JP7721158B2 - Food product sales system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a food product sales system. More specifically, it relates to a food product sales system that can reduce food waste.

Consumers have traditionally focused on product safety, particularly food, and when choosing a product, they are increasingly interested in the product itself and the ingredients that make up it.

For this reason, product providers provide their products by listing information about the ingredients, origin, and manufacturing date of the products and their raw materials on labels affixed to the product packaging or by recording it on an IC tag.

However, simply providing written or recorded information attached to products makes it easy to falsify or counterfeit that information, and in fact, information has been falsified or counterfeited in some cases, leading to low consumer trust and making it difficult for consumers to select products with confidence.

The inventors of the present invention have therefore proposed a technology in which food is provided with a sample of raw material powder made from powdered ingredients, rather than simply attaching written or recorded information to the food (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-5656

By the way, while making food quality visible will allow consumers to choose foods with peace of mind, it is difficult to directly link this to reducing food waste, which has become a problem in recent years.

The present invention was devised in light of the above points, and aims to provide a food product sales system that can reduce food waste.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the food product sales system of the present invention defines a predetermined deadline as one of the best-before date, shipping date, or date when a predetermined number of days remain until the expiration date, and is a food product sales system for selling predetermined foods, and includes a food information recording means for recording food information including information on the predetermined deadline of the food, information on the purchaser of the food, and information on the number of items held by the purchaser, which is the quantity of the food item held by the purchaser; a food information writing means for deducting the number of items held from the food information recording means in response to a request from the purchaser's terminal recorded in the food information recording means; and, on the condition that the food information writing means has deducted the number of items held, The system includes a point granting means for granting points to the purchaser who made the request; an instruction information creation means for checking the food information recorded in the food information recording means and creating instruction information to input to a predetermined recipe information generation means, the instruction information being used by the recipe information generation means to generate recipe information using a first food, which is one of the foods, and an expired food that has passed the predetermined expiration date; and an output means for outputting advertising information for the first food and the instruction information created by the instruction information creation means to a terminal of a specific purchaser recorded in the food information recording means as a purchaser of the first food, and who owns fewer than a predetermined number of the first food recorded in the food information recording means.

The food product sales system of the present invention defines the predetermined deadline as any one of the best-before date, shipping date, or date when the number of days remaining until the expiration date is a predetermined number of days, and is a food product sales system for selling predetermined foods, and includes a food information recording means for recording food information including information on the number of items in stock of the food, information on the predetermined expiration date of the food, information on the purchaser of the food, and information on the number of items held by the purchaser, which is the quantity of the food items held by the purchaser; a food information writing means for deducting the number of items held recorded in the food information recording means in response to a request from the purchaser's terminal recorded in the food information recording means; a point awarding means for awarding points to the purchaser who made the request, on the condition that the food information writing means has deducted the number of items held; and a system for checking the food information recorded in the food information recording means, The system includes an instruction information creation means that, when there is no expired food item in stock that has passed the specified expiration date, creates instruction information to be input to a specified recipe information generation means, causing the recipe information generation means to generate recipe information using a first food item that is one of the foods and the food item that is in stock; and, when there is expired food item in stock, creates instruction information to be input to a specified recipe information generation means, causing the recipe information generation means to generate recipe information using the first food item and the expired food item; and an output means that outputs advertising information for the first food item and the instruction information created by the instruction information creation means to a terminal of a specific purchaser recorded in the food information recording means as a purchaser of the first food item and who owns fewer than a specified number of the first food item recorded in the food information recording means.

Here, the output means outputs advertising information for the first food to the terminals of specific purchasers recorded in the food information recording means as purchasers of the first food (one of the foods sold by the food product sales system), who own fewer than a predetermined number of the first food as recorded in the food information recording means, and it is expected that this will lead to the purchase of the "first food."

In addition, since it is considered that specific purchasers who own the "first food" (especially specific purchasers who own a large number of "first food" items) are unlikely to purchase additional "first food" items, the ease of selling the "first food" items will differ depending on the number of "first food" items owned.
Therefore, rather than outputting advertising information to all specific purchasers, the advertising information is output only to specific purchasers whose ownership of the "first food" is below a predetermined number (for example, zero ownership), thereby making it possible to output highly efficient advertising information that is closely related to the saleability of the "first food" (sales of the "first food").

Incidentally, the "information on the number of items held" recorded in the food information recording means needs to reflect the amount of food used (amount consumed) by the purchaser, and accurate information will not be recorded without the purchaser's cooperation (in the sense of having the purchaser input information). Furthermore, if the "information on the number of items held" is not accurate, the advertising information output by the output means will not be fully effective (for example, there will be cases where advertising information is not output even though the first food item is not held).
Therefore, a point awarding means is adopted to award points to purchasers who request to reduce the information on the number of items held (i.e., contributors who cooperate in reflecting the amount of food consumed in the "information on the number of items held"), thereby increasing the incentive for purchasers to register (correct) the "information on the number of items held."

In addition, by including information about the purchaser's terminal (output destination information) in the "food purchaser information" recorded in the food information recording means, the output destination (output destination of advertising information) by the output means can be identified based on the information recorded in the food information recording means.

Furthermore, if the output means outputs instruction information for generating "recipe information using the 'first food' and the 'expired food (in stock)'" along with advertising information for the "first food," it can be expected that this will lead to the purchase of not only the "first food," but also the "expired food."

Furthermore, when there are no expired foods in stock (in other words, when there are no expired foods to sell), outputting instruction information for generating "recipe information using the 'first food' and the 'foods in stock'" along with advertising information for the "first food" can be expected to lead to the purchase of the "foods in stock."

"Food in stock" here necessarily means "food that is not expired," given that there is no expired food in stock.

In addition, even if "foods that are not expired (including food type 1)" are at any given time, there is a possibility that they may become "expired foods" in the future, so stimulating consumer purchasing desire for "foods that are not expired" is also important in reducing food waste.

Furthermore, if the instruction information creation means uses the food product sales system to create instruction information for generating "recipe information using the first food and the second food" in response to a request from the terminal of a consumer who has purchased the first food and the second food, which is one of the expired foods, and the output means outputs such instruction information to the consumer's terminal, the consumer will be able to obtain the instruction information for generating recipe information for the purchased food even after purchase, which is expected to increase the consumer's incentive to purchase "expired foods."

By the way, "food" here includes both "primary products" and "secondary products," and naturally includes food and drink intended for nutrient intake or enjoyment (animal foods, plant foods, processed foods, frozen foods, luxury foods, seasoning ingredients, health foods, supplements, beverages, processed ingredients, etc.), as well as pharmaceuticals and quasi-drugs. For example, herbal medicines are included. It also includes feed, aquaculture feed, dog food, and other products intended for fish and animals.

In this context, "primary products" refers to unprocessed fresh foods, animal foods, and plant foods themselves, such as vegetables like radishes and cabbage, or raw meat like chicken and beef. Other examples include fruits, beans, shellfish, and fish.

Furthermore, "secondary products" here refer to products made from unprocessed fresh foods, unprocessed animal foods, or unprocessed plant foods, and include mochi (rice cakes), buns, pickles, stir-fried vegetables, steaks, hamburgers, ramen, bento boxes, bread, milk, cheese, beer, wine, sake, whiskey, frozen foods, canned goods, bottled tea and juice, coffee, and soft drinks.

In addition, "secondary products" here not only include secondary products processed using primary products as raw materials, but also secondary products processed using secondary products as raw materials. For example, it includes tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) made by purchasing seasoned eggs as the raw material and baking them. Furthermore, "secondary products" here also includes secondary products purchased using secondary products as raw materials. For example, it includes boxed lunches filled with purchased tamagoyaki (rolled omelet).

Furthermore, the "first food" may be singular or plural, and the "second food" may be singular or plural.

Also, the "best before" here means "the date by which the product can be eaten deliciously without any change in quality," and does not mean that the product becomes immediately inedible even after the best before date.

Also, the "expiration date" here means "the date by which it can be safely eaten," meaning that the food is no longer edible after the expiration date.

Furthermore, the "shipping deadline" here means the "deadline by which wholesalers and manufacturers can deliver to retailers," and if the shipping deadline is exceeded, commercial practices mean that the product will be returned by the retailer to the wholesaler or manufacturer.
In commercial practice, the "shipping by date" is often set to "one-third of the food's expiration date" (for example, if the expiration date of a food product is six months from the date of manufacture, the shipping by date is two months from the date of manufacture), but the "shipping by date" here can also be "one-quarter of the food product's expiration date." It can also be "two months before the food product's expiration date" or "one year before the food product's use-by date."

In addition, "points" here refer to points that can be exchanged for prizes or products, discounted, or used as part of the cost of future purchases, and are intended to include both points that can be redeemed for cash and points that cannot be redeemed for cash.

The food product sales system of the present invention can reduce food waste by reducing unsold food.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a configuration example of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a food information recording means 4A. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a food information recording means 4B. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a food information recording means 4C.

Hereinafter, a mode for carrying out the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") will be described.
Here, in this embodiment, the explanation will be given based on April 21, 2022. Therefore, if the expiration date is before April 20, 2022, the expiration date has passed, and if the expiration date is after April 21, 2022, the expiration date has not yet arrived. The explanation will be given in the following order.
1. First embodiment 2. Modification

1. First embodiment
[Configuration of the present invention]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a food product sales system to which the present invention is applied, and is an example of a system configuration for providing (selling) food A, food B, and food C.
In the following description, the food products sold in the food product sales system shown in FIG. 1 (i.e., at least one of food A, food B, and food C) will be referred to as "food products."

Here, food A is food produced by producer A, has a best-before date of May 31, 2022, a use-by date of September 30, 2022, and a list price of 1,000 yen.
Furthermore, food B is a food produced by producer B, has a best-before date of October 31, 2022, a use-by date of January 31, 2023, and a list price of 1,200 yen.
Furthermore, food C is a food produced by producer A, has a best-before date of April 20, 2022, a use-by date of August 20, 2022, and a list price of 1,000 yen.

Furthermore, the food product sales system 1 shown in Figure 1 is configured to be able to exchange various information via the Internet 2 with a purchaser terminal 3A used by consumers (purchasers) who have purchased food products, and a consumer terminal 3B used by consumers (prospective purchasers) who wish to purchase food products.

In addition, the food product sales system 1 has food information recording means 4A, 4B, 4C, a food information confirmation means 5, a prompt creation means 6 (an example of an instruction information creation means), an information output means 7, a food information writing means 10, a point awarding means 11, and a point recording means 12.
Then, the food information writing means 10 records various information described below in the food information recording means 4A, 4B, and 4C, and the points awarded by the point awarding means 11 are recorded in the point recording means 12.

Here, the food information recording means 4A is configured to be able to record (in other words, to be writable by the food information writing means 10) at least information 4Aa on the name of food A (an example of a food product), information 4Ab on the stock quantity of food A, information 4Ac on the expiration date of food A, information 4Ad on the expiration date of food A, information 4Ae on the price (list price) of food A, information 4Af on the purchaser of food A, information 4Ag on the number of units of food A owned by the purchaser who purchased food A (in other words, the number of units of food A purchased by the purchaser but not yet consumed), and information 4Ah on the producer of food A.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the information recorded for food A includes the control number (No.), name, best-before date, expiry date, price, purchaser, producer, and status.
The information on "control number,""name,""best before date,""use by date,""price," and "producer" is recorded before food A is sold. On the other hand, when food product sales system 1 provides (sells) food A, the "purchaser" records the purchaser's information. Also, when food A is provided (sold), "status" is recorded as "in possession." Thereafter, when food A is used (consumed), the "status" is corrected (recorded) to "used" in response to a request from the purchaser terminal 3A (transmission of information that food A has been used) by the purchaser himself/herself.

In Figure 2, food A is assigned a management number such as "A-1" to "A-10", and information such as the name "Food A", the expiration date "2022/5/31", the use-by date "2022/9/30", the price "1,000 yen", and the producer "Producer A" is recorded.
Furthermore, information such as "Purchaser A" as the purchaser of food A assigned management numbers "A-1" and "A-2,""PurchaserB" as the purchaser of food A assigned management number "A-3," and "Purchaser C" as the purchaser of food A assigned management numbers "A-4" and "A-5" is recorded.
In addition, information such as "used" is recorded as the status of food A assigned with management numbers "A-1" and "A-3," and "in possession" is recorded as the status of food A assigned with management numbers "A-2,""A-4," and "A-5" (in other words, this means that food A assigned with management number "A-1" was recorded as "used" by purchaser A via purchaser terminal 3A, and food A assigned with management number "A-3" was recorded as "used" by purchaser B via purchaser terminal 3A).

Although the inventory quantity of food A is not specified as a number in Figure 2, this means that food A for which no purchaser information is recorded (food A with management numbers "A-6" to "A-10") has not yet been sold, and the inventory quantity is "5."
Also, in Figure 2, the number of items held for food A is not specified as a number, but since this corresponds to the quantity of food A whose status is "held," the numbers are "Number held by purchaser A: 1,""Number held by purchaser B: 0," and "Number held by purchaser C: 2."

Furthermore, the food information recording means 4B is configured to be able to record (in other words, to be writable by the food information writing means 10) at least information 4Ba on the name of food B (an example of a food product), information 4Bb on the stock quantity of food B, information 4Bc on the expiration date of food B, information 4Bd on the expiration date of food B, information 4Be on the price (list price) of food B, information 4Bf on the purchaser of food B, information 4Bg on the number of food B owned by the purchaser who purchased food B (in other words, the number of food B purchased by the purchaser but not yet consumed), and information 4Bh on the producer of food B.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the information recorded for food B includes the control number (No.), name, best-before date, expiry date, price, purchaser, producer, and status.
The information on "control number,""name,""best before date,""use by date,""price," and "producer" is recorded before food B is sold. On the other hand, when food product sales system 1 provides (sells) food B, the "purchaser" records the purchaser's information. Also, when food B is provided (sold), "status" is recorded as "in possession." Thereafter, when food B is used (consumed), the "status" is corrected (recorded) to "used" in response to a request from the purchaser terminal 3A (transmission of information that food B has been used) by the purchaser himself/herself.

In Figure 3, food B is assigned a management number such as "B-1" to "B-10", and the following information is recorded: name "Food B", best-before date "2022/10/31", use-by date "2023/1/31", price "1,200 yen", and producer "Producer B".
Furthermore, information such as "Purchaser A" is recorded as the purchaser of food B assigned the control number "B-1,""PurchaserB" as the purchaser of food B assigned the control numbers "B-2" and "B-3," and "Purchaser D" as the purchaser of food B assigned the control numbers "B-4" and "B-5" is recorded.
In addition, information such as "used" is recorded for the status of food B assigned with management numbers "B-1,""B-2," and "B-3," and "in possession" is recorded for food B assigned with management numbers "B-4" and "B-5" (in other words, this means that food B assigned with management number "B-1" was recorded as "used" by purchaser A via purchaser terminal 3A, and food B assigned with management numbers "B-2" and "B-3" was recorded as "used" by purchaser B via purchaser terminal 3A).

Although the inventory quantity of food B is not specified as a number in Figure 3, this means that food B for which no purchaser information is recorded (food B with management numbers "B-6" to "B-10") has not yet been sold, and the inventory quantity is "5."
Also, in Figure 3, the number of items held for food B is not specified as a number, but since this corresponds to the quantity of food B whose status is "held," the numbers are "Number held by purchaser A: 0,""Number held by purchaser B: 0," and "Number held by purchaser D: 2."

Furthermore, the food information recording means 4C is configured to be able to record (in other words, to be writable by the food information writing means 10) at least information 4Ca on the name of food C (an example of a food product), information 4Cb on the stock quantity of food C, information 4Cc on the expiration date of food C, information 4Cd on the expiration date of food C, information 4Ce on the price (list price) of food C, information 4Cf on the purchaser of food C, information 4Cg on the number of food C owned by the purchaser who purchased food C (in other words, the number of food C purchased by the purchaser but not yet consumed), and information 4Ch on the producer of food C.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the information recorded for food C includes the control number (No.), name, best-before date, expiry date, price, purchaser, producer, and status.
The information on the "control number,""name,""best before date,""use by date,""price," and "producer" is recorded before the sale of food C. On the other hand, when food product sales system 1 provides (sells) food C, the "purchaser" records the purchaser's information. Also, when food C is provided (sold), the "status" is recorded as "in possession." Thereafter, when food C is used (consumed), the "status" is corrected (recorded) to "used" in response to a request from the purchaser terminal 3A by the purchaser himself (transmission of information that food C has been used).

In Figure 4, food C is assigned a management number such as "C-1" to "C-10", and the following information is recorded: name "Food C", best-before date "2022/4/20"; use-by date "2022/8/20"; price "1,000 yen"; and producer "Producer A".
Furthermore, information such as "Purchaser C" as the purchaser of food C assigned the management numbers "C-1" and "C-2" and "Purchaser D" as the purchaser of food C assigned the management number "C-3" is recorded.
In addition, information such as "used" is recorded as the status of food C with management numbers "C-1" and "C-2", and "in possession" is recorded as the status of food C with management number "C-3" (i.e., this means that purchaser C has recorded "used" as the status of food C with management numbers "C-1" and "C-2" via purchaser terminal 3A).

Although the inventory quantity of food C is not specified as a number in Figure 4, this means that food C for which no purchaser information is recorded (food C with management numbers "C-4" to "C-10") has not yet been sold, and the inventory quantity is "7."
Also, in Figure 4, the number of items held for food C is not specified as a number, but since this corresponds to the quantity of food C whose status is "held," it would be "Number held by purchaser C: 0" and "Number held by purchaser D: 1."

The point awarding means 11 is linked to the food information writing means 10, and awards points to purchasers who change the "status" of foods A to C from "held" to "used" via the purchaser terminal 3A. The points awarded by the point awarding means 11 are recorded in the point recording means 12.

Specifically, points will be awarded to purchaser A who corrects food A with management number "A-1" to "used," and to purchaser B who corrects food A with management number "A-3" to "used."
In addition, points will be awarded to purchaser A who corrected food B with control number "B-1" to "used," and to purchaser B who corrected food B with control numbers "B-2" and "B-3" to "used."
Furthermore, points are awarded to purchaser C who corrects food C, which is assigned the control number "C-1" and "C-2," to "used."

In addition, the food information confirmation means 5, prompt creation means 6, and information output means 7 are configured to work together to output various types of information.

Here, the prompt creation means 6 is configured to be able to create "prompts" for generating recipe information for the foods (foods A to C) sold by the food product sales system 1 using general-purpose generative AI.

The "prompt" created by the prompt creation means 16 is then input as input information into a general-purpose generative AI, and recipe information for the food products (foods A to C) sold by the food product sales system 1 can be obtained as the output result of the generative AI.

In the following,
The following cases will be explained: 1. When a consumer requests information on the selling price of a food product; 2. When a purchaser of a food product requests information on the expiration date or best-before date; and 3. When advertising information is output to a purchaser of a food product.

[1. When a consumer requests information on the selling price of a food product]
When a consumer (here, the consumer includes a purchaser who has purchased a food product in the past) requests information on the selling price of a food product, the food information confirmation means 5 confirms the stock quantity recorded in the food information recording means 4 (4A to 4C).
In addition, the food information confirmation means 5 calculates the price of the food product based on the price information (4Ae, 4Be, 4Ce) and expiration date information (4Ac, 4Bc, 4Cc) recorded in the food information recording means 4 (4A to 4C).

Specifically, when information is received from the consumer terminal 3B (or the purchaser terminal 3A) indicating a desire to "print the sales price of food A," the food information confirmation means 5 accesses the inventory quantity information 4Ab of food A to confirm the inventory quantity.
The food information confirmation means 5 checks the "information 4Ad about the expiration date of food A" in addition to the "information 4Ab about the stock quantity of food A." If the expiration date 4Ad of food A has passed, it determines that food A is out of stock.

In addition, the food information confirmation means 5 calculates the price of food A based on the "number of days elapsed since the expiration date information 4Ac of food A" and the "price (list price) information 4Ae of food A."

For example, if the expiration date has not passed, the price is 1,000 yen (regular price), if it is one day past the expiration date, the price is 200 yen (80% off the regular price), if it is two days past the expiration date, the price is 100 yen (90% off the regular price), if it is three days past the expiration date, the price is 50 yen (95% off the regular price), and if it is four days or more past the expiration date, the price is 10 yen (99% off the regular price).

Note that the "number of days since the expiration date information 4Ac of food A" is calculated by comparing the expiration date information 4Ac of food A with the date on which the consumer requested the information (in other words, the date on which the food information confirmation means 5 calculates the price). In the case of this embodiment, the base date is April 21, 2022, and since the expiration date for food A has not yet passed, the price of food A will be calculated as "1,000 yen."

Similarly, when information is received from the consumer terminal 3B (or the purchaser terminal 3A) indicating a desire to "print the selling price of food B," the food information confirmation means 5 accesses the inventory quantity information 4Bb of food B to confirm the inventory quantity.
The food information confirmation means 5 checks the "information 4Bd about the expiration date of food B" in addition to the "information 4Bb about the stock quantity of food B." If the expiration date 4Bd of food B has passed, it determines that food B is out of stock.

The food information confirmation means 5 also calculates the price of food B based on the "number of days elapsed since the expiration date information 4Bc of food B" and the "price (list price) information 4Be of food B."

For example, if the expiration date has not passed, the price is 1,200 yen (regular price), if it is one day past the expiration date, it is 240 yen (80% off the regular price), if it is two days past the expiration date, it is 120 yen (90% off the regular price), if it is three days past the expiration date, it is 60 yen (95% off the regular price), and if it is four days or more past the expiration date, it is 12 yen (99% off the regular price).

Note that the "number of days elapsed since food B's expiration date information 4Bc" is calculated by comparing the expiration date information 4Bc of food B with the date on which the consumer requested the information (in other words, the date on which the food information confirmation means 5 calculates the price). In the case of this embodiment, the base date is April 21, 2022, and since food B's expiration date has not passed, the price of food B will be calculated as "1,200 yen."

Similarly, when information is received from the consumer terminal 3B (or the purchaser terminal 3A) indicating a desire to "print the selling price of food C," the food information confirmation means 5 accesses the inventory quantity information 4Cb of food C to confirm the inventory quantity.
The food information confirmation means 5 checks the "information 4Cd about the expiration date of food C" in addition to the "information 4Cb about the stock quantity of food C." If the expiration date 4Cd of food C has passed, it determines that food C is out of stock.

The food information confirmation means 5 also calculates the price of food C based on the "number of days elapsed since the expiration date information 4Cc of food C" and the "price (list price) information 4Ce of food C."

For example, if the expiration date has not passed, the price is 1,000 yen (regular price), if it is one day past the expiration date, the price is 200 yen (80% off the regular price), if it is two days past the expiration date, the price is 100 yen (90% off the regular price), if it is three days past the expiration date, the price is 50 yen (95% off the regular price), and if it is four days or more past the expiration date, the price is 10 yen (99% off the regular price).

Note that "the number of days elapsed since the expiration date information 4Cc of food C" is calculated by comparing the expiration date information 4Cc of food C with the date on which the consumer requested the information (in other words, the date on which the food information confirmation means 5 calculates the price). In the case of this embodiment, using April 21, 2022 as the base date, food C is considered to have "one day elapsed since the expiration date," and the price of food C is calculated to be "200 yen."

Thereafter, the information output means 7 outputs the price of the food product calculated by the food information confirmation means 5 to the consumer terminal 3B (or the purchaser terminal 3A).
If the food product is out of stock, the information output means 7 outputs "the food product is out of stock" instead of "the price of the food product."

In this embodiment, the explanation is based on April 21, 2022. That is, the explanation is given by taking as an example a case where information on foods whose expiration dates have not yet arrived is recorded in food information recording means 4A and 4B, and information on foods whose expiration dates have passed is recorded in food information recording means 4C.
However, whether the expiration date has arrived (whether the expiration date has passed) depends on the reference date for judgment, so whether the food recorded in the food information recording means is a food that has passed its expiration date will be determined taking into consideration the reference date for judgment.

Specifically, if a food with a best-before date of August 31, 2022 is called Food X, and a food with a best-before date of April 20, 2022 is called Food Y, then (1) before April 20, 2022, both Food X and Food Y fall under the category of "foods whose best-before date has not yet arrived," (2) between April 21, 2022 and August 31, 2022, Food X falls under the category of "foods whose best-before date has not yet arrived" and Food Y falls under the category of "foods whose best-before date has passed," and (3) after September 1, 2022, both Food X and Food Y fall under the category of "foods whose best-before date has passed."

As a result, even if the information recorded in the food information recording means 4 (4A-4C) remains unchanged (specifically, if the expiration dates for Food A, Food B, and Food C remain unchanged), the calculation results by the food information confirmation means 5 will differ depending on the reference dates (1), (2), and (3), and the information output by the information output means 7 will change.

[2. When a purchaser of a food product requests information about the expiration date or best-before date]
[2-1. Best before date]
When a purchaser of a food product requests information on the expiration date of the purchased product, the food information confirmation means 5 confirms the expiration date information (4Ac, 4Bc, 4Cc) recorded in the food information recording means 4 (4A to 4C).

Specifically, when information is received from purchaser A via purchaser terminal 3A requesting that the "best-before date of a food product be printed," the food information confirmation means 5 accesses the "food product purchaser information (4Af-4Cf)" and the "status of foods A-C" to confirm that purchaser A owns food A, which is assigned the management number "A-2." It then accesses food A's best-before date information 4Ac to confirm the best-before date.

Furthermore, when information is received from purchaser B via purchaser terminal 3A requesting that "the expiration date of a food product be printed," the food information confirmation means 5 accesses "food product purchaser information (4Af-4Cf)" and "status of foods A-C" and confirms that purchaser B does not own any of the foods.

Furthermore, when information is received from purchaser C via purchaser terminal 3A requesting "printing of food product expiration dates," the food information confirmation means 5 accesses "food product purchaser information (4Af-4Cf)" and "status of foods A-C" to confirm that purchaser C owns food A, which is assigned the management numbers "A-4" and "A-5." It then accesses food A's expiration date information 4Ac to confirm the expiration date.

Furthermore, when information is received from purchaser D via purchaser terminal 3A requesting "output of food product expiration dates," the food information confirmation means 5 accesses "Food product purchaser information (4Af-4Cf)" and "Status of foods A-C" to confirm that purchaser D owns food B, which has control numbers "B-4" and "B-5," and food C, which has control number "C-3." It then accesses expiration date information 4Bc for food B and expiration date information 4Cc for food C to confirm the expiration dates.

Thereafter, the information output means 7 outputs the expiration date of the food product confirmed by the food information confirmation means 5 to the purchaser terminal 3A.
In addition, if a purchaser who requests the "output of the expiration date of the food product" does not own the food product, the information output means 7 outputs "the fact that the food product is not in possession of the food product" instead of the "expiration date of the food product."

[2-2. Use-by date]
When a purchaser of a food product requests information on the expiration date of the purchased product, the process is the same as in [2-1. In the case of expiration date], except that the food information confirmation means 5 confirms the expiration date information (4Ad, 4Bd, 4Cd) instead of the best-before date information (4Ac, 4Bc, 4Cc).

[3. When outputting advertising information to purchasers of food products]
The food information confirmation means 5 periodically (for example, once a day, once every two days, etc.) checks the expiration date information (4Ac to 4Cc) and inventory status recorded in the food information recording means 4 (4A to 4C).

Specifically, the food information confirmation means 5 periodically accesses the "purchaser" in the food information recording means 4 (4A to 4C) and checks the expiration date information (4Ac to 4Cc) if there is any unsold food (food for which purchaser information is not recorded).
For example, for food A, the expiration date information 4Ac is checked because the control numbers "A-6" to "A-10" are unsold.
Furthermore, for example, for food B, "B-6" to "B-10" are not yet sold, so the expiration date information 4Bc is checked.
Furthermore, for example, for food C, "C-4" to "C-10" are not yet sold, so the expiration date information 4Cc is checked.

Then, if the food information confirmation means 5 finds that the number of days until the expiration date of an unsold food item is less than a specified number of days (for example, less than 40 days), the information output means 7 outputs "advertising information" and a "prompt" to the purchaser terminal 3A.
The "advertising information" and "prompt" are output to a purchaser who has previously purchased food but no longer owns the food (has already used it).

The following explanation will use as an example the case where the information for foods A to C on April 22, 2022 and September 22, 2022 is as shown in Figures 2 to 4.

[3-1. In the case of April 22, 2022]
On April 22, 2022, the number of days remaining until the expiration date of Food A will be 39 days (less than 40 days), so "advertising information for Food A" will be output to Purchaser B.

Here, food A corresponds to the "first food," purchasers A to C correspond to "specific purchasers," and purchaser B corresponds to the "specific purchaser who owns less than a specified number of the first food."
Note that purchaser A owns food A with control number "A-2," purchaser C owns food A with control numbers "A-4" and "A-5," and purchaser D has never purchased food A in the past, so he will be excluded from the output.

In addition, the "prompt" created by the prompt creation means 6 is output to purchaser B along with the "advertising information for food A."

Here, taking April 22, 2022 as the base date, Food B has not passed its best-before date, but Food C has passed its best-before date (however, its use-by date has not passed). Therefore, in order to promote sales of Food C, a prompt is output to Purchaser B to generate "recipe information using 'Food A (the food for which advertising information is to be output)' and 'Food C (the food whose best-before date has passed)'."
If food C is out of stock as of April 22, 2022, a prompt to generate "recipe information using food A and food B" will be output.

In addition, by inputting a prompt into the generation AI8, recipe information can be obtained as the output result of the generation AI8.

[3-2. In the case of September 22, 2022]
On September 22, 2022, the number of days remaining until the expiration date of food B will be 39 days (less than 40 days), so "advertising information for food B" will be output to purchasers A and B.

Here, food B corresponds to the "first food," purchasers A, B, and D correspond to "specific purchasers," and purchasers A and B correspond to "specific purchasers who own less than a specified number of the first food."
It should be noted that purchaser C has not purchased food B in the past, and purchaser D owns food B with control numbers "B-4" and "B-5," so they are excluded from the output targets.

In addition, the "prompt" created by the prompt creation means 6 is output to purchaser A and purchaser B along with the "advertising information for food B."

Here, taking September 22, 2022 as the base date, food C has passed its expiration date and cannot be sold, so a prompt is output to purchasers A and B to generate "recipe information using food A and food B."

In addition, by inputting a prompt into the generation AI8, recipe information can be obtained as the output result of the generation AI8.

[effect]
In the food product sales system 1 to which the present invention is applied as described above, when the number of days remaining until the expiration date of a food product becomes short, advertising information is output to purchasers who have previously purchased the product but do not own it, thereby preventing unsold food products and, as a result, reducing food waste.

In addition, by awarding points, purchasers are more motivated to record the number of items they own in the food information recording means 4, which is expected to lead to more efficient advertising.

Furthermore, by outputting "prompts" along with "advertising information," sales promotion of foods A to C can be further achieved.

In addition, if there is food in stock that has passed its expiration date, a prompt to generate recipe information using the expired food will be preferentially output, thereby promoting sales of expired food and further reducing food waste.

2. Modified Examples
[Modification 1]
In the first embodiment described above, an example is given in which a prompt for generating recipe information using food that has passed its expiration date is output preferentially based on the expiration date, but it is also possible to output a prompt for generating recipe information using food that has passed its shipping deadline or reference date based on the "shipping deadline" or "reference date."
The "reference date" here refers to the date when the number of days remaining until the expiration date is a predetermined number (for example, 30 days).

[Modification 2]
In the first embodiment described above, the information output means 7 outputs a "prompt," but "recipe information" may also be provided along with the "prompt."
Specifically, the "prompt" created by the prompt creation means 6 may be input to the generation AI 8, and "recipe information" may be obtained as the output result of the generation AI 8, after which the information output means 7 may output the "prompt" and "recipe information" to the purchaser terminal 3A.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Food product sales system 2 Internet 3A Purchaser terminal 3B Consumer terminal 4A Food information recording means 4B Food information recording means 4C Food information recording means 5 Food information confirmation means 6 Prompt creation means 7 Information output means 8 Generation AI
10 Food information writing means 11 Point giving means 12 Point recording means

Claims (6)

The predetermined deadline is defined as either the expiration date, the shipping date, or the date when the number of days remaining until the expiration date is a predetermined number of days.
A food product vending system for selling predetermined food products, comprising:
a food information recording means for recording food information including information on the expiration date of the food, information on the purchaser of the food, and information on the number of the food items held by the purchaser;
a food information writing means for decrementing the information on the number of items held recorded in the food information recording means in response to a request from the purchaser's terminal recorded in the food information recording means;
a point granting means for granting points to the purchaser who made the request on condition that the food information writing means has reduced the information on the number of items held;
an instruction information creation means for creating instruction information to be input to a predetermined recipe information creation means by checking the food information recorded in the food information recording means, the instruction information being used by the recipe information creation means to create recipe information using a first food, which is one of the foods, and an expired food that has passed the predetermined expiration date;
and an output means for outputting advertising information for the first food and the instruction information created by the instruction information creation means to a terminal of a specific purchaser, among those specific purchasers recorded in the food information recording means as purchasers of the first food, who owns less than a predetermined number of the first food as recorded in the food information recording means. The output means
The food product sales system according to claim 1 , wherein recipe information generated by inputting the instruction information into the recipe information generating means is output together with the advertising information and the instruction information. The predetermined deadline is defined as either the expiration date, the shipping date, or the date when the number of days remaining until the expiration date is a predetermined number of days.
A food product vending system for selling predetermined food products, comprising:
a food information recording means for recording food information including information on the number of the food items in stock, information on the expiration date of the food items, information on the purchaser of the food items, and information on the number of the food items held by the purchaser;
a food information writing means for decrementing the information on the number of items held recorded in the food information recording means in response to a request from the purchaser's terminal recorded in the food information recording means;
a point granting means for granting points to the purchaser who made the request on condition that the food information writing means has reduced the information on the number of items held;
an instruction information creation means for checking the food information recorded in the food information recording means, and creating instruction information to input to a predetermined recipe information generation means when there is no expired food in stock that has passed the predetermined expiration date, the instruction information being used by the recipe information generation means to generate recipe information using a first food that is one of the foods and the food that is in stock; and an instruction information creation means for creating instruction information to input to a predetermined recipe information generation means when there is expired food in stock, the instruction information being used by the recipe information generation means to generate recipe information using the first food and the expired food;
and an output means for outputting advertising information for the first food and the instruction information created by the instruction information creation means to a terminal of a specific purchaser, among those specific purchasers recorded in the food information recording means as purchasers of the first food, who owns less than a predetermined number of the first food as recorded in the food information recording means. The output means
The food product sales system according to claim 3 , wherein recipe information generated by inputting the instruction information into the recipe information generating means is output together with the advertising information and the instruction information. the instruction information creation means creates instruction information for the recipe information generation means to generate recipe information using the first food and the second food, in response to a request from a terminal of a consumer who has purchased the first food and the second food, which is one of the expired foods, using the food product sales system;
5. The food product sales system according to claim 1, wherein the output means outputs the instruction information created by the instruction information creation means. The food product sales system according to claim 1 , 2 , 3 or 4 , wherein the recipe information generating means is a general-purpose generative AI.