Suggested by WS Will Schneller almost 4 years ago
2 out of 3 US households waste 20-50% of the food they buy.
This waste can account for $150-$375 in losses each month, or 2 to 5% of annual earnings for a typical middle class family of 3. At a societal level, this results in billions of dollars lost each year.
Why does this happen? The reasons are diverse, which may include difficulty in precisely matching recipes against current inventory, things like produce spoiling quickly, spontaneous decisions to eat out rather than eat what you have on hand, or even overestimating proper proportions.
While this is an evergreen problem, inflation is driving up food costs which makes waste even more painful.
Advances in ML techniques coupled with ubiquitous smartphone access may unlock a delightful and effective solution to this problem.
New Idea
Are you interested in addressing this Unmet Need?
Are you interested in addressing this Unmet Need?
Board Member | Advisor | VP Digital @ Unfold Bio
I tried this back in 2015 with a team of folks. We did an app called Cookbrite that could curate recipes to use what you had on hand. You scan your grocery receipts, so we know your inventory. Recipes would be suggested using ingredients we believed you had. We used ML to parse the contents of your grocery receipts.
Lots of reasons why this company failed (many of which were execution failure). Happy to share my experiences.
executive assistant @ Platform Venture Studio
I had a wonderful hardback cookbook YEARS ago that listed recipes by ingredients so if I looked in my pantry/fridge and saw that I had XYZ ... I could find a recipe incorporating those items and voila! dinner was saved. As with anything, it takes time and effort to keep up with what you have, plan ahead, etc. But I think food prices are going to drive consumers to be better planners in order to lower their grocery bill. Great idea here!