GCNZ-Big Oof Notation-RePlate

“RePlate — connect restaurants with nearby users to share surplus food through tokens and QR codes, reducing waste while feeding the community.”

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Re-Plate: Created by Andrew Tan, Sagesse Ariyanto, Vincent Iyegbuye, Nhial Ayuen, Namys Bukaraev

Github Link: https://github.com/guy-who-codes-A-bit/hackathon.git

Inspiration

This project was inspired by one of our teammates, Sagesse, who witnessed firsthand how much food his previous workplace threw away at the end of each day. Although employees could take home leftovers, a large portion still ended up being wasted. That experience sparked the idea behind RePlate — a platform that connects restaurants with nearby users to share surplus food efficiently and sustainably, reducing waste while feeding the community.

What it does

RePlate bridges the gap between restaurants that have excess food and people who can make good use of it.

  • Restaurants can easily list leftover food portions on the platform.
  • Users nearby can claim available items using in-app tokens.
  • Each claim generates a unique QR code that users show at pickup for verification.
  • Restaurants use the built-in QR scanner to validate claims, ensuring smooth and secure exchanges.

By combining geolocation, QR verification, and a simple token system, RePlate makes food redistribution accessible, reliable, and community-driven.

How we built it

We built RePlate using a modern full-stack approach:

  • Frontend: Vite + React with TailwindCSS for a fast, sleek, and mobile-friendly interface.
  • Backend: Flask (Python) to handle authentication, restaurant APIs, QR verification, and database logic.
  • Database: SQLite via SQLAlchemy for lightweight and quick relational data management.
  • Design: Figma for UI/UX mockups and prototyping.
  • APIs:
    • Mapbox API for interactive maps and restaurant geolocation.
    • Google Maps Geocoding API to convert addresses into coordinates.
    • Custom email verification service for secure password resets and authentication.

We integrated all these technologies into a smooth workflow, enabling real-time QR generation, restaurant scanning, and dynamic map visualization.

Challenges we ran into

Since this was our first hackathon project, we ran into several challenges along the way:

  • Version control struggles: We spent a lot of time resolving Git conflicts, resetting branches, and managing merges between teammates.
  • Infrastructure setup: Setting up Flask, CORS policies, and frontend-backend communication took trial and error.
  • Time management: Coordinating design, backend, and frontend integration under tight deadlines was tough, especially with limited sleep.

Despite the difficulties, we learned a lot about debugging under pressure and communicating effectively as a team.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re incredibly proud of what we achieved in just a short time:

  • Built a fully functional map interface using the Mapbox API to show nearby restaurants dynamically.
  • Implemented a secure password reset flow with email verification codes.
  • Integrated real-time geolocation to find the nearest participating restaurants.
  • Created a QR code generation and scanning system that connects users and restaurants seamlessly.
  • Developed two client experiences: one for customers to claim food and one for restaurants to manage offers.
  • Overcame major Git issues and infrastructure hurdles as first-time hackathon participants.

What we learned

We learned a lot, not just about building apps, but about collaboration, time pressure, and persistence.

  • We experienced firsthand how intense hackathons can be, especially with sleepless nights and constant debugging.
  • We improved our technical skills in React, Flask, database modeling, API integration, and deployment workflows.
  • Most importantly, we learned to adapt, iterate, and stay motivated even when things broke at 3 a.m.

What’s next for GCNZ — Big Oof Notation: RePlate

As a team, we definitely want to join more hackathons in the future.

For RePlate, this is mainly a demo and proof of concept — showing how community-driven food redistribution could work. In the future, we’d love to develop it further and actually partner with local restaurants to make the platform real and impactful.

For now, though, we’re just proud of how far we came, sleep-deprived but full of new skills, teamwork, and memories.

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