ResQFood — Real-Time Surplus Food Rescue Platform

ResQFood is a full-stack web platform designed to reduce food wastage and improve garbage management by connecting restaurants, hotels, and event organizers with NGOs in real time.
The platform ensures that surplus food reaches people in need before it expires, instead of ending up in landfills.

“No food should become waste when someone needs it.”

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📌 Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Problem Statement
3. Proposed Solution
4. Innovation & Uniqueness
5. Technology Stack
6. User Roles
7. Complete Workflow
8. Real-Time Features
9. Automatic Expiry System
10. Social Impact
11. Food Waste & Garbage Management
12. Feasibility & Scalability
13. Comparison with Existing Solutions
14. Future Scope
15. Conclusion

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1️⃣ Introduction

Food wastage is one of the most critical global problems today.
While restaurants and events discard large quantities of edible food daily, NGOs and shelters often struggle to source food on time.

ResQFood bridges this gap using modern web technologies, real-time communication, and automation.
It transforms surplus food into a resource, not garbage.

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2️⃣ Problem Statement

Current Challenges:

• Surplus food is discarded due to lack of coordination
• NGOs receive information too late
• Manual donation systems are inefficient
• Food mixed with garbage becomes unusable
• No real-time tracking or expiry handling

Result:

• Increased food waste
• Higher landfill burden
• Missed opportunities for social welfare

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3️⃣ Proposed Solution — ResQFood

ResQFood provides a real-time coordination platform where:

• Restaurants list surplus food with expiry time,quantity,food image
• NGOs instantly view nearby available food on map
• Food is claimed and collected efficiently in real time
• Expired food is automatically removed via cron jobs

The system focuses on speed, safety, and accountability.

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4️⃣ Innovation & Uniqueness

ResQFood is not just a listing platform — it is a coordination system.

Key Innovations:

• ⚡ Real-time updates using WebSockets - Socket.io
• ⏱️ Automatic expiry via background cron jobs - Inngest
• 🔄 Live status synchronization across users
• 🧠 Time-zone safe expiry handling
• ♻️ Focus on food + garbage management together
• 📧 Send Emails to NGOs & Restaurants on claiming and collecting food with live locations

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5️⃣ Technology Stack

🌐 Frontend

• React (Vite)
• Tailwind CSS
• Socket.IO Client

🧠 Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• Socket.IO
• Inngest (cron jobs)

🗄 Database & Storage

• MongoDB Atlas
• Cloudinary (Image Storage)

🚀 Deployment

• Frontend: Vercel
• Backend: Fly.io
• Database: MongoDB Atlas

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6️⃣ User Roles

🍴 Restaurant / Donor

• Create food posts
• Set expiry time
• Receive claim & collection notifications via sockets
• Receive claim & collection Email with google pickup location

🤝 NGO / Collector

• View nearby available food on real time map
• Claim food in real time
• Collect food before expiry
• Receive claim & collection notifications via sockets
• Receive claim & collection Email with google destination location

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7️⃣ Complete End-to-End Workflow

1. Restaurant creates a food post
2. Food becomes instantly visible to NGOs in their map view
3. NGO claims the food in real time
4. Restaurant gets notified
5. NGO collects food
6. Restaurant gets notified
7. Status updates in real time
8. Unclaimed food expires automatically
9. Expired Foods get deleted from database automatically after 7 days

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8️⃣ Real-Time Features

• Live food availability updates on map
• Instant notifications on claim & collection
• No page refresh required
• All users stay synchronized

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9️⃣ Automatic Expiry System (Core Feature)

ResQFood uses Inngest cron jobs that:

• Run periodically in the background
• Check food expiry times
• Mark expired food as expired
• Prevent unsafe food distribution
• Update UI instantly via sockets

This ensures food safety and reliability.

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🔟 Social Impact

🥗 Hunger Reduction

• Faster access to food for NGOs
• Reduced dependency on delayed donations

🧹 Garbage Management

• Less organic waste in landfills
• Improved waste segregation
• Lower methane emissions

🌍 Sustainability

• Responsible food usage
• Environment-friendly system

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1️⃣1️⃣ How ResQFood Reduces Food & Garbage Waste

• Prevents food from being discarded
• Encourages timely redistribution
• Stops expired food from entering supply
• Reduces overall garbage volume
• Promotes sustainable practices

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1️⃣2️⃣ Feasibility & Scalability

Why ResQFood is practical:

• No special hardware needed
• Cloud-based scalable infrastructure
• Can be adopted city-wise or nationally

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1️⃣3️⃣ Comparison with Existing Surplus Food Apps

Feature	ResQFood	Traditional Apps
Real-time updates	✅	❌
Auto expiry	✅	❌
WebSocket alerts	✅	❌
NGO-focused flow	✅	❌
Garbage reduction logic	✅	❌

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1️⃣4️⃣ Future Scope

• 📱 Mobile application
• 🚚 Pickup route optimization
• 📊 Food waste analytics
• 🧠 AI demand prediction
• 🏛️ Government & municipality integration
• 🏆 Reward system for donors

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1️⃣5️⃣ Conclusion

ResQFood demonstrates how technology, automation, and social responsibility can work together to solve a real-world problem.

It is not just a hackathon prototype —
it is a scalable, impactful, and sustainable solution for food waste and social welfare.

🔗 Backend Repository - https://github.com/Sreejib-Nandy/ResQFood_Backend

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Home Page

Features Section

Testimonials Section

Sign Up Page

Log In Page

Edit Profile Page

Restaurant Dashboard Page

NGO Mapview Page

Food Marker on Map

Food Modal on Map for claiming

NGO Dashboard Page

👨‍💻 Author

Sreejib Nandy
Built with ❤️ for society and sustainability

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