SaveBite

Connecting surplus food with the people who need it, before it goes to waste.

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Inspiration

Every night, restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores throw away perfectly good food, while families just a few miles away don't know where their next meal is coming from. In the US, an estimated 30–40% of the food supply goes to waste, yet millions of people, including many here in Texas, face food insecurity. The food exists; the connection doesn't. We built SaveBite to be that connection.

What it does

SaveBite is a real-time web platform that connects businesses with surplus food to the people and organizations who need it.

  • Donors (restaurants, bakeries, stores, cafeterias) post surplus food in under a minute with a photo, quantity, dietary tags, and a pickup deadline.
  • Receivers (food banks, shelters, individuals) see available food on a live map with a countdown timer showing how long it's available.
  • With one tap, a receiver claims a listing. It's instantly locked so no one else can take it, and a pickup code is generated.
  • The donor verifies the code at pickup, and the food is marked as rescued.
  • An impact dashboard tracks meals saved, pounds of food rescued, and CO₂ emissions avoided across the community.

How we built it

  • Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS for a fast, mobile-friendly UI
  • Backend & database: Supabase for authentication, data storage, image uploads, and real-time updates
  • Maps: Leaflet with OpenStreetMap for the live food map
  • Charts: Recharts for the impact dashboard
  • Hosting: Vercel

Challenges we ran into

  • Preventing double claims: Two receivers could tap "Claim" at the same moment, so we used real-time database updates to lock a listing instantly.
  • Handling expiry: Listings needed to automatically expire or reopen when a pickup deadline passed.
  • Trust and safety: Exact pickup addresses are only revealed after a listing is claimed, protecting donors' privacy.
  • Scope: With many ideas and limited time, we focused on a complete, working core flow first.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • A fully working end-to-end flow: post, discover, claim, and pick up
  • Real-time map updates that feel instant
  • A clean, simple design that a busy restaurant manager or shelter worker can use without training
  • Making food waste measurable through the impact dashboard

What we learned

  • How to build real-time features and handle concurrency problems
  • Working with maps and location data
  • Designing for two very different user types in one app
  • That the best solutions to community problems are often about connecting people, not inventing new resources

What's next for SaveBite

  • AI food scanner: Snap a photo of surplus food and AI automatically fills in the listing's title, category, quantity, and dietary tags.
  • Smart notifications: Push and email alerts when food is posted near a receiver, so nothing expires unclaimed.
  • Volunteer delivery network: Student volunteers deliver food to receivers who can't travel, and their service hours are logged automatically.
  • Verified organizations and ratings: Verified badges for food banks and shelters, plus ratings to build trust between donors and receivers.
  • Scheduled donations: Businesses with daily surplus can set recurring posts, like every weekday at 9 PM.
  • Spanish language support to serve more of Austin's community.
  • Local pilot and expansion: Partner with Austin restaurants and food banks to launch a real pilot, then expand across Texas and the nation.

Built With

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