Food Rescue Marketplace
Every day, cafes and bakeries bin good food at closing time. Not because it's gone bad, but because it has nowhere to go. The brief was to design a mobile app that lets F&B spaces sell surplus food before closing and lets users find it before it's gone.
Year
2026
Scope
Product Design, Brand Identity
Client
Design Studio
Duration
1 Week
VIEW PROTOTYPE
THE PROBLEM
F&B businesses over-prepare by design. Running out mid-service costs more than waste, so surplus is a calculated outcome, not an accident.
Users have no way to know that a good place near them has fresh food available right now at a lower price. The discovery layer is what's missing.
The real design challenge was perception. The moment the app feels like a clearance bin, the business loses dignity and the user feels cheap. Everything had to protect one idea: the food is the same food they served all day. Only the clock changed.
WHAT I DID
Started with brand before touching screens. The name SNAC is short, food-adjacent, and needs no explanation. The tagline, Good food doesn't wait, does the same job in four words.
The palette has two colours doing specific jobs. Ember orange for every action that matters. Sage green for the freshness and rescue signal. Cream as the background so the app feels like food, not a form.
For the product I mapped five screens before designing anything. Home, space detail, items, cart, confirmation. Nothing outside the brief. Every screen earned its place.
THE DECISIONS THAT MATTERED
Pickup only
The closing window is 2 to 3 hours. Delivery doesn't fit. But more than logistics, pickup makes the experience feel local and found. It separates SNAC from every generic food app. The map stays visible on the space detail page. The confirmation screen tells you exactly where to go.
Language does the trust work
No word "leftover" anywhere in the product. "Tonight's Last Batch" not "available items." "Only 3 left tonight" not "unsold stock." "GRAB" not "ADD." The countdown creates excitement, not pity.
One line for two users
The app attracts two types of users. Someone after value, someone after sustainability. I designed for the overlap. The cart opens with: "You're saving ₹170. And real food." The value seeker sees money saved. The conscious eater sees impact. One line, both jobs.
Cart as a sticky bar
The cart does not live in navigation. It appears as a sticky bar the moment the first item is added. The user can keep browsing, add more, and go to the bag when ready. No interruption.
The confirmation screen is just a feeling
Once the order is placed, the screen stops being functional. Sage checkmark, pickup details, and one line at the bottom. "One less plate wasted. That's on you, in the best way." No CTA. Just a moment.
HOW IT SHIPPED
Eight screens covering discovery, browsing, cart, and confirmation. Two user motivations, one product voice. Copy that carries the brand without ever mentioning waste or leftovers.
What I'd do differently: Watch the countdown timer in a real usability session. Right now it creates urgency. But there is a fine line between urgency and anxiety for a first-time user who does not yet trust the product. I would want to see how that lands before locking it in.
