FoodSMART · Project

Smart Menu App That Helps Restaurants Offer Personalized Healthy Food Choices

foodPrototypeTRL 4Thin data (2/5)

When you eat out, you usually have no idea how many calories or how much fat is in your meal — and that's a real problem as more people eat away from home. FoodSMART built a smartphone app and QR code system that gives diners personalized food recommendations based on their dietary needs, age, and cultural preferences. Think of it like a "nutrition GPS" for restaurant menus — scan a code, get dishes tailored to you. The project also developed data analytics tools so restaurant operators can design smarter, healthier menus based on what their customers actually want.

By the numbers

499,500

EUR in EU funding for development

consortium partners involved

European countries in the research network

total project deliverables produced

SME partners in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Restaurants and foodservice operators have no easy way to offer personalized nutrition guidance to diners, leading to poor food choices, customer dissatisfaction among health-conscious or dietary-restricted eaters, and potential liability as nutrition transparency regulations tighten. Meanwhile, operators lack data-driven insights into what their customers actually need, making menu design a guessing game.

The solution

What was built

FoodSMART produced a smartphone app and QR code interface for personalized food recommendations at restaurants, plus a cloud-based data analytics platform that gives foodservice operators predictive insights into customer preferences and menu optimization.

Audience

Who needs this

Restaurant chains wanting to digitize menus with personalized nutrition featuresContract catering companies serving diverse dietary needs in workplaces and institutionsFoodTech startups building menu management or nutrition tracking platformsHotel groups looking to differentiate dining experiences with smart menu technologyPublic health organizations promoting healthier eating-out behavior

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Restaurant and foodservice chains

mid-size

Target: Multi-location restaurant operators and food courts

If you are a restaurant chain dealing with growing customer demand for transparent nutrition information — this project developed a QR code-based menu system and smartphone app that delivers personalized dish recommendations to diners based on their dietary needs, age, and cultural background. The data analytics component also lets you track what customers want and redesign menus accordingly. The system was developed across 6 partners in 5 countries.

Corporate and institutional catering

enterprise

Target: Contract catering companies serving workplaces, hospitals, and schools

If you are a catering company struggling to serve diverse dietary needs across large populations — this project built a customizable digital interface that matches individual diners with appropriate meals. The cloud-based data analytics provide predictive capacity for operators, helping you forecast demand and reduce food waste. The solution was validated through research across 5 European countries.

Food technology and menu management software

SME

Target: FoodTech startups and menu digitization platforms

If you are a food tech company looking to add personalized nutrition features to your platform — this project produced research-backed algorithms for personalized food recommendation, along with a flexible smartphone and QR code interface. The underlying data mining and relational database architecture could be integrated into existing menu management systems to offer smarter ordering experiences.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement this menu system?

The project received EUR 499,500 in EU funding under the MSCA-RISE scheme, which primarily funded researcher exchanges and knowledge transfer rather than a commercial product build. Licensing or implementation costs would need to be negotiated directly with the consortium. Based on available project data, no commercial pricing model was established.

Can this scale to a restaurant chain with hundreds of locations?

The system was designed with cloud computing and relational databases, which suggests scalability was considered in the architecture. The data analytics component was built to provide predictive capacity to foodservice operators. However, the project was a research collaboration across 6 partners, not a commercial deployment, so large-scale stress testing would still be needed.

Who owns the intellectual property?

IP is shared among the 6 consortium partners across 5 countries (UK, Austria, Denmark, Greece, France), led by Bournemouth University. MSCA-RISE projects typically allow partners to retain IP from their contributions. Any licensing arrangement would need to involve the coordinating university.

Does this comply with EU food labelling regulations?

The project was designed to work alongside existing EU requirements for consumer food information. It aimed to provide intelligence for policy purposes at the EU level. However, specific regulatory compliance certifications are not mentioned in the available project data.

How long would implementation take?

The project ran from 2015 to 2018 over a 4-year research period. The smartphone app and QR code interface were produced as deliverables, but moving from research prototype to a deployable commercial product would require additional development and testing time.

Can this integrate with our existing POS or menu management system?

The project built a flexible, customizable interface using cloud computing and relational databases, which suggests integration potential. The QR coding system could overlay existing menus without replacing them. Based on available project data, specific POS integrations were not documented.

Consortium

Who built it

The FoodSMART consortium of 6 partners across 5 countries (UK, Austria, Denmark, Greece, France) is heavily academic — 3 universities and 1 research organization versus just 1 industry partner and 1 other organization. The industry ratio of 17% is low, and while 2 partners are classified as SMEs, this was fundamentally a researcher exchange program (MSCA-RISE), not a product development project. Bournemouth University in the UK led the coordination. For a business looking to adopt this technology, the academic-heavy consortium means the solution would need significant commercial hardening before deployment, but it also means the underlying research is solid and peer-reviewed.

BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITYCoordinator · UK
HELLENIC HEALTH FOUNDATIONparticipant · EL
UNIVERSITY OF MACEDONIAparticipant · EL
KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITETparticipant · DK
CENTRE DE RECHERCHE DE L'INSTITUT LYFEparticipant · FR

How to reach the team

Bournemouth University, United Kingdom — contact through university research office

Order a report on this consortium See BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how personalized menu technology could work for your foodservice business? SciTransfer can connect you with the FoodSMART research team and help you assess commercial viability.

Order a report on this topic More in Food & Agriculture