local Japan

Emma: You’ve spoken about how the language barrier makes it difficult for foreigners to book local Japanese restaurants, and how this led you to start your business. Do you see other challenges or areas for change in Japan?

Serkan: I mean, in general, Japan is quite difficult for foreigners if you don’t speak the language. Whether it’s something as simple as going to city hall or dealing with a stack of envelopes at home, that language barrier is everywhere. But I didn’t really think about business opportunities in other areas at the time. 

Something that is related, though, is overtourism. People hesitate to visit other regions because they’re not well-known. Plus, the language barrier plays a big role. So at byFood, we address this by creating food experiences in local parts of Japan. And of course, we provide full English support for farm tours, brewery visits, cooking classes, tasting events, and so on.

Image source: byFood

Emma: Do you have any favorite byfood experiences? 

Serkan: It’s really hard to choose. A recent one we created is in Yoyogi-Uehara, Tokyo. There’s a ramen shop called Tsuta—the first ramen restaurant in the world to get a Michelin star. We built an experience where you can go behind the scenes—not just eat the ramen, but watch how they make the noodles and prepare the soup from scratch. You can even taste along the way, and then at the end, enjoy the finished bowl. That one was really fun. (Read about our experience at Tsuta here!) 

Another one we did nearby is in Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture. It starts with a local food experience and then finishes in a beautiful traditional house where guests enjoy a kaiseki (multi-course) meal and a geisha performance. It’s something special. We also have a popular experience in Asakusa where you can watch sumo and then eat chankonabe (a traditional Japanese hot pot dish, often associated with sumo wrestlers). People really enjoy that.

If I had to pick one that’s further out and really authentic, I’d say the sake brewery stays in Nagano Prefecture. You stay for two or three days and actually make your own sake from scratch—carrying the rice, working alongside the brewers, and staying overnight in the connected accommodation. It’s a very unique experience.

Making sake in Nagano. Image source: byFood

Travel With Purpose

Emma: Many people see food tourism as purely recreational. How does byFood encourage travelers to think more consciously about the impact of their spending?

Serkan: Every donated meal counts as one “smile,” and users can see how many smiles their bookings generate. It adds a bit of fun and makes the impact more tangible. 

Aside from our own donations, we encourage hosts to contribute too. On some experience pages, you’ll see something like: byFood donates 20 meals, the host donates 10 meals. We highlight that to motivate users to book experiences that give more. We’re also planning to add a donation option at checkout—so users can join in: byFood is donating, and the host is donating—would you like to donate too? And 100% of those donations go to children in Malawi, supported by Seibo Japan. 

Image source: byFood

Emma: Have you noticed travelers being more mindful because of byFood’s charitable aspect?

Serkan: When we interview users, most say they didn’t book because of the donations—they booked because the experience or restaurant looked interesting. So right now, it’s not a big factor in decision-making. That’s something we need to improve—making the impact more visible. 

Emma: What’s one small change travelers can make to ensure their trips give back to the communities they visit?

Serkan: We encourage travelers to explore more local areas. Of course, visiting Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto is great—but instead of checking off every big attraction, spend more time in a local community. If you can, interact with the people and try to understand the local culture. This kind of slow tourism really helps.

For example, we offer a farm stay in Taiki, a small town in Mie Prefecture. Simply participating already helps the community, but if travelers also spend some time and money locally, the impact grows even more.

Image source: byFood

The Bigger Picture

Emma: What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who want to integrate social impact into their business models?

Serkan: Starting from day one is important—but you have to be serious about it. When we launched byFood, we didn’t make much profit since it’s a platform business, and it takes time to scale. But even in that situation, we kept donating.

If you want to build this kind of model, you have to accept the challenges early on and truly believe in the mission. That mission also keeps you going when things get tough. There were times I wanted to quit—but remembering our cause gave me a reason to continue. It’s a strong source of motivation.

Serkan Toso with co-founder and byfood CEO Kaoru Joho. Image source: byFood

Emma: In a world where responsible tourism is gaining importance, how do you see byFood leading by example? 

Serkan: CSV business models are still rare. There are great initiatives like Table for Two, but they’re an NPO rather than a business. In that sense, byFood is quite unique—especially in the travel industry. I hope we can grow byFood into a more recognizable brand—both here and globally—so it can serve as an example for others who want to create businesses with real impact.

Emma: Looking ahead, do you envision scaling byFood’s charitable impact? Are there any new initiatives on the horizon?

Serkan: Our goal is to become a global food travel platform. In mid-April, we launched a new version of the site with over 30,000 food experiences from around the world. And we’ll continue using the same donation model globally: 1 Guest = 10 Meals. 

It’s similar to the concept behind TOMS Shoes (a Certified B Corporation based in the US)—buy a pair, TOMS donates a pair. That model really inspired me, and I want byFood to be the food travel equivalent of that idea.

Image source: byFood

Emma: Any final thoughts you’d like to share? 

Serkan: To keep local restaurants accessible, we’re working on building out pages in multiple languages and maybe even using AI to help travelers book directly with AI concierge services. But our main goal stays the same: connecting people to authentic food experiences. Now, we’re taking byFood’s mission worldwide, and we’re just getting started.

Image source: byFood

To learn more, visit byFood’s website and follow their journey on social media:

• Website

• YouTube

• Instagram