Precognox helped Budapest reach the Bloomberg finals
What is the Budapest Surplus Platform?
Budapest has been named one of the world’s 24 most innovative cities in the 2025 Bloomberg Mayors Challenge. Behind this success lies a forward-thinking vision that would not only reduce food waste but also provide high-quality ingredients to those in need. We are proud that our team was responsible for developing the project’s digital foundations and concept.
The capital envisioned a complex, circular food distribution system and a physical processing center located at the Budapest Wholesale Market. The problem is clear: producers and traders generate a significant amount of surplus food that may not be aesthetically perfect but is impeccable in quality.
The goal is to ensure these products do not end up in the trash, but instead:
- Reach public catering services (e.g., school and kindergarten kitchens).
- Support the social care system, such as homeless shelters.
The Role of Precognox: From vision to actionable plan
When Budapest reached the final round of the Bloomberg Challenge, it needed a professional digital foundation to prove the viability of the idea. Precognox was tasked with creating the high-level design for the Budapest Food Surplus Digital Platform.
During our work, we achieved the following milestones:
- Conducted in-depth interviews with key stakeholders to understand complex market needs.
- Defined user groups, ranging from producers and the processing center to various institutions.
- Prioritized features (MVP) and designed the logical workflows of the system.
- Developed a data model and GDPR guidelines to ensure secure operations.
- Created UI/UX screen designs, which allowed producers at the Wholesale Market to personally validate the plans.
This direct feedback proved to the donors (UNDP, Bloomberg) that the project is built on real market demands and enjoys broad support.
Sustainability
For us, it’s more than just a buzzword
At Precognox, we believe that global changes demand a business approach that ensures long-term sustainability. We are committed to green goals, and this commitment weaves through every one of our business decisions.
This is precisely why working on this project was so rewarding and inspiring for us. We didn’t just create a software plan; we laid the foundations for a system that directly contributes to environmental protection and the reduction of social inequalities.
What does the future hold?
The concept is proven, the validation was successful, and Budapest has won one million dollars for its implementation. At Precognox, we are proud of the collaborative work achieved so far and are excited to see the plans on paper turn into reality. We believe that through the power of digitalization, “surplus” becomes valuable, and this model can serve as an example for other global metropolises.