FreshConnect 🥭

A full-stack web platform built with the MERN stack, designed to connect street food vendors with verified raw material suppliers across India. FreshConnect aims to bring transparency, trust, and efficiency to the local food supply chain.

Live Demo

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Table of Contents

• Application Preview
• About The Project
• Key Features
• Tech Stack
• Getting Started
• API Endpoints
• Our Team
• Contributing
• License
• Contact

Application Preview

A glimpse into the FreshConnect platform, from the landing page to the functional user dashboards.

Landing Page & Multi-Language Support	Clean & Simple Login
Supplier Dashboard	Vendor Complaint System

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About The Project

FreshConnect tackles a core challenge in the local food industry: the disconnect between street food vendors and reliable suppliers. Vendors struggle to find fresh ingredients at fair prices, while suppliers lack a broad, organized market to sell their goods.

This platform serves as a centralized B2B marketplace built on a foundation of trust and transparency. It empowers vendors to make informed purchasing decisions and helps suppliers grow their business by reaching a wider, verified customer base.

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Key Features

The platform offers a tailored experience for its two primary user roles:

For Street Food Vendors 🧑‍🍳	For Raw Material Suppliers 🚚
Find Trusted Suppliers: Browse a curated list.	List Products: Showcase your inventory.
Compare Prices: Make cost-effective decisions.	Manage Orders: Fulfill orders efficiently.
Join Group Orders: Get bulk-rate discounts.	Bid on Group Orders: Secure large volume sales.
Track Deliveries: Real-time order tracking.	Analytics Dashboard: Gain insights into sales.

Core Platform Features

• ✅ Dual User Roles: Separate registration and dashboards for Vendors and Suppliers.
• 🔒 GSTIN & License Verification: All suppliers are manually verified to ensure authenticity.
• ⭐ AI-Powered Trust Ratings: Reviews are analyzed for sentiment to provide genuine, reliable trust scores.
• 📧 Automated Email Notifications: Instant alerts for new orders and status updates using Nodemailer.
• 🔐 Secure Authentication: JWT-based authentication to protect user accounts and data.
• 💬 24/7 Support: A dedicated contact channel for resolving issues and ensuring smooth operations.

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Tech Stack

This project is built using modern web technologies:

Frontend	Backend	Database	Deployment & Other
React.js	Node.js	MongoDB	Cloudinary (Image Storage)
Redux Toolkit	Express.js	Mongoose	Nodemailer (Emails)
Axios	JWT		Vercel (Frontend)
Tailwind CSS			Render / Cyclic (Backend)

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Getting Started

To get a local copy up and running, follow these simple steps.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed on your machine:

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• MongoDB running locally or a MongoDB Atlas URI.

Installation & Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/sm00th76/freshconnect.git
   cd freshconnect

2. Install Backend Dependencies:

   cd backend
   npm install

3. Install Frontend Dependencies:

   cd ../frontend
   npm install

4. Set Up Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the backend directory and add the following variables. Use the .env.example as a guide.

   # Server Configuration
   PORT=5001
   MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   
   # JWT Secret
   JWT_SECRET=your_super_secret_jwt_key
   
   # Nodemailer (Gmail App Password)
   EMAIL_USER=your-gmail-address@gmail.com
   EMAIL_PASS=your-16-character-app-password
   ADMIN_EMAIL=admin-email-to-receive-notifications@example.com
   
   # Cloudinary (for image uploads)
   CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
   CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
   CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
   

5. Run the Application:

   • Backend Server (from the backend folder):

     npm run dev

   • Frontend Server (from the frontend folder):

     npm start

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API Endpoints

A brief overview of the core API routes:

HTTP Method	Route Endpoint	Description	Protected
POST	/api/users/register	Register a new Vendor or Supplier.	No
POST	/api/users/login	Authenticate a user and get a JWT.	No
POST	/api/products	(Supplier) Create a new product listing.	Yes
GET	/api/products	Get all available products.	No
POST	/api/orders	(Vendor) Create a new order.	Yes
PUT	/api/orders/:id/status	(Supplier) Update an order's status.	Yes
POST	/api/contact	Send a message via the contact form.	No

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Our Team

This project was brought to life by a dedicated team of developers and thinkers.

Name	Contribution	Profile
Aryan Jha	Frontend & Backend
Ashish Kumar	Backend & DBMS
Aryaa Sharma	Ideation & UI/UX
Baladitya Khantwal	GenAI

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Contributing

Contributions are what make the open-source community such an amazing place to learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

Please see the CONTRIBUTING.md file for our contribution guidelines.

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License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.txt for more information.

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Contact

LinkedIn : LinkedIn Project Link: repo link