SYSTEM, METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIA FOR CREATING A MEAL PLAN

1 . A system for creating a meal plan comprising:

a server computer of a business;

a business database coupled to the server computer of the business for storing customer purchase history data and recipe data; and

a mobile computing device coupled to the server computer of the business with the mobile computing device including:

a memory for storing an application containing computer-executable instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory for executing the computer-executable instructions of the application, the executing of the computer-executable instructions causing the processor to:

identify a customer;

obtain customer purchase history data of the customer from the business database;

analyze the customer purchase history data to obtain a customer budget; and

create a meal plan including a plurality of meals that collectively have a price falling within the customer budget, wherein each meal is defined by a recipe requiring items for carrying out the recipe.

2 . The system as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

a server computer of a local store associated with the business; and

a local store database coupled to the server computer of the local store for storing inventory data of the local store, wherein the inventory data includes a current inventory of the local store;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the application which causes the processor to:

obtain the inventory data from the local store database;

obtain recipe data from the business database;

identify a plurality of recipes from the recipe data, the identified recipes requiring items which are currently available at the local store based on the current inventory of the local store; and

include the identified recipes as recipe options for the meal plan.

3 . The system as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

a server computer of a local store associated with the business; and

a local store database coupled to the server computer of the local store for storing inventory data of the local store, wherein the inventory data includes a current price for each item of the inventory of the local store;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the application which causes the processor to:

obtain the inventory data from the local store database;

obtain the recipe data from the business database;

identify a plurality of recipes from the recipe data, with each of the identified recipes requiring items that collectively have a current price falling within the customer budget based on the current price of each item of the inventory of the local store; and

include the identified recipes as recipe options for the meal plan.

4 . The system as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

a server computer of a local store associated with the business; and

a local store database coupled to the server computer of the local store for storing inventory data of the local store, wherein the inventory data includes a current inventory of the local store;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the application which causes the processor to:

obtain the customer purchase history data of the customer and from the business database;

obtain the recipe data from the business database;

obtain the inventory data of the local store from the local store database;

identify a plurality of items that are currently available at the local store that the customer has previously purchased;

identify at least one recipe from the recipe data that requires the at least one item that the customer has previously purchased; and

include the identified recipe as a recipe option for the meal plan.

5 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the business database further includes customer profile data including an identification of at least one item that the customer likes and the system further comprises:

a server computer of a local store associated with the business; and

a local store database coupled to the server computer of the local store for storing inventory data of the local store, wherein the inventory data includes a current inventory of the local store;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the application which causes the processor to:

obtain the customer profile data of the customer from the business database;

obtain the recipe data from the business database;

obtain the inventory data from the local store database;

identify a plurality of items that are currently available at the local store that the customer likes;

identify a plurality of recipes from the recipe data, with each identified recipe requiring at least one item that the customer likes; and

include the identified recipes as recipe options for the meal plan.

6 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the business database further includes customer profile data including an identification of at least one item that the customer dislikes and the system further comprises:

a server computer of a local store associated with the business; and

a local store database coupled to the server computer of the local store for storing inventory data of the local store, wherein the inventory data includes a current inventory of the local store;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the application which causes the processor to:

obtain the customer profile data of the customer from the business database;

obtain the recipe data from the business database;

obtain the inventory data from the local store database;

identify a plurality of items that are currently available at the local store that the customer dislikes;

identify at least one recipe from the recipe data that requires at least one of the items that the customer dislikes; and

excluding the identified recipe as a recipe option for the meal plan.

7 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the business database further includes customer profile data including an identification of at least one health issue of the customer and the system further comprises:

a server computer of a local store associated with the business; and

a local store database coupled to the server computer of the local store for storing inventory data of the local store, wherein the inventory data includes a current inventory of the local store;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the application which causes the processor to:

obtain the customer profile data of the customer from the business database;

obtain the recipe data from the business database;

identify the at least one health issue of the customer from the customer profile data;

identify at least one item that has a potential effect on the at least one health issue of the customer;

identify at least one recipe from the recipe data that requires an item that has a potential effect on the at least one health issue of the customer; and

excluding the identified recipe as a recipe option for the meal plan.

8 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the business database further includes customer profile data including an identification of at least one health issue of the customer and the system further comprises:

a server computer of a local store associated with the business; and

a local store database coupled to the server computer of the local store for storing inventory data of the local store, wherein the inventory data includes a current inventory of the local store;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the application which causes the processor to:

obtain the customer profile data of the customer from the business database;

obtain the recipe data from the business database;

identify the at least one health issue of the customer from the customer profile data;

identify at least one item that has a potential improvement on the at least one health issue of the customer;

identify at least one recipe from the recipe data that requires an item that has a potential improvement on the at least one health issue of the customer; and

include the identified recipe as a recipe option for the meal plan.

9 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the mobile computing device includes a display, and wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the application which causes the processor to:

present a plurality of recipe options on the display;

obtain a selection of at least one of the recipe options for each meal; and

incorporate the selected recipe options into the meal plan.

10 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the recipe data includes a plurality of recipes chosen from at least one recipe created by a chef, at least one recipe created by the customer, at least one recipe created by a friend of the customer, at least one recipe created by a third party, and combinations thereof

11 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the meal plan is a weekly meal plan including a breakfast meal, a lunch meal, and a dinner meal for each day of the week.

12 . A method of creating a meal plan with said method utilizing a mobile computing device coupled to a server computer of a business, the mobile computing device including a memory for storing an application and a processor for executing the application and server computer of the business is coupled to a business database for storing customer purchase history data and recipe data, and while executing the application by the processor of the mobile computer device, said method comprises the steps of:

identifying a customer;

obtaining customer purchase history data of the customer from the business database;

analyzing the customer purchase history data to obtain a customer budget; and

creating a meal plan including a plurality of meals that collectively have a price falling within the customer budget, wherein each meal is defined by a recipe requiring items for carrying out the recipe.

13 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the mobile computing device is further coupled to a server computer of a local store associated with the business, the server computer of the local store being coupled to a local store database for storing inventory data of the local store, the inventory data including a current inventory of the local store, and wherein the step of creating the meal plan includes the steps of:

obtaining the inventory data from the local store database;

obtaining recipe data from the business database;

identifying a plurality of recipes from the recipe data, the identified recipes requiring items which are currently available at the local store based on the current inventory of the local store; and

including the identified recipes as recipe options for the meal plan.

14 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the mobile computing device is further coupled to a server computer of a local store associated with the business, the server computer of the local store being coupled to a local store database for storing inventory data of the local store, the inventory data including a current price for each item of the inventory of the local store, and wherein the step of creating the meal plan includes the steps of:

obtaining the inventory data from the local store database;

obtaining recipe data from the business database;

identifying a plurality of recipes from the recipe data, with each of the identified recipes requiring items that collectively have a current price falling within the customer budget based on the current price of each item of the inventory of the local store; and

including the identified recipes as recipe options for the meal plan.

15 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the mobile computing device is further coupled to a server computer of a local store associated with the business, the server computer of the local store being coupled to a local store database for storing inventory data of the local store, the inventory data including a current inventory of the local store, and wherein the step of creating the meal plan includes the steps of:

obtaining the customer purchase history data of the customer from the business database;

obtaining the recipe data from the business database;

obtaining the inventory data of the local store from the local store database;

identifying a plurality of items that are currently available at the local store that the customer has previously purchased;

identifying a plurality of recipes from the recipe data, with each identified recipe requiring at least one item that the customer has previously purchased; and

including the identified recipes as recipe options for the meal plan.

16 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the mobile computing device is further coupled to a server computer of a local store associated with the business, the server computer of the local store being coupled to a local store database for storing inventory data of the local store, the inventory data including a current inventory of the local store and the business database further includes customer profile data including an identification of at least one item that the customer likes, and wherein the step of creating the meal plan includes the steps of:

obtaining the customer profile data of the customer from the business database;

obtaining the recipe data from the business database;

obtaining the inventory data of the local store from the local store database;

identifying a plurality of items that are currently available at the local store that the customer likes;

identifying a plurality of recipes from the recipe data, with each identified recipe requiring at least one item that the customer likes; and

including the identified recipes as recipe options for the meal plan.

17 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the mobile computing device is further coupled to a server computer of a local store associated with the business, the server computer of the local store being coupled to a local store database for storing inventory data of the local store, the inventory data including a current inventory of the local store and the business database further includes customer profile data including an identification of at least one item that the customer dislikes, and wherein the step of creating the meal plan includes the steps of:

obtaining the customer profile data of the customer from the business database;

obtaining the recipe data from the business database;

obtaining the inventory data of the local store from the local store database;

identifying a plurality of items that are currently available at the local store that the customer dislikes;

identifying at least one recipe from the recipe data that requires at least one of the items that the customer dislikes; and

excluding the at least recipe from the meal plan.

18 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the mobile computing device is further coupled to a server computer of a local store associated with the business, the server computer of the local store being coupled to a local store database for storing inventory data of the local store, the inventory data including a current inventory of the local store and the business database includes customer profile data including an identification of at least one health issue of the customer, and wherein step of creating the meal plan includes the steps of:

obtaining the customer profile data of the customer from the business database;

obtaining the inventory data from the local store database;

obtaining the recipe data from the business database;

identifying the at least one health issue of the customer from the customer profile data;

identifying at least one item that has a potential effect on the at least one health issue of the customer;

identifying at least one recipe from the recipe data that requires the at least one item that has a potential effect on the at least one health issue of the customer; and

excluding the at least one recipe from the meal plan.

19 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the mobile computing device is further coupled to a server computer of a local store associated with the business, the server computer of the local store being coupled to a local store database for storing inventory data of the local store, the inventory data including a current inventory of the local store and the business database includes customer profile data including an identification of at least one health issue of the customer, and wherein step of creating the meal plan includes the steps of:

obtaining the customer profile data of the customer from the business database;

obtaining the recipe data from the business database;

identifying the at least one health issue of the customer from the customer profile data;

identifying at least one item that has a potential improvement on the at least one health issue of the customer;

identifying at least one recipe from the recipe data that requires an item that has a potential improvement on the at least one health issue of the customer; and

including the identified recipe as a recipe option for the meal plan.

20 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the mobile computing device includes a display and the method further comprises the steps of:

presenting a plurality of recipe options on the display;

obtaining a selection of at least one of the recipe options for each meal; and

incorporating the selected recipe options into the meal plan.

21 . The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein after the step of creating the meal plan, the method further comprises the step of packaging each meal of the meal plan such that each packaged meal includes the recipe and the items required by the recipe.

22 . A method of creating a meal plan with said method utilizing a mobile computing device coupled to a server computer of a business and a server computer of a local store associated with the business, the mobile computing device including a memory for storing an application and a processor for executing the application, the server computer of the business being coupled to a business database for storing recipe data, and the server computer of the local store associated with the business being coupled to a local store database for storing inventory data of the local store, the inventory data including a current inventory of the local store and a current price for each item of the inventory of the local store, and while executing the application by the processor of the mobile computer device, said method comprises the steps of:

obtaining a customer budget;

identifying a plurality of recipes from the recipe data stored in the business database, the identified recipes requiring items which are currently available at the local store based on the current inventory of the local store;

determining a total price for each of the plurality of recipes based on the current price of each item required by each of the recipes; and

creating a meal plan including a plurality of meals defined by the plurality of recipes that collectively have a price falling within the customer budget.

23 . The method as set forth in claim 22 wherein the mobile computing device further includes a user interface, and wherein the step of obtaining the customer budget includes inputting the customer budget into the application utilizing the user interface of the mobile computing device.

24 . The meal planning method as set forth in claim 22 wherein the business database further stores customer purchase history data, and wherein the step of obtaining a customer budget includes the steps of:

identifying a customer; and

analyzing the customer purchase history data of the identified customer to obtain the customer budget.

25 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon and, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

identify a customer;

analyze customer purchase history data to obtain a customer budget; and

create a meal plan including a plurality of meals that collectively have a price falling within the customer budget, wherein each meal is defined by a recipe requiring items for carrying out the recipe.