A Port Moody student is hoping he can boost a surge in Canadian patriotism at the grocery store with a new app he’s developed.
Peter Iskakov, who’s in Grade 12 at Port Moody Secondary School, recently launched his free Canalens app for iOS and Android phones in Apple’s App Store and it will soon be available in the Google Play store as well.
The app allows shoppers to take a photo of an item in the store, or even their own kitchen, and learn if it originates in Canada or is made by a Canadian company.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to levy a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian imports and uttered a desire to annex Canada as a 51st state, consumers have responded with renewed vigour to shop Canadian. Some retailers have responded by tagging their shelves with little labels highlighting Canadian products.
Iskakov said while some apps already available require users to scan labels or bar codes on packages to learn its origins, he wanted to make the process even easier.
So he applied some of the knowledge and experience he’s gained programming little video games for his own amusement since he was eight years old to design the app and set up a server that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to collect product information from all over the internet.
Iskakov said it takes 10 to 30 seconds from the time a user snaps a product’s photo to learn about its origins as well as any ethical concerns it may have.
To test the app out prior to launch, Iskakov tried it out on products in his own home, like juice boxes and even his computer monitor. He also went to the grocery store to try it on random items.
“I learned buying Canadian flour is very easy, but something like shampoo isn’t as easy,” Iskakov said of his beta testing. “I learned a lot about Canadian items in general.”
Iskakov said prior to Trump’s tariff threats, he didn’t pay much heed to his own shopping habits. After all, he said, he’s a student without much money to spend and his parents do most of the shopping anyway.
But with graduation beckoning, and his step into the greater world when he pursues post-secondary studies, Iskakov said economic turmoil and uncertainty “might just be a reality I’ll have to live with.”
Iskakov said he’s continuing his development of the app. He’s planning to soon add a feature that gives each product a Canadian score based upon how much of it originates and is made in Canada, as well as where it’s being sold. He also wants to be able to provide users with alternative suggestions if the product they’re interested in buying isn’t Canadian enough.
Iskakov said the process has helped make him more aware of understanding how we choose to spend our money can have an impact in the economic and political realm.
“It’s very challenging,” he said. “It’s made me a lot more conscious how some industries are a lot more dominated by Americans than Canada.”
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