Built by CodesClue

SmartPantryPal

A pantry app that tracks what a household has, warns before food expires, builds the shopping list and suggests recipes from what is already in the cupboard.

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Industry: Food and household
What we did: Pantry app for iOS and Android, and the website
Platforms: iOS, Android, Web
Stack: Flutter
Node.js
Firebase
Next.js

In numbers

features, from barcode scan to online reordering: 9
app stores from one Flutter codebase: 2
recipe categories: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks: 4

Overview

SmartPantryPal is a pantry management app for households. It keeps track of what is in the pantry, fridge and cupboards, reminds people before food expires, and turns what is running low into a shopping list. The founder, Sheila Goddard, started it after years of watching food go to waste in her own kitchen. CodesClue designed the product, built the iOS and Android apps and the backend, and built the website.

Most households have no record of what is in their cupboards. Food is bought twice, forgotten at the back of a shelf and thrown away when it expires. The founder wanted an app that gives a family that record, and acts on it: a reminder before something goes off, a list when something runs out, a recipe for what is already there.

The app is organised around the pantry itself. Items are scanned or added by hand, placed on a shelf or in a location, and given a quantity and an expiry date. From that one inventory the app builds everything else: the dashboard, the Expiring Soon and Low Stock lists, the shopping list and the recipe suggestions. A pantry can be shared, so everyone in the household sees the same stock.

Our approach

One inventory at the centre, and every screen built from it.

Adding items must be quick
An inventory only works if it is kept up to date, so items can be scanned or added by hand in a few taps.
A dashboard for the whole pantry
Total, low stock, expiring and expired items on one screen, with quick actions and the household's recent activity.
Calm, food-first design
A sage green palette, illustrated onboarding, real food photography and clear lists, so the app feels at home in a kitchen.
One codebase, two stores
Built in Flutter, so iOS and Android ship the same features at the same time.

Challenges and how we solved them

A consumer app has to earn a place in a daily routine.

CodesClue designed and built the app, its backend and the website.

Challenge
Keeping stock accurate
If adding or using an item takes effort, people stop, and the reminders become wrong.

Solution
Barcode scan or add, by location
Scan a product's barcode or add it by hand, then place it in a pantry and on a shelf, with a quantity and an expiry date.
Challenge
Many pantries, many people
Households keep food in more than one place, and more than one person uses it.

Solution
Shared pantries
Household members share a pantry and see each other's changes in Recent Activity.
Challenge
Reminders at the right time
Expiry and low-stock alerts have to arrive before it is too late, without becoming noise.

Solution
Expiry and low-stock alerts
Expiring Soon and Low Stock lists with notifications, and one step to add items to the shopping list or remove them from the shelf.
Challenge
From list to shop
A shopping list is only useful if it is easy to act on, in store or online.

Solution
Shopping lists and recipes
Smart Suggestions for items to restock and recipes from ingredients already at home, with online reordering through services such as Amazon and Instacart.