ReciFolio - Recipe Planner

**Turn saved recipes & food videos into smart grocery lists.**

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Inspiration

This app was built for Eitan Bernath’s brief:

Help people go from “I saw this” → “I bought groceries” → “I cooked it.”

Today, food inspiration is everywhere — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, cookbooks. But inspiration rarely turns into action.

People:

  • Save recipe videos they never revisit

  • Forget what ingredients they need

  • Buy groceries without a plan

  • Waste food already in their fridge

The real problem isn’t recipe discovery.

It’s execution.

ReciFolio – Recipe Planner was built to close that gap.

What it does

ReciFolio is a mobile meal planning and grocery organization app that turns saved food inspiration into structured cooking plans.

Core features:

🍳 Save & Organize Recipes

  • Save recipe links and food videos

  • Organize into folders and collections

  • Always link back to original creators

📝 Editable Ingredient Lists

  • Create ingredient lists manually

  • Use assisted suggestions from descriptions

  • Scale servings

  • Edit quantities freely

🧊 Pantry Tracking

  • Track what’s already in your fridge

  • Prevent duplicate purchases

  • Reduce food waste

🛒 Smart Grocery Lists

  • Combine ingredients across multiple recipes

  • Merge duplicates automatically

  • Categorize by aisle

📅 Weekly Meal Planning

  • Plan your week visually

  • Instantly generate a consolidated grocery list

ReciFolio is not a “magic AI extractor.”
It’s a structured system that helps people actually cook what they save.

How we built it

We focused on building a real, monetizable MVP aligned with a creator audience.

Product Philosophy

Instead of building heavy automation, we built:

Recipe → Ingredients → Pantry → Grocery List → Cooking

Automation is assistive — not the backbone.

We avoided:

  • Hosting copyrighted cookbook content

  • Scraping full recipes

  • Reposting creator content

This keeps creators protected while helping their audience take action.

Monetization (RevenueCat Integration)

The app integrates RevenueCat to power subscriptions.

Free Tier

  • Limited saved recipes

  • Basic grocery list generation

Pro Subscription

  • Unlimited recipe saves

  • Unlimited weekly meal planning

  • Pantry tracking sync

  • Advanced grocery merging

  • Future AI-assisted features

RevenueCat handles:

  • Subscription state

  • Entitlements

  • Upgrade/downgrade

  • Cross-device sync

The monetization model is natural: casual users stay free, serious planners upgrade.

Challenges we ran into

1. Copyright & Creator Sensitivity

We had to avoid:

  • Rehosting copyrighted cookbook recipes

  • Extracting full video content automatically

Solution:

  • Always link back to creators

  • Store only user-generated ingredient data

  • Position the app as a companion, not a replacement

2. Over-Automation Risk

It’s tempting to promise “paste a link and we do everything.”

But:

  • Accuracy is inconsistent

  • It creates trust issues

  • It shifts focus away from usability

We prioritized clarity and control over AI hype.

3. Ingredient Normalization

Merging ingredients like:

  • “2 tomatoes”

  • “Cherry tomatoes”

  • “Fresh tomatoes”

required careful data structuring and duplicate detection logic.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Built a fully working, monetizable MVP in 4 weeks

  • Aligned closely with Eitan’s audience problem

  • Designed a subscription model that supports long-term growth

  • Created a system that respects creators rather than competing with them

This is not a demo concept — it’s a usable planning tool.

What we learned

  • The biggest friction in cooking is planning, not inspiration

  • UX clarity builds more trust than complex AI

  • Monetization works best when tied to habit-building tools

  • Creator-led distribution requires ecosystem awareness

What’s next for ReciFolio – Recipe Planner

If selected, we plan to expand into:

Short-Term

  • Improved ingredient suggestions

  • Household shared grocery lists

  • Meal reminders and notifications

Mid-Term

  • Optional OCR for user-owned cookbooks

  • “Cook from what’s in your fridge” recommendations

  • Smart substitution suggestions

Long-Term Vision

ReciFolio becomes the execution layer for food inspiration — the bridge between creators and real kitchens.

Not more recipes.

More cooked meals.

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