SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A new free mobile application and website, GoPure, beta launches today, making it easy to find, share, and learn about healthy and sustainable dining. The app, currently for iPhone and Android, for the first time provides information on the food sourcing and environmentally-sensitive choices of restaurants, helping people make important decisions based on eating preferences like organic and locally-sourced food, gluten-free or vegan options, and the efficient use of natural resources.

While the initial launch includes data on dining establishments in the San Francisco Bay Area, the app is designed to encourage users to suggest and add information on their favorite eateries regardless of location. The GoPure team expects to add thousands more restaurants nationwide in the coming months, and is already building new content in Los Angeles, New York City, and Portland.

According to a National Restaurant Association report, more than half of adults say they are more likely to visit restaurants that offer food grown in an organic or environmentally friendly way, and seven in 10 are more likely to visit restaurants that offer locally produced food.

Almost half of American's food dollars are spent eating out. Like reading labels at a grocery store, GoPure helps users vote with their food dollars for businesses who share their values by revealing restaurants' sustainable practices and food sourcing, ranking them against their peers, and providing education to customers on sustainable food terms and why they matter. GoPure is ultimately looking to disrupt the $632 billion U.S. restaurant market. 

"Our goal is to make it easy for you to choose healthy, sustainably-sourced food wherever you go. By supporting restaurants who go above and beyond to offer the highest quality ingredients, you are voting for the health of people and our planet and contributing to the major transformation occurring in our food system," said Brendan Murphy, GoPure founder and CEO.

The GoPure app equips foodies with simple tools to help grow the sustainable restaurant network. The app's interactive features allow users to:

• Add "discoveries", sharing their knowledge of a restaurant's sustainability,
• "Nudge" restaurants to reveal their pure practices,
• "Suggest" businesses that are not yet listed

After a restaurant completes their profile, they are assigned a purity index ranking according to 45 food sustainability standards and a unique algorithm developed in conjunction with sustainable business thought leader Paul Hawken.

"People need to know where their food comes from, how it was grown, and what has been done to it before it gets to the consumer. GoPure is the tool we need to take food transparency to a deeper and broader level. Feedback to the food system is how you and I create better farms and healthier customers," said Hawken, Author of Blessed Unrest and Ecology of Commerce.

Philanthropy is core to the GoPure business model. Invitations to download the app generate donations to nonprofit Food Corps to support healthy food in schools. Posting 'discoveries' also generates donations for key players in the food movement working with GoPure such as Slow Food USA and Organic Consumers Association.

For restaurateurs that often make costly sustainable choices, a free profile on GoPure brings real value by drawing in like-minded customers and marketing the businesses' ethics effortlessly.  Registration also allows for restaurants to purchase a sustainability report providing tips on how to improve their purity score. Additionally, GoPure is working to link restaurants with suppliers of top-quality sustainable products and services.

"GoPure is a beautifully simple way for customers who value sustainability to find us, and the suggestions provided in their report have inspired improvements now being made in all our cafes," said Chris Bonright, Owner of Cafe Gratitude in Los Angeles.

About GoPure

Founded in 2012 and based in San Francisco, GoPure is a leading web and mobile technology platform that empowers people to make healthy and sustainable dining choices. The GoPure community is combining sophisticated sustainability data and the power of the crowd to build a global transparency tool that motivates sustainable practices in the restaurant industry and beyond. 

SOURCE GoPure