FreshBay is a cutting-edge, AI-powered platform designed to tackle the global issue of food waste and hunger. The platform connects food donors, such as restaurants, grocery stores, and other food establishments, with food banks, shelters, and community organizations to ensure surplus food is efficiently redistributed to those in need.
At the core of FreshBay is its AI-powered smart donation matching system. This system uses advanced image recognition and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze and categorize donated food items. By assessing nutritional needs, perishability, and demand at local food banks, the platform can automatically match the food with the most appropriate recipient, ensuring that every donation is put to good use.
FreshBay’s real-time demand forecasting is another key feature. The platform leverages historical data and live information, including weather patterns, economic trends, and local data, to predict areas with high food insecurity. This ensures that food banks can prepare for surges in demand and better manage their resources. To visualize this, FreshBay uses dynamic heatmaps that highlight regions in need, helping donors and volunteers optimize their efforts.
The platform also includes AI-powered route optimization for efficient food delivery. Using algorithms like Dijkstra’s, FreshBay calculates the fastest and most cost-effective delivery routes, taking into account real-time traffic data. This reduces transportation time and food waste, ensuring timely deliveries and minimizing delays in the redistribution process.
FreshBay’s seamless user experience is facilitated through both web and mobile applications, which offer real-time updates, notifications, and an easy-to-use dashboard for all users, including food donors, food banks, and volunteers. The platform integrates with APIs like Twilio for SMS and WhatsApp notifications to ensure that all stakeholders are kept in the loop about the status of donations and deliveries.
Built with scalability in mind, FreshBay is powered by Supabase for backend services and real-time data handling, while the front-end is developed using React.js for a responsive and intuitive interface. Mapbox is used for interactive route mapping, enabling users to track deliveries in real-time.
With the potential for future enhancements, including blockchain integration for donation transparency and IoT sensors to monitor food freshness during transport, FreshBay is poised to revolutionize food rescue and redistribution, making a lasting impact in the fight against hunger and food waste.