MAI student came up with a service for sale of products with expiring dates

Ruslan Babaev, a student of the Institute № 8 "Computer Science and Applied Mathematics", has developed the Food4You service, which will help shops and restaurants to sale products with expiring dates. The software is based on the idea of eco-friendly consumption: trading companies will not have to solve the problem of late recycling, and customers will be able to purchase products at a bargain price.

– In Moscow, unlike other cities in the world, foodsharing – the process of redistributing products that have not been sold or used in restaurants and shops, but are still suitable for consumption – is still underdeveloped. My project involves the rapid spread of this practice via the use of modern technologies," says Ruslan Babayev. – Now about 30% of all products that end up in trash are those that were thrown out of supermarkets and restaurants. This means that the business may be interested in my project.

The service is an aggregator. Organizations, registered in it, will be able to make their products available, and customers will be able to select the necessary products in the application and receive them at a reduced price or for free.

The important advantage over analogues is the use of artificial intelligence technologies. The service will be fully automated: in accordance with the available database of goods, the AI will determine which of them are at risk of being unsold, and reduce the price.

– The service consists of the system for monitoring the shelf life of products and the implementation of dynamic pricing, depending on how soon they need to be sold. The platform will also allow you to attract new customers by posting information about promotions and loyalty programs on it. The main goal is to make sure that all participants get benefits – both the seller and the buyer, – says the student.

The developer sees the target audience of the service as active young people who are concerned with environmental issues and sustainable development, as well as those for whom even a slight decrease in the cost of a grocery basket is important: the low-income and those in difficult life circumstances.

The prototype of the service is now ready, including a chatbot, a website, a telegram channel, B2B and B2C applications. Its testing has been launched, and negotiations with potential partners are already underway.