Ideaz

Have you ever bought a tub of Greek yoghurt and then forgotten about it? A week later, you find it in your fridge, already expired. Not only is this wasting your money, but it is also wasting food. If something like that ever happened to you, then this app is perfect for you. 

My idea:

My idea is to develop an app that tracks the expiration dates of groceries purchased by consumers. All the consumer has to do is scan the barcode of the groceries, and the app then adds it to its list. It sends reminders about any food expiring soon and also suggests dishes based on the ingredients available in the list. 

Gaps in the current market:

The current market doesn't really combine the barcode scanning of groceries with giving recipe recommendations. Also, this app will focus more on the products and companies found in the Indian market. 

Who benefits:

People who are forgetful about their groceries (like me) are gonna benefit a lot from this app. Apart from that, the general public can also use this app, which decreases food waste as people won't wait till their groceries expire. Reducing food waste is going to help everyone achieve a more sustainable world. 

Why this problem matters to me:

This problem matters to me because I see tons of food wastage around me daily, whether it be in the campus mess or in the general public. I believe minimum food wastage is going to benefit the people. This app is also going to minimise the financial waste from households, which will help them have a better budget. 

Technical details:

• Built with React Native (iOS + Android).
• Barcode scanning via ML Kit with a manual entry option for items without a barcode.
• Colour-coded expiry indicators and notifications.
• Recipe recommendations based on which product expires first. 
• For produce, it uses estimates of when it expires (eg: an apple 5-7 days).