At 17 years old, Smit Kothari has launched Grocery Genius, an AI-powered website designed to tackle food waste and hunger. Based in Virginia, Kothari’s innovative platform helps households utilize existing pantry ingredients by generating custom recipes, tracking inventory, and providing nutrition facts and health grades. He plans to improve the app with user input while continuing his studies in college.
Grocery Genius enables users to input the food items they have at home into the application. The AI processes this information to suggest three recipe ideas with nutritional data and tips for saving money. The software adapts recipes based on dietary needs and culinary skills.
The ‘Smart Pantry’ feature of Grocery Genius alerts users before food items expire, encouraging usage or donation.
Inspiration for Grocery Genius came from observing his family struggle with utilizing random ingredients, and a trip to Africa, where he witnessed the shortage of food firsthand. Kothari said the interconnection between food waste and hunger became apparent to him as he developed the site.
Southeastern Virginia’s Foodbank CEO, Christopher Tan, mentored Kothari. Tan recognized the app’s potential in aiding numerous families, providing a reminder system to audit pantry contents and encourage donations. Grocery Genius received second place in the Congressional App Challenge, a national competition inspiring students to learn coding.
Kothari, a senior at Ocean Lakes High School, remains committed to enhancing Grocery Genius through user feedback as he embarks on his college journey next year.
Teresa Mull contributes to Fox News Digital’s Lifestyle team.