How a Taco Tour in Cancun Sparked the Idea for One Bite Foodie
- Joseph Haecker
- Jan 29
- 5 min read
An Interview with One Bite Foodie Founder, Joseph Haecker
By the One Bite Foodie Blog Staff
A Simple Idea That Changed Everything
Have you ever had a moment where inspiration just hits you? You see something, hear something, or experience something, and suddenly, an idea is planted in your mind, growing until you can’t ignore it anymore?
That’s exactly what happened to Joseph Haecker, the founder of One Bite Foodie.
What started as a casual taco tour in Cancun turned into a full-fledged social media platform designed specifically for foodies, food reviewers, content creators, and restaurants. A place where people could share their one-bite video reviews, write about their foodie experiences, create podcasts, and—most importantly—get paid for their content instantly.
But this wasn’t some big-budget startup backed by millions in funding. Joseph built the entire platform himself, in just 30 days, for less than $200.
Now, One Bite Foodie is growing fast, with over 500 members already—and it’s giving food lovers and food businesses a real alternative to traditional social media.
We sat down with Joseph to hear the full story: how he built the platform, why foodies can finally monetize their content without a massive following, and how restaurants can now work directly with local influencers—without breaking the bank on PR firms and social media ads.
And trust us, this is just the beginning.
A Taco Tour That Almost Never Happened
OBF Staff: Joseph, let’s start at the beginning. You were in Cancun, right?
Joseph Haecker: Yeah, this was September 2024. I was staying at this hostel in Cancun, and every night, they ran a casual taco tour. It was just a group of travelers hopping between taco spots.
At one of the stops, I turned to the volunteer running the tour and said, “You should really video people’s reactions.” Because, let’s be real—people LOVE reaction videos.
But they just brushed me off.
At first, I laughed it off too. But later that night, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Why wasn’t this a thing?
Why wasn’t there a platform where anyone could post short food reviews—just like TikTok, but for food?
That’s when I remembered David Portnoy, the guy behind Barstool Sports.
Taking Inspiration (and Fixing the Gaps)
OBF Staff: So Portnoy’s pizza reviews played a big role in the idea for One Bite Foodie?
Joseph: It was definitely an inspiration. He has a great concept: he travels, reviews pizza, and rates it.
But when I looked at his website, I realized something was missing:
No links to video reviews
No restaurant addresses
And worst of all? No way for anyone else to participate
I thought, “He has a good formula, but he doesn’t have a platform.”
That’s when the lightbulb went off.
Building One Bite Foodie in Just 30 Days
OBF Staff: A lot of people get great ideas, but they never take action. What made you actually build it?
Joseph: I just couldn’t let it go. I kept thinking, if I could build this, it could change everything for food influencers.
But here’s the problem—I’m not a coder.
So I turned to Wix. It had membership tools, repeater pages, and video hosting—everything I needed to at least test the idea.
I worked around the clock for 30 days, testing, breaking things, fixing them, and pushing Wix to its limits.
Eventually, it worked. One Bite Foodie was born.
More Than Just Reviews: A Conversation That Changed Everything
OBF Staff: You mentioned a conversation that really shifted the platform’s focus.
Joseph: Yeah. A few weeks into building the beta version, I met a woman who had traveled the world with her ex-boyfriend, creating food reviews.
She told me something that stopped me in my tracks:
She had never monetized her content.
I thought, “Wait…you traveled the world, creating food content, and never made a dime?”
Then she said something that flipped a switch for me:
"Once One Bite Foodie is live, let me know. I'll start a website and blog."
That’s when I realized, this can’t just be about video reviews—it has to be a full platform where foodies can build an entire business.
That’s when we added:
Public video reviews (like TikTok, but for foodies)
Private subscriber content (like OnlyFans, but for food content)
Articles & podcasts (like Medium & Spotify, but for foodies)
And most importantly, I made sure foodies could earn 100% of their tip money and 80% of subscriber & digital ad revenue.
A Platform Designed for Foodies AND Businesses
OBF Staff: This isn’t just for content creators, though. Restaurants can actually use One Bite Foodie too, right?
Joseph: Exactly! We launched One Bite Foodie for Business, which lets restaurants, food trucks, bars, bakeries, and other food businesses create a business profile—just like you would on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Businesses can:
Create video, article, and podcast content
Be listed in our business directory
Work with local food influencers to attract customers
Offer Perks to foodies who leave reviews
The Perks Program is a game-changer because businesses can give upgraded foodie accounts special perks in exchange for reviews. It’s influencer marketing, but way more organic and local.
Introducing Our Digital Magazines
OBF Staff: Let’s talk about the digital magazines. What inspired that?
Joseph: A big part of our mission is to highlight the amazing foodies and businesses in our community.
So we created two digital magazines:
1️⃣ Behind the Foodie – Featuring food influencers, content creators, and reviewers. It’s a way to highlight the people behind the content—their journey, their favorite foods, and their advice for other foodies.
2️⃣ Back of House – Featuring restaurants, food trucks, bakeries, bars, wineries, and breweries. It gives businesses a platform to share their story, showcase their menu, and connect with the foodie community.
These aren’t just random articles—we want to build a real foodie network where businesses and content creators support each other.
500+ Members and Growing Fast
OBF Staff: What’s next for One Bite Foodie?
Joseph: Growth. More foodies, more businesses, more revenue opportunities.
We’re officially past 500 members, and we’re just getting started.
If you’re a foodie, content creator, restaurant owner, or just love food, now is the time to jump in and start building your food business.
💡 Sign up today and start earning: OneBiteFoodie.com
Because foodies deserve to get paid.
OBF Staff Closing Thoughts:
We’ve seen so many foodies struggle to make money despite pouring their heart into their content. And we’ve seen restaurants rely on expensive, outdated marketing strategies that don’t bring them real, repeat customers.
That’s why we’re so excited to see what happens when foodies and restaurants come together on One Bite Foodie.
This is the future of foodie content. And it’s only just beginning.
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