Eliminating food waste through technology – for restaurants and cafes

Abstract

Food wastage has been a pervasive problem in Singapore. Concerns over food wastage rises as Singapore’s only landfill, the Semakau Landfill, is estimated to hit its maximum capacity by 2035. It was also worrying that the current measures taken by the National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore to reduce food waste in Singapore has been producing lacklustre results. In an attempt to combat the local food waste situation, this project aimed to introduce a mobile application called Foodscover that could provide a channel for the retailers for unsold and unexpired food to be redirected to people who need them.

Foodscover would provide a platform for retailers and vendors to sell excess food to users on the application at a discounted price. This platform targets to effectively reduce the amount of discarded food daily and provide users with cheaper food options at the same time. “Killing two birds with one stone”, Foodscover allows 1) retailers to potentially lower the amount of wasted food; and 2) allow hungry users to purchase food at a lower cost. While Foodscover acts as a transacting platform for sale of excess food, the platform will also be leveraged to promote educational materials related to the deterring of food wastages and possible usages of excess food, emboldening the notion of saving food in every user.