Empowering Communities with Data-Driven Insights

How We Built Tech to Help a Nonprofit Gather Market Intelligence.

Discover how innovative technology is reshaping the way nonprofits and local markets understand and respond to community needs.

The Challenge

Understanding Community Needs Through Real Data

In a world where assumptions often guide decisions, a nonprofit faced a significant challenge: how to provide local co-ops with the data they needed to truly understand community purchasing trends. Without access to real-time data, these markets struggled to meet the actual demands of their communities, often relying on guesswork rather than facts.

The Problem

Data Blindness in Local Markets

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Local markets and co-ops have been operating without the data they need to serve their communities or influence food policy.
Most decisions are based on intuition—not real purchase trends.

The Y.A.M.S. App, developed with the National Black Food & Justice Alliance, solves that by turning everyday food receipts into community-powered insights.

This data helps:

Co-ops and farmers markets stock smarter
Advocates push for better food policy
Communities gain visibility into their own food access patterns

It’s not just about tracking spending—it’s about reshaping food systems through real data.

Empowering Data Collection

Innovative Solution with Y.A.M.S.

The Y.A.M.S. App was built to give local markets and co-ops a smarter way to understand their customers by capturing and analyzing real purchase data. Users can scan, upload, or manually enter food receipts, which are processed using Taggun and refined with ChatGPT to ensure accurate, structured insights. This data flows into a custom admin portal, giving co-ops a clear view of buying patterns to make informed, data-driven decisions. The platform helps local markets move beyond assumptions and better serve their communities in real time

Building with Modern Tools

The Tech Stack Behind Y.A.M.S.

The development of the Y.A.M.S. app and its accompanying admin dashboard was made possible through a carefully selected tech stack. React Native was chosen for its ability to create a seamless cross-platform mobile experience, while MongoDB provided a flexible and scalable database solution. The integration of the Taggun API facilitated efficient receipt data processing, and the ChatGPT API ensured that the data was accurately cleaned and structured.

Real-Time Insights for Better Decisions

Impact of the Y.A.M.S. Solution

Implementing the Y.A.M.S. solution has transformed how co-ops and community markets operate, providing them with unprecedented access to real-time insights. With detailed information on what products are selling and where demand is increasing, these markets can make strategic inventory and outreach decisions. This tool not only enhances economic clarity but also supports the broader mission of food justice by ensuring that community needs are met with precision and care.

By leveraging this innovative technology, local markets are now equipped to compete more effectively with larger retailers, fostering a more equitable and informed marketplace. The Y.A.M.S. app stands as a testament to the power of technology in driving positive change within communities.

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