An application called FoodLoop is about to be launched for users to find the lowest prices in the food close to expiry date, said an European Union(EU) statement Wednesday.
The app is made possible thanks to an EU-funded toolbox.
Food close to expiry date is often thrown away by retailers, and as a result, 90 million tons of edible food ends up in the trash in the EU every year. Now these products can be tagged with new "special offer" barcodes and FoodLoop’s users will be informed in real-time.
The FoodLoop app provides a notification service for the phone of the consumers. After creating a personal shopping list, one can receive an immediate notification when the price of your product is reduced.
"The system is just as easy for retailers, we have developed a system that allows them to mark down products whose 'best before' date is close, almost automatically through a connection to their enterprise resource planning system, ” explains Christoph Muller-Dechent, the founder of FoodLoop.
FoodLoop’s creators used tools provided by FI-WARE, an open cloud-based infrastructure to create new apps and services, which is part of the EU Public-Private Partnership on the Future Internet designed to help start-ups thrive in Europe.
"I am happy FoodLoop is based on the building blocks provided by FI-WARE. The EU invested in one set of tools that can be used again and again to support other such great ideas, “European Union's digital agenda commissioner and European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said.
FoodLoop will be launched soon in two bio supermarkets and a bakery around Bonn, Germany.
