Cooking assistance request system and cooking assistance request method

Abstract

This system and method provides a cooking assistance request system that can present recipes that take the user's health into consideration and reduces the effort required for the user to cook. [Solution] In the health management server, the system control unit 11 includes: a nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105 that acquires information on the user's nutrition intake status; a recipe information search control unit 1107 that searches for recipes according to the nutrition intake status based on the nutrition intake status information and the amount of nutrient in the dishes associated with the recipe information; a presented recipe information transmission unit 1108 that transmits presented recipe information that shows the searched recipes in a presentable manner to the user terminal; a selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109 that receives selected recipe identification information from the user terminal that identifies the selected recipe selected by the user from among the recipes shown by the presented recipe information; and a cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 that transmits cooking assistance request information that indicates a request for cooking assistance using the selected recipe to the cooking assistance terminal device of the cooking assistance provider.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for requesting cooking assistance.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, housework assistance services are known. A provider of a housework assistance service performs housework on behalf of a requester. For example, when the housework to be performed is cooking, the provider cooks the meal and the requester eats the cooked meal. Also, a system for matching a requester of a housework assistance service and a provider of the housework assistance service is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses enabling setting of search conditions including the style of a worker of a housework assistance service and searching for a worker having that style.

[0003] When a user cooks by themselves without requesting cooking assistance, it is conceivable that the user may use a recipe site. A recipe site is a website on which recipes for cooking are published. The user can cook a meal by referring to a desired recipe in the recipe site. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses enabling setting of search conditions including keywords, searching for a recipe including those keywords, and transmitting a web page showing the search results of the recipe.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, the meals prepared by catering services are not always prepared with the client's health in mind. Similarly, recipes found on recipe websites are not always prepared with the user's health in mind.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and one example of its objective is to provide a cooking assistance request system and cooking assistance request method that can present recipes that take the user's health into consideration and reduce the effort required for the user to cook. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] (Application Example 1) The cooking assistance request system according to this application example includes: a nutrition intake information acquisition means that acquires nutrition intake information indicating the nutrition intake status of a person who can use cooking assistance; a recipe information storage means that stores the acquired nutrition intake information and recipe information indicating a recipe, associated with the amount of nutrient in the dish that can be cooked using the recipe, for each recipe, and a recipe search means that searches for one or more recipes according to the nutrition intake status of the person who can use cooking assistance, based on the amount of nutrient in the dish that is associated with the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means; and a present recipe information that displays the one or more searched recipes in a presentable manner. The system is characterized by comprising: a means for transmitting suggested recipe information to a terminal device for users of cooking assistance used by the user of cooking assistance; a means for receiving selected recipe identification information from the terminal device for users of cooking assistance, which identifies a selected recipe from among the one or more recipes indicated by the transmitted suggested recipe information that the user of cooking assistance has selected as the recipe for which they wish to request cooking assistance; and a means for transmitting cooking assistance request information to a terminal device for users of cooking assistance used by the cooking assistance provider, which indicates a request for cooking assistance using the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information.

[0008] According to this application example, one or more recipes are retrieved based on the nutritional intake status of the person eligible for cooking assistance, using nutritional intake information and nutrient content information for dishes associated with recipe information stored in a recipe information storage means. Nutritional intake information indicates the nutritional intake status of the person eligible for cooking assistance. Nutrient content information for dishes indicates the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes. Nutrient content information for dishes is associated with recipe information. Recipe information indicates a recipe. Nutrient content information for dishes associated with recipe information indicates the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be cooked using that recipe. Presentation recipe information, which shows one or more of the retrieved recipes, is transmitted to the terminal device of the person eligible for cooking assistance. The person eligible for cooking assistance, having received the presentation of one or more retrieved recipes, selects the recipe for which they wish to request cooking assistance. Cooking assistance request information is transmitted to the terminal device of the cooking assistance provider. Cooking assistance request information indicates a request for cooking assistance using the selected recipe. For example, when a cooking assistance provider accepts a cooking assistance request, that provider cooks the dish using the selected recipe. The cooked dish is provided to the person eligible for cooking assistance. Therefore, those who are eligible for the cooking service can eat the meal without having to cook it themselves using the recipe they selected. This allows for the provision of recipes that take the user's health into consideration, while also reducing the effort required for the user to cook.

[0009] (Example 2 of application) In the cooking assistance request system according to this example of application, the recipe search means is characterized in that it searches for the one or more recipes based on nutrient intake standard information that indicates the standard amount of nutrient intake.

[0010] According to this application example, one or more recipes are searched based on nutritional intake information, food nutrient content information, and nutritional intake standard information, tailored to the nutritional intake status of the person eligible for meal preparation services. The nutritional intake standard information indicates the standard amount of nutrients to be consumed. Therefore, based on the person's past nutritional intake, it is possible to search for recipes that can be prepared in a way that meets the nutritional intake standards for the person eligible for meal preparation services.

[0011] (Example 3) In the cooking assistance request system according to this example, the nutritional intake status indicated by the acquired nutritional intake status information includes the amount of nutrients consumed by the person who can use the cooking assistance service, and the recipe search means searches for one or more recipes in which the sum of the amount of nutrients indicated by the acquired nutritional intake status information and the amount of nutrients indicated by the cooking nutrient amount information associated with the recipe information satisfies the standard of nutrient intake indicated by the nutrient intake standard information.

[0012] According to this application example, the amount of nutrients consumed by the user in meals previously eaten, along with the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be prepared using the recipe, are used to search for recipes that meet the nutritional intake standards. Therefore, recipes that take the user's health into consideration can be presented.

[0013] (Application Example 4) In the cooking assistance request system according to this application example, the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means includes ingredient information indicating the ingredients used in the recipe, and the system further comprises a calculation means for calculating the amount of nutrients contained in a dish that can be cooked by the recipe indicated by the recipe information, based on the ingredient nutrient amount information stored in the ingredient nutrient amount information storage means which stores ingredient nutrient amount information indicating the amount of nutrients contained in each ingredient, and the ingredient information included in the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means, and a cooking nutrient amount information storage control means which stores the calculated amount of recipe cooking nutrient amount information in the recipe information storage means in association with the recipe information, and the recipe search means is characterized in that it searches for one or more recipes according to the nutritional intake status of the person who can use the cooking assistance service, based on the cooking nutrient amount information stored in the recipe information storage means by the cooking nutrient amount information storage control means.

[0014] According to this application example, recipe information includes ingredient information. Ingredient information indicates the ingredients used in that recipe. Nutrient information for each ingredient is stored. Nutrient information for each ingredient indicates the amount of nutrients contained in that ingredient. Based on the ingredient information and ingredient nutrient information, the amount of nutrients contained in the dish that can be cooked using the recipe is calculated. Based on the calculated amount of nutrient information for the dish, a recipe is searched that is appropriate for the nutritional intake of the person who can use the cooking service. Therefore, even if the amount of nutrients contained in the dish differs depending on the recipe, even if the dish that can be cooked is the same, the recipe can be searched using the ingredient nutrient information which indicates the appropriate amount of nutrients contained in the dish that can be cooked using the recipe.

[0015] (Application Example 5) The cooking assistance request system according to this application example further comprises a recipe presentation order determination means that determines the presentation order of the one or more retrieved recipes based on the evaluation information stored in the evaluation information storage means, which stores evaluation information indicating the level of evaluation of the recipe from viewers who have viewed the recipe, and the presentation recipe information transmission means transmits the presentation recipe information, which indicates that the one or more retrieved recipes can be presented in the order according to the determined presentation order, to the cooking assistance user terminal device.

[0016] According to this application example, viewers who view a recipe can rate it. Based on the level of this rating, the order in which the searched recipes are presented based on the provided recipe information is determined. The presentation order may also indicate the position in which the recipe is presented. Therefore, recipes can be presented in an order that corresponds to their rating.

[0017] (Application Example 6) In the cooking assistance request system according to this application example, the evaluation information stored in the evaluation information storage means indicates the level of evaluation of the recipe by users of cooking assistance who have viewed the recipe and used the cooking assistance service using the recipe, and further comprises: reception information receiving means that receives from the cooking assistance terminal device an acceptance of a cooking assistance request indicated by the transmitted cooking assistance request information; cooking assistance recipe evaluation information receiving means that receives from the cooking assistance user terminal device cooking assistance recipe evaluation information indicating the level of evaluation of the selected recipe by the cooking assistance user after the reception information has been received by the reception information receiving means; and update means that updates the evaluation information of the selected recipe stored in the evaluation information storage means based on the received cooking assistance recipe evaluation information, and the recipe presentation order determination means determines the presentation order of the one or more retrieved recipes based on the evaluation information updated by the update means.

[0018] According to this application example, users of a cooking service can evaluate the recipe used in that cooking service. When a cooking service provider who has received a request for a cooking service using a selected recipe accepts the request, the cooking service provider terminal device transmits acceptance information to the cooking service request system. This makes the person eligible for cooking services a cooking service user. The cooking service provider who has accepted the request prepares the dish using the selected recipe. The prepared dish is provided to the person eligible for cooking services who has become a cooking service user. After the cooking service request system receives the acceptance information, the user terminal device transmits cooking service recipe evaluation information to the cooking service request system. The cooking service recipe evaluation information is an evaluation from the person eligible for cooking services who requested the cooking service, and indicates the level of evaluation of the recipe used in that cooking service. The person eligible for cooking services can eat the provided dish and then evaluate the recipe. Based on the cooking service recipe evaluation information, the evaluation information for that recipe is updated. Based on the updated evaluation information, the presentation order of the searched recipes is determined. Therefore, considering the evaluation of the dishes prepared using the recipes, the recipes can be presented in an order determined by the client based on their perceived quality.

[0019] (Application Example 7) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the system further comprises a cooking service search means that searches for a cooking service provider that satisfies predetermined conditions as conditions for a request to provide cooking services using the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information, based on the cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means that stores cooking service provider information for each cooking service provider, and the cooking service request information transmission means transmits the cooking service request information to the cooking service terminal device used by the searched cooking service provider.

[0020] According to this application example, a cook who meets predetermined conditions for requesting cooking services using a recipe selected by the cook is searched for. The cooking service request information is transmitted to the cook's terminal device used by the searched cook. As a result, the user can request cooking services from a cook who is suitable for the task.

[0021] (Application Example 8) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means includes ingredient information indicating the ingredients of the recipe, the cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means includes ingredient possession status information indicating the possession status of ingredients that the cooking service provider has that can be used for cooking services, and the cooking service provider search means searches for a cooking service provider who has the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients that can be used for cooking services, based on the ingredient information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information and the ingredient possession status information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means.

[0022] According to this application example, recipe information includes ingredient information. The cooking service provider information storage means stores information on the availability of ingredients. The ingredient availability information indicates the availability of ingredients that the cooking service provider can use for cooking. Based on the ingredient information and the ingredient availability information, a cooking service provider who has the ingredients used in the selected recipe and can use them for cooking is searched for. Therefore, it is possible to search for a cooking service provider who meets the conditions for a cooking service request using a recipe selected by a person who can provide cooking services, in terms of the ingredients they possess.

[0023] (Applicable Example 9) In the cooking proxy request system according to this applicable example, the cooking proxy information stored in the cooking proxy information storage means includes range-of-offer information that can specify the geographical range within which the cooking proxy can offer the dishes cooked through the cooking proxy. The cooking proxy search means searches for a cooking proxy whose location of the person available for cooking proxy is within the range of offer, based on the location information of the person available for cooking proxy indicating the location of the person available for cooking proxy and the range-of-offer information stored in the cooking proxy information storage means.

[0024] According to this applicable example, a cooking proxy whose range of offer that can offer the dishes cooked through the cooking proxy includes the location of the person available for cooking proxy is searched. Therefore, in terms of geographical location, a cooking proxy that meets the conditions of the request destination for the cooking proxy can be searched.

[0025] (Applicable Example 10) In the cooking proxy request system according to this applicable example, the cooking proxy information stored in the cooking proxy information storage means includes price information indicating the price set by the cooking proxy as the price of the dish for each dish that the cooking proxy can cook through the cooking proxy. The system further includes price-condition information acquisition means for acquiring price-condition information indicating the conditions of the price of the dish from the terminal device of the person available for cooking proxy. The cooking proxy search means searches for a cooking proxy whose price of the dish that can be cooked with the selected recipe meets the conditions indicated by the received price-condition information, based on the price information stored in the cooking proxy information storage means.

[0026] According to this applicable example, the cooking proxy can set the price of each dish that the cooking proxy can cook through the cooking proxy. The person available for cooking proxy can specify the conditions of the price of the dish. Then, a cooking proxy whose price of the dish that can be cooked with the recipe selected by the person available for cooking proxy meets the specified conditions is searched. Therefore, in terms of the price of the dish, a cooking proxy that meets the conditions specified by the person available for cooking proxy as the conditions of the request destination for the cooking proxy can be searched.

[0027] (Application Example 11) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the ingredient availability information indicates the ingredients that the cooking service provider has as ingredients available for cooking service and the expiration dates of those ingredients, the cooking service provider search means searches for one or more cooking service providers who have the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking service, and the cooking service provider presentation order determination means determines the presentation order of the one or more cooking service providers found based on the ingredient information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information and the ingredient availability information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means, wherein the presentation order of cooking service providers is given a higher rank to cooking service providers whose ingredients used in the selected recipe are closer in expiration date. The cooking service request information transmission means further comprises: a means for determining the order of presentation; a means for transmitting presented cooking service information to the cooking service user terminal device, which indicates that the one or more searched cooking service providers can be presented in the order corresponding to the determined order of presentation; and a means for receiving selected cooking service provider identification information from the cooking service user terminal device, which identifies a selected cooking service provider from among the one or more cooking service providers indicated by the transmitted presented cooking service provider information, selected by the cooking service user as the recipient of the cooking service request. The cooking service request information transmission means transmits the cooking service request information to the cooking service terminal device used by the selected cooking service provider identified by the received selected cooking service provider identification information.

[0028] According to this application example, the ingredient availability information indicates the expiration dates of the ingredients held by the cooking service provider. Based on the ingredient availability information of the ingredients used in the selected recipe, the presentation ranking of the searched cooking service providers is determined when they are presented based on the presented cooking service provider information. The presentation ranking may also indicate the position of the cooking service provider in the presentation. In this case, cooking service providers with ingredients that are closer to their expiration date will have a higher presentation ranking. Cooking service providers with a higher presentation ranking are more likely to be selected as cooking service providers by those who can utilize cooking services. Therefore, the loss of ingredients due to expiration dates can be reduced.

[0029] (Application Example 12) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the cooking service provider search means includes a cooking service provider presentation order determination means that searches for one or more cooking service providers that meet the predetermined conditions and determines the presentation order of the one or more cooking service providers found, a presentation cooking service provider information transmission means that transmits presentation cooking service provider information, which indicates that the one or more cooking service providers found can be presented in the order according to the determined presentation order, to the cooking service user terminal device, and the presentation cooking service provider information transmission means The system further comprises a selected cooking agent identification information receiving means that receives selected cooking agent identification information from the cooking agent terminal device, which identifies a selected cooking agent selected by the cooking agent user as the recipient of the cooking agent request from among the one or more cooking agents to whom the presented cooking agent information has been transmitted, and the cooking agent request information transmitting means transmits the cooking agent request information to the cooking agent terminal device used by the selected cooking agent identified by the received selected cooking agent identification information.

[0030] According to this application example, when a searched cooking service provider is presented based on the presented cooking service provider information, the presentation order of those cooking service providers is determined. A person who has received one or more cooking service providers from the search results selects one of them as the provider to request cooking service from. The cooking service request information is transmitted to the client terminal device used by the selected cooking service provider. Cooking service providers with a higher presentation order tend to be selected by people who have requested cooking service from a higher probability. Therefore, the likelihood of a cooking service provider being selected can be controlled by the presentation order.

[0031] (Example 13) In the cooking service request system according to this example, the cooking service information stored in the cooking service information storage means includes price information indicating the price set by the cooking service as the price of each dish that the cooking service can prepare, and the cooking service presentation order determination means determines the presentation order of the one or more searched cooking service providers based on the price information stored in the cooking service information storage means.

[0032] According to this application example, a cooking service provider can set a price for each dish they can prepare. The ranking of the cooking service providers displayed in a search is then determined based on the prices of the dishes they can prepare using the recipes selected by the users. Therefore, the likelihood of a cooking service provider being selected can be controlled based on the prices they set for the dishes they can prepare using the recipes.

[0033] (Application Example 14) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the cooking service information stored in the cooking service information storage means includes cooking service location information indicating the location of the cooking service provider, and the cooking service provider presentation order determination means is characterized in that it gives a higher presentation order to cooking service providers who are closer to the location of the person who can use the cooking service, based on the location information of the person who can use the cooking service and the cooking service provider location information stored in the cooking service information storage means.

[0034] According to this application example, it becomes easier to choose a cook who is closer to the location of the person who can use the cook service as the provider of the cook service.

[0035] (Application Example 15) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the cooking service information stored in the cooking service information storage means includes usage fee information indicating the amount of the usage fee that the cooking service will pay for using the cooking service request system, and which is the amount specified by the cooking service, and the cooking service presentation ranking determination means is characterized in that it gives a higher presentation ranking to cooking service providers who have set a higher usage fee, based on the usage fee information stored in the cooking service information storage means.

[0036] According to this application example, cooks who use the cooking service request system are required to pay a service fee. Cooks can specify the amount of the service fee they will pay. Cooks who set a higher service fee will be ranked higher in the search results. Therefore, cooks who pay a higher service fee can be given preferential treatment within the cooking service request system.

[0037] (Application Example 16) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the ingredient availability information indicates the availability of ingredients that can be used by the cooking service provider for cooking services and the expiration date of those ingredients, and the cooking service provider search means searches for a cooking service provider who has the ingredients used in the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information as ingredients that can be used for cooking services, and whose ingredients have the expiration date closest to that of the ingredients used in the selected recipe.

[0038] In this application example, the ingredient availability information indicates the expiration date of the ingredients held by the cooking service provider. Based on the ingredient availability information of the ingredients used in the selected recipe, the cooking service provider with the closest expiration date for those ingredients is searched for. The cooking service request information is sent to the cooking service provider's terminal device. This helps to minimize the loss of ingredients due to expiration dates.

[0039] (Application Example 17) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the cooking service information stored in the cooking service information storage means includes price information indicating the price set by the cooking service as the price of each dish that the cooking service can prepare, and the cooking service search means searches for the cooking service with the lowest price for the dish that can be prepared using the selected recipe, based on the price information stored in the cooking service information storage means.

[0040] According to this application example, a cooking service provider can set a price for each dish they can prepare. The system then searches for the cooking service provider with the lowest price for that dish. The cooking service request information is sent to the cooking service provider's terminal device. Therefore, the user can request cooking services from a cooking service provider who offers a price that is advantageous to the user.

[0041] (Application Example 18) In the cooking service request system according to this application example, the cooking service information stored in the cooking service information storage means includes cooking service location information indicating the location of the cooking service provider, and the cooking service search means searches for the cooking service provider closest to the location of the person who can provide cooking services, based on the location information of the person who can provide cooking services and the cooking service location information stored in the cooking service information storage means.

[0042] According to this application example, the nearest cook is searched for based on the location of the person who can use the cooking service. The cooking service request information is then sent to the found cook's terminal device. Therefore, the cooking service can be requested from a cook who has minimal travel burden between their location and the location of the person who needs the cooking service.

[0043] (Application Example 19) The cooking assistance request method according to this application example is a cooking assistance request method executed by a computer, comprising: a nutritional intake information acquisition step of acquiring nutritional intake information indicating the nutritional intake status of a person who can use cooking assistance; a recipe search step of searching for one or more recipes according to the nutritional intake status of the person who can use cooking assistance, based on the acquired nutritional intake information and the recipe information associated with the recipe information, which is stored for each recipe in a recipe information storage means that associates the recipe information with the amount of nutrient content in the dish that can be cooked using the recipe; and the ability to present the one or more recipes that have been searched. The method is characterized by including: a suggestion recipe information transmission step of transmitting suggestion recipe information shown to a cooking service user terminal device used by the cooking service user; a selection recipe identification information reception step of receiving selection recipe identification information from the cooking service user terminal device, which identifies the selection recipe selected by the cooking service user as the recipe for which the cooking service user wishes to request cooking services from among the one or more recipes shown by the transmitted suggestion recipe information; and a cooking service request information transmission step of transmitting cooking service request information indicating a request for cooking services using the selection recipe identified by the received selection recipe identification information to a cooking service user terminal device used by the cooking service provider. [Effects of the Invention]

[0044] According to the present invention, it is possible to present recipes that take the user's health into consideration, while also reducing the effort required for the user to cook. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0045] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the general configuration of a communication system S according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the processing flow in one embodiment. [Figure 3] This block diagram shows an example of the outline configuration of a health management server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 4]This figure shows an example of the information stored in the database of Health Management Server 1. [Figure 5] This diagram shows examples of dishes that can be prepared by a cooking service. [Figure 6] (a) and (b) are diagrams illustrating examples of the availability of ingredients that can be used for cooking services. [Figure 7] A block diagram showing an example of the outline configuration of the recipe server 2 according to one embodiment. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of the information stored in the database of Recipe Server 2. [Figure 9] This block diagram shows an example of the outline configuration of the point management server 3 according to one embodiment. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example of the information stored in the database of point management server 3. [Figure 11] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in a health management server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 12] This figure shows an example of a search for a cooking service provider. [Figure 13] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 21 in a recipe server 2 according to one embodiment. [Figure 14] (a) is a diagram showing an example of ingredients used in a recipe. (b) is a diagram showing an example of ingredient nutrient information stored in ingredient DB24b. (c) is a diagram showing an example of the amount of nutrients contained in the ingredients used in a recipe. [Figure 15] This figure shows an example of the conditions for the amount of nutrients contained in dishes that can be cooked using a recipe. [Figure 16] This figure shows an example of the conditions for the amount of nutrients contained in dishes that can be cooked using a recipe. [Figure 17] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 31 in a point management server according to one embodiment. [Figure 18] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when a cooking service provider registers information. [Figure 19]This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing performed by the communication system S when a recipe poster submits a recipe. [Figure 20] This sequence diagram shows an example of the processing performed by the communication system S when a user of a health management service records their meal details. [Figure 21] This sequence diagram shows an example of the processing of the communication system S when a recipe tailored to the user's nutritional intake is presented to a user of a health management service. [Figure 22] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. [Figure 23] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing performed by the communication system S when a request for cooking assistance is made. [Figure 24] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when rewards are given to recipe contributors. [Figure 25] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. [Figure 26] (a) is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the Health Management Server 1's Available Ingredients for Cooking Service DB14g. (b) is a diagram showing an example of the availability of ingredients that can be used for cooking service. [Figure 27] This figure shows an example of how to determine the order in which cooking service providers are presented. [Figure 28] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. [Figure 29] (a) is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the Health Management Server 1's Cooking Service Database 14f. (b) is a diagram showing an example of a dish that can be cooked by a professional. [Figure 30] This figure shows an example of how to determine the order in which cooking service providers are presented. [Figure 31] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. [Figure 32] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in a health management server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 33]This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. [Figure 34] (a) is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the cooking service provider DB14e of the health management server 1. (b) is a diagram showing an example of a pricing plan. [Figure 35] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in a health management server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 36] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. [Figure 37] A block diagram showing an example of the outline configuration of the recipe server 2 according to one embodiment. [Figure 38] This figure shows an example of the information stored in the user evaluation DB24c and recipe evaluation DB24d of recipe server 2. [Figure 39] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 21 in a recipe server 2 according to one embodiment. [Figure 40] This sequence diagram shows an example of the processing performed by the communication system S when a recipe service user performs an evaluation. [Figure 41] This sequence diagram shows an example of the processing of the communication system S when a recipe tailored to the user's nutritional intake is presented to a user of a health management service. [Figure 42] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in a health management server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 43] This sequence diagram shows an example of the processing performed by the communication system S when a user of a health management service performs an evaluation. [Figure 44] This figure shows an example of the relationship between the rating of a recipe and the number of points awarded as a reward. [Figure 45] This sequence diagram shows an example of the processing of a communication system S when a health management service user performs an evaluation and then a reward is given to the recipe poster. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0046] [1. First Embodiment] [1-1. Communication System Configuration] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration and functional overview of the communication system S according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overview configuration of the communication system S according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system S is composed of a health management server 1, a recipe server 2, a point management server 3, a delivery management server 4, a plurality of cooking assistant terminals 5, a plurality of recipe service user terminals 6, and a plurality of health management service user terminals 7. The health management server 1, recipe server 2, point management server 3, delivery management server 4, each cooking assistant terminal 5, each recipe service user terminal 6, and each health management service user terminal 7 are connected to a network NW. The network NW is constructed by, for example, the internet, a dedicated communication line (for example, a CATV (Community Antenna Television) line), a mobile communication network (including base stations, etc.), and a gateway, etc.

[0047] The health management server 1 may be, for example, a server device that performs processing to provide health management services. The health management service may be, for example, a service that assists users in improving or maintaining their health. For example, the health management service may include recording the user's meals, providing information on recipes tailored to the user's nutritional intake, and matching people who request cooking services with cooks who provide them. The health management service may also be provided through, for example, a health management application that can be installed on the health management service user terminal 7. The health management application may be an application that allows users to use the health management service. The health management service may also be provided through a designated website. Note that cooking a meal is equivalent to preparing that meal.

[0048] The health management server 1 may transmit information about the health management service to at least one of the terminal devices, such as the cooking assistant terminal 5, the recipe service user terminal 6, and the health management service user terminal 7, presenting the information in a way that the terminal device can display it. One example of presentation is that the terminal device displays the information on its screen. By transmitting the presentation information, the health management server 1 may cause the terminal device to present information about the health management service. The presentation information may be, for example, screen information. The screen information may be information that causes the terminal device to display a specific screen related to the health management service. That specific screen may include the information to be presented. The screen information may be information that causes the terminal device to display a specific screen. By transmitting the screen information, the health management server 1 may cause the terminal device to display a screen related to the health management service. For example, the screen information may be an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) document for a web page corresponding to that screen. In this case, the screen can be rephrased as a web page or page. Alternatively, the screen information may include information that indicates the information or elements that should be displayed on that screen. Alternatively, the screen information may indicate a command to display that screen.

[0049] Recipe Server 2 may be, for example, a server device that performs processing for operating a recipe service. The recipe service may be a service that provides recipe information. Furthermore, the recipe service may be a service that enables the posting of recipes. In the recipe service, information on posted recipes may be provided. Alternatively, the recipe service may be a service that provides information on recipes registered by the operator of the recipe service or a cooking expert. The recipe service may be provided, for example, through a recipe site. The recipe site may be a website for providing the recipe service. The recipe service may also be provided through a recipe app that can be installed on the recipe service user terminal 6 or the health management service user terminal 7. The recipe app may be an application for users to use the recipe service.

[0050] Recipe server 2, like health management server 1, may transmit information about the recipe service to at least one of the following terminal devices: cooking assistant terminal 5, recipe service user terminal 6, and health management service user terminal 7, in a manner that allows the terminal device to display that information. By transmitting this information, recipe server 2 may cause the terminal device to display information about the recipe service. This information may be, for example, screen information. By transmitting screen information, recipe server 2 may cause the terminal device to display a screen related to the recipe service.

[0051] The combination of health management server 1 and recipe server 2 may be an example of at least one of the following systems: a cooking assistance request system, a cooking assistance matching system, and a recipe submission reward system. The cooking assistance request system may be, for example, a system for users who can utilize cooking assistance to request cooking assistance from cooking assistance providers. The cooking assistance matching system may be, for example, a system for matching cooking assistance requests with cooking assistance providers. The cooking assistance matching system may include the cooking assistance request system. The recipe submission reward system may be, for example, a system for rewarding recipe submitters. Note that health management server 1 and recipe server 2 may be integrated into a single server device.

[0052] The point management server 3 may be a server device that manages points held by users in a predetermined point program. The point program may be, for example, a service available to members of a predetermined service. The predetermined service may be the point program itself. Alternatively, for example, members of at least one of the health management service and the recipe service may be able to use the point program. Or, members of a predetermined comprehensive internet service may be able to use the point program. The comprehensive internet service may be a collection of multiple services. The services included in the comprehensive internet service may include, for example, services provided using a computer network such as a network NW. These services may be provided using, for example, information and communication technology. Services provided using a computer network may include services provided through a website. The point program, health management service, and recipe service may be included in this comprehensive internet service. The point program may be, for example, a service that awards points to a user in accordance with their use of any of the services included in the comprehensive internet service. For example, points may be awarded to a user who purchases a transaction item through or in conjunction with the use of that service. The transaction item may be, for example, something that can be traded commercially. Examples of transaction items include goods and services. Furthermore, the point program may be a service that allows users to use the points they hold to pay for the purchase of a transaction item. For example, points may be used as payment for all or part of the purchase price. Users may also be able to use points when purchasing items using any of the services included in the comprehensive internet service.

[0053] The delivery management server 4 may be a server device for managing the delivery status of food in a service that matches customers who order food delivery with delivery personnel who deliver the food from restaurants or other establishments to the customers. A delivery slip may be attached to each dish delivered by the delivery personnel. A delivery slip has a slip number printed on it. The slip number is information used to identify the food as a package.

[0054] Each cooking service terminal 5 may be a terminal device used by cooking service providers who are eligible to use the cooking service matching system. A cooking service provider may be a person or group that performs cooking on behalf of others. A cooking service provider may include, for example, a cooking service provider. That is, a cooking service provider may include a person who performs cooking on behalf of others as a business. A cooking service provider may also include a person who performs cooking on behalf of others, even if not as a business. Examples of cooking service providers include housekeeping service providers, restaurants, and individuals. Multiple cooking service providers registered with the health management service may include, for example, one or more housekeeping service providers, one or more restaurants, and one or more individuals. Multiple cooking service providers registered with the health management service may include only multiple housekeeping service providers, only multiple restaurants, or only multiple individuals. If a cooking service provider includes one or more restaurants, all instances of "cooking service provider" in this specification may be read as "restaurant." Each cooking service terminal 5 may have applications such as a web browser and an email client installed.

[0055] Each recipe service user terminal 6 may be a terminal device used by a user of the recipe service. A user of the recipe service is called a recipe service user, and a recipe service user may be able to view recipes on the recipe service. A recipe service user may also be able to post recipes to the recipe service. Among the recipe service users, a user who is about to post a recipe and a user who has posted a recipe are called a recipe poster. A recipe service user terminal 6 used by a recipe poster is called a recipe poster terminal 6. Each recipe service user terminal 6 may have applications such as a web browser and an email client installed. A recipe application may be installed on a certain type of recipe service user terminal 6.

[0056] Each health management service user terminal 7 may be a terminal device used by a user of the health management service. A user of the health management service is referred to as a health management service user. A health management service user may be a user who can record meals, a user who can view recipes, and a user who can use the cooking assistance system or cooking assistance matching system to have recipes prepared for them. A user who can view recipes is referred to as a viewer. A user who can use cooking assistance is referred to as a cooking assistance user. A user who requests cooking assistance is referred to as a cooking assistance requester. A user who uses cooking assistance is referred to as a cooking assistance user. A cooking assistance requester may also be a cooking assistance user. Each health management service user terminal 7 may have applications such as a web browser and an email client installed. A health management application may be installed on a specified type of health management service user terminal 7.

[0057] At least some users of the health management service may also be users of the recipe service. Conversely, at least some users of the recipe service may also be users of the health management service. For example, users of the aforementioned comprehensive internet service may be able to use both the health management service and the recipe service. Alternatively, users may register separately for each of the health management service and the recipe service. Therefore, depending on the user's current status, that user may be a health management service user, a recipe service user, or a recipe contributor. Accordingly, the terminal device used by that user may also be a health management service user terminal 7, a recipe service user terminal 6, or a recipe contributor terminal 6.

[0058] Examples of the cooking assistance terminal 5, the recipe service user terminal 6, and the health management service user terminal 7 include personal computers, set-top boxes, smartphones, other mobile phones, wearable computers, tablet computers, and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants).

[0059] Figure 2 shows an example of the processing flow in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, a recipe poster posts a recipe by operating the recipe poster terminal 6 (step S1). The recipe server 2 stores the information of the posted recipe. Meanwhile, a health management service user inputs the contents of the meal they have consumed by operating the health management service user terminal 7. The health management service user terminal 7 sends meal record information indicating the record of that meal to the health management server 1 (step S2). The health management server 1 stores the meal record information. Based on the meal record information, the health management server 1 requests the recipe server 2 to search for a recipe that corresponds to the nutritional intake status of the health management service user (step S3). The nutritional intake status may indicate which nutrients the health management service user has consumed. Alternatively, the nutritional intake status may indicate the amount of nutrients consumed by the health management service user. The nutritional intake status from meals can be identified from the meal record information. The recipe server 2 searches for a recipe in response to the request from the health management server 1 and sends the search result to the health management server 1 (step S4). Based on the search results, the health management server 1 sends information on recipes tailored to the user's nutritional intake to the health management service user terminal 7 (step S5).

[0060] A health management service user who has viewed one or more recipes selects one of those recipes as the recipe for which they would like to request cooking assistance. The health management service user terminal 7 sends a cooking assistance request to the health management server 1 according to the selection (step S6). The cooking assistance request may also be information indicating that a request for cooking assistance has been made to the health management server 1. The health management server 1 searches for one or more cooking assistance providers who meet the conditions for providing cooking assistance for the recipe selected by the cooking assistance requester (step S7). The health management server 1 sends cooking assistance request information to the cooking assistance provider terminal 5 of the cooking assistance provider to whom the cooking assistance request will be made (step S8). The cooking assistance requester may select the cooking assistance provider to whom the cooking assistance request will be made, or the health management server 1 may determine the cooking assistance provider to whom the cooking assistance request will be made. The cooking assistance request information may also be information indicating that cooking assistance has been requested from the cooking assistance provider. The cooking assistance request information may include information indicating the content of the request. When a cooking assistance provider views the cooking assistance request information and determines that they can perform the cooking assistance, they perform an operation to accept the cooking assistance request. In response to this operation, the cooking assistance provider terminal 5 sends acceptance information to the health management server 1 (step S9). The acceptance information may also be information indicating that the cooking assistance provider has accepted the cooking assistance request. When the health management server 1 receives the acceptance information, the health management service user may become both the cooking assistance requester and the cooking assistance user. The cooking assistance provider begins cooking according to the recipe selected by the cooking assistance requester. If the requested cooking assistance provider performs an operation to reject the cooking assistance request, the health management server 1 may send the cooking assistance request information to the cooking assistance provider terminal 5 of another cooking assistance provider from among the searched cooking assistance providers.

[0061] Upon receiving reception information from the cooking service terminal 5, the health management server 1 transmits delivery request information to the delivery management server 4 (step S10). The delivery request information may be information indicating a request from the cooking service provider to the health management service user, who is the cooking service requester. The delivery management server 4 transmits information instructing the delivery of the food to a terminal device (not shown) used by the delivery person. The delivery person receives the food from the cooking service provider and delivers it to the cooking service requester (step S11). After receiving the reception information, the health management server 1 grants a reward to the person who posted the recipe for the delivered food (step S12). Examples of rewards include points from a points program, coupons, electronic money, cash, etc. In this embodiment, points are granted as the reward.

[0062] In the example shown in Figure 2, a user of the health management service can request that a recipe be prepared for them according to their nutritional intake. However, for example, recipe server 2 may search for recipes that meet the conditions specified by the recipe service user. Examples of conditions that can be specified include the recipe title, dish name, ingredient names, other keywords, and recipe category. Recipe server 2 or health management server 1 may then be configured to allow the user to request the preparation of any recipe that meets the specified conditions. Alternatively, instead of a delivery person delivering the food, a cook may go to the location of the person requesting the cooking service and prepare the food there. In this case, the cook may prepare the ingredients for the recipe, or the person requesting the cooking service may prepare the ingredients.

[0063] [1-2. Server Device Configuration] [1-2-1. Health Management Server] Next, the configuration of the health management server 1 will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 6. Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the overview configuration of the health management server 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 3, the health management server 1 includes a system control unit 11, a system bus 12, an input / output interface 13, a storage unit 14, and a communication unit 15. The system control unit 11 and the input / output interface 13 are connected via the system bus 12.

[0064] The system control unit 11 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 11b, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 11c, and the like.

[0065] The input / output interface 13 performs interface processing between the storage unit 14 and the communication unit 15 and the system control unit 11.

[0066] The storage unit 14 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive. This storage unit 14 may function as an example of at least one of the means of storing cooking service provider information and restaurant information. The cooking service provider information storage means may store cooking service provider information for each cooking service provider. The cooking service provider information may be information relating to cooking service providers. The restaurant information storage means may store restaurant information for each restaurant. The restaurant information may be information relating to restaurants. The cooking service provider information for a restaurant may correspond to the restaurant information. The storage unit 14 may store databases such as User DB 14a, Nutritional Intake Standards DB 14b, Food and Beverage DB 14c, Meal Record DB 14d, Cooking Service Provider DB 14e, Dishes Available for Cooking Service DB 14f, Availability of Ingredients Available for Cooking Service DB 14g, and Cooking Service Request DB 14h. "DB" is an abbreviation for database. At least one of these databases may be stored in the Recipe Server 2 or other server device instead of the Health Management Server 1. The health management server 1 may be able to access the database via its server device. Similarly, the recipe server 2 may be able to access the database stored in the storage unit 14 via the health management server 1.

[0067] Figure 4 shows an example of information stored in the database of the health management server 1. User DB 14a may store user information for each health management service user. For example, as shown in Figure 4, user DB 14a may store user information such as user ID, name, gender, date of birth, address, weight, email address, and importance information, all associated with each other. The user ID may be identification information used to identify the health management service user in the health management service. This user ID may also be identification information used to identify a user of the comprehensive internet service, for example. The importance information may indicate what the health management service user prioritizes in a healthy diet. The importance information may be set to either "calorie-focused" or "balance-focused." "Calorie-focused" indicates that the health management service user prioritizes not exceeding their calorie limit. "Balance-focused" indicates that the health management service user prioritizes nutritional balance, even if it means exceeding their calorie limit. For example, a health management service user may be able to set the information included in their user information using a health management application. The health management server 1 may store user information, including the set information, in user DB 14a.

[0068] Nutritional Reference Intake DB14b may store nutritional reference information indicating standards for nutritional intake for health, for each predetermined piece of information about the health management service user, or for each predetermined combination of information. The predetermined information may, for example, be information indicating the physical characteristics of the health management service user. Examples of predetermined information include gender, age group, and weight range. A combination of predetermined information may be, for example, a combination of any two of the pieces of information from gender, age group, and weight range, or a combination of all of the pieces of information. Hereafter, as an example, nutritional reference information may be stored for each combination of gender, age group, and weight range. Nutritional references may be, for example, standards, targets, guidelines, or recommendations for nutrient intake. The nutritional references indicated by the nutritional reference information may be nutritional references for a predetermined reference period. The length of the reference period may be one day or other lengths. For example, as shown in Figure 4, nutritional reference DB14b may store nutritional reference information such as gender, age group, weight range, nutrient intake standard information, and calorie upper limit, all associated with each other. Nutrition intake standard information may be information indicating a standard for nutrient intake. For example, nutrient intake reference information may be information indicating the standard nutrient intake within a reference period for a health management service user identified by a combination of gender, age, and weight range. The amount corresponding to the nutrient intake standard is called the reference amount. Examples of reference amounts include target amounts, adequate intake amounts, recommended intake amounts, required amounts, and tolerable upper intake levels. Here, the tolerable upper intake level may indicate the upper limit of habitual intake that is considered not to pose a risk of health damage. Nutrient intake standards may be set for each of one or more predetermined nutrients. These predetermined nutrients are called target nutrients. Examples of target nutrients include protein, lipids, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, selenium molybdenum, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B2, vitamin B12, folic acid, and salt. Note that information for a specific target nutrient may be substituted with information for nutrients belonging to its subordinate group.Nutritional intake reference information may include, for each target nutrient, a target intake, a recommended intake, or a required intake. Furthermore, for at least one target nutrient, the nutritional intake reference information may include a tolerable upper intake level in addition to the target intake, a recommended intake, a recommended intake, or a required intake. The types of reference levels included in the nutritional intake reference information may be predetermined for each target nutrient. Nutritional intake standards may indicate that the nutrient intake is within a predetermined range. For example, a nutrient intake standard may indicate that the intake is above a predetermined lower limit, below a predetermined upper limit, or above a predetermined lower limit and below a predetermined upper limit. Which of these conditions is used may be predetermined, for example, depending on the type of reference level or the target nutrient. Nutritional intake reference information may include at least one of the lower limit and upper limit, depending on which type of reference level is used. For example, the tolerable upper intake level may correspond to the upper limit. Furthermore, any of the reference amounts—target amount, adequate amount, recommended amount, and required amount—may include a lower limit and an upper limit. However, the reference amount for a specific target nutrient may include only one of the lower limit and upper limit. For example, nutrient intake reference information may include only the upper limit as the target amount for salt. The calorie limit may indicate the maximum number of calories that a health management service user, identified by a combination of gender, age, and weight range, may consume within a reference period.

[0069] Food and beverage DB14c may store food and beverage information for each food and beverage. For example, food and beverage DB14c may store food and beverage information such as food and beverage ID, food and beverage category ID, food and beverage name, food and beverage nutrient content information, food and beverage calories, and cooking price, all in association with each other. The food and beverage ID may be identification information that identifies the food and beverage. The food and beverage category ID may be identification information for identifying the category to which the food and beverage belongs. The food and beverage name may be text that indicates the name of the food and beverage. For example, the food and beverage name may include text that indicates one or more names for the food and beverage. Food and beverage nutrient content information is information about the nutrients contained in the food and beverage. For example, food and beverage nutrient content information may include the amount of each target nutrient in that meal. Food and beverage nutrient content information may indicate the amount of nutrients generally or on average contained in the food and beverage. Food and beverage calories may indicate the calories consumed from the food and beverage. Food and beverage calories may indicate the calories consumed generally or on average from the food and beverage. The cooking price may be valid if the food or beverage is one for which a cooking service can be requested. The cooking price may indicate the price of the dish. The cooking price may indicate the fee for the cooking service. The cooking price may also include the cost of ingredients.

[0070] The meal record DB14d may store meal record information that identifies the food and beverages included in a meal, as a record of the meals consumed by each health management service user. For example, as shown in Figure 4, the meal record DB14d may store meal record information such as user ID, meal date, meal category, food and beverage list, meal nutrient intake information, and meal calories, all associated with each other. The user ID may indicate the health management service user who consumed the meal. The meal date may indicate the date the meal was consumed. The meal category is identification information that identifies the category of the meal consumed. The meal category may also be a category that classifies meals by the approximate time of day when they are consumed. For example, meal categories may include breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In addition, there may be further categories such as snacks. The food and beverage list is a list of food and beverage IDs of the food and beverages included in the meal. The meal nutrient intake information is information about the nutrients consumed in that meal. For example, the food and beverage nutrient information may include the amount of each target nutrient contained in that meal. Dietary calories may also indicate the calories consumed from that meal.

[0071] The Cooking Service Provider DB14e may store basic information about cooking service providers who are registered with the health management service as cooking service providers who can use the cooking service matching system, for each cooking service provider. Basic cooking service provider information may be an example of cooking service provider information and restaurant information. For example, as shown in Figure 4, the Cooking Service Provider DB14e may store cooking service provider basic information such as cooking service provider ID, cooking service provider name, service provider category ID, address, telephone number, email address, service area information, cooking service provider image URL (Uniform Resource Locator), and appeal information, all linked together. The cooking service provider ID may be identification information that identifies the cooking service provider. The cooking service provider name may indicate the name of the cooking service provider. The service provider category ID may be identification information that identifies the category of the cooking service provider. Examples of cooking service provider categories include housekeeping service providers, restaurants, and individuals. Service area information may indicate one or more service areas in which the cooking service provider can provide meals. Examples of service areas include cities, towns, and villages. The area in which a cooking service provider can provide meals usually includes the cooking service provider's address. For example, a cooking service provider may be able to set the information included in the cooking service provider's basic information using an application such as a web browser. The health management server 1 may obtain the set information from the cooking service provider terminal 5 and store the cooking service provider's basic information, including the obtained information, in the cooking service provider DB 14e. Note that the service area information is not set by the cooking service provider, but rather service area information is pre-stored in the storage unit 14 for each region, assuming that the cooking service provider's address is in that region. The cooking service provider image URL may be identification information for identifying the image data of the cooking service provider image. The cooking service provider image may be an image related to that cooking service provider. For example, the cooking service provider image may be an image of the exterior or interior of the cooking service provider's base, business office, or office. Alternatively, the cooking service provider image may be an image of the cooking service provider themselves. Examples of image data formats include JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and PNG (Portable Network Graphics).The appeal information may also be text that shows what the cooking service provider wants to say to users of the health management service.

[0072] The "Cooking Service Available" DB14f may store cooking service available information for each cooking service provider, relating to the dishes that each provider is capable of preparing. For example, the "Cooking Service Available" DB14f may store cooking service available information for each combination of cooking service provider and the dishes they are capable of preparing. The cooking service available information may be an example of cooking service provider information and restaurant information. For example, as shown in Figure 4, the "Cooking Service Available" DB14f may store cooking service provider IDs and food / drink IDs, etc., associated with each other as cooking service available information. The food / drink ID may indicate food / drinks that the cooking service provider indicated by the cooking service provider ID is capable of preparing. If the cooking service provider is a restaurant, the dishes that the restaurant is capable of preparing may be dishes included in the restaurant's menu or dishes not included in the menu.

[0073] Figure 5 shows examples of dishes that can be prepared by a catering service. For example, as shown in Figure 5, let's assume that the catering service includes restaurants A and B. Dishes that can be prepared by a catering service at restaurant A include tomato spaghetti, Neapolitan spaghetti, pomodoro, meat spaghetti, and arrabiata. Dishes that can be prepared by a catering service at restaurant B include mushroom cream spaghetti, tomato sauce spaghetti, pescatore, arrabiata, and carbonara. Thus, the dishes that can be prepared by a catering service may differ depending on the catering service provider.

[0074] The Cooking Substitute Available Ingredients Availability DB14g may store inventory information for each cooking substitute, indicating the availability of ingredients that each cooking substitute has for use in cooking. For example, the Cooking Substitute Available Ingredients Availability DB14g may store inventory information for each combination of cooking substitute and ingredients. The inventory information may be an example of cooking substitute information and restaurant information. Each cooking substitute may decide what ingredients are available for cooking or how much of each ingredient they have. The restaurant's inventory information may indicate the availability of ingredients that the restaurant has in excess of the amount of ingredients it has to provide food at that restaurant. As shown in Figure 4, for example, the Cooking Substitute Available Ingredients Availability DB14g may store inventory information such as cooking substitute ID, ingredient ID, and inventory status, associated with each other. The inventory status may indicate whether the cooking substitute indicated by the cooking substitute ID has the ingredient indicated by the ingredient ID, or how much of it they have. For example, the ownership status may be set to either "Available" or "Not Available". "Available" may indicate that the ingredient is available to the cooking service provider as an ingredient that can be used for cooking. "Not Available" may indicate that the ingredient is not available to the cooking service provider as an ingredient that can be used for cooking. For example, the ownership status may also indicate the quantity of the ingredient available to the cooking service provider. For example, the quantity may be the number of pieces, weight, or volume. The initial value of the ownership status may be, for example, "Not Available" or 0. Note that ownership statuses indicating "Available" or "Not Available" and ownership statuses indicating quantity may be stored together in the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Ownership Status DB14g. Note that ownership status information for commonly used seasonings such as salt, sugar, and pepper does not have to be stored in the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Ownership Status DB14g.

[0075] Figures 6(a) and 6(b) illustrate examples of the availability of ingredients that can be used for cooking services. As shown in Figure 6(a), the cooking service provider is assumed to include restaurant C. Figure 6(a) shows whether each ingredient is available or not. For example, restaurant C has carrots, leeks, and potatoes as ingredients that can be used for cooking services. Restaurant C may have extra of these ingredients. Therefore, in addition to the ingredients that can be used for cooking services, restaurant C may also have carrots, leeks, and potatoes as ingredients that it uses for its normal operations. Restaurant C does not have any radishes, tomatoes, or onions as ingredients that can be used for cooking services. Restaurant C may have all of at least one of the radishes, tomatoes, and onions for use in its normal operations. Alternatively, restaurant C may not use at least one of the radishes, tomatoes, and onions for its normal operations.

[0076] Figure 6(b) shows the quantity of each ingredient available. Restaurant C has 0 radishes, 4 carrots, 0 tomatoes, 0 onions, 5 leeks, and 4 potatoes. Therefore, Restaurant C has carrots, leeks, and potatoes available as ingredients for cooking services.

[0077] The Cooking Assistance Request DB14h may store cooking assistance request record information related to each cooking assistance service indicated by the cooking assistance request information sent to the cooking assistance provider 5. For example, as shown in Figure 4, the Cooking Assistance Request DB14h may store cooking assistance request record information such as request ID, requester ID, recipient cooking assistance provider ID, recipe ID, recipe poster ID, request date and time, cooking price, number of people served, delivery fee, payment amount, request status, and invoice number, all associated with each other. The request ID may be identification information for identifying the cooking assistance request. The requester ID may be the user ID of the person requesting the cooking assistance. The recipient cooking assistance provider ID may be the cooking assistance provider ID of the cooking assistance provider to whom the request was made. The recipe ID may be identification information for identifying the recipe of the dish for which the cooking assistance was requested. The recipe poster ID may be the user ID of the recipe poster who posted the recipe. The request date and time may indicate the date and time when the cooking assistance request information was sent. The cooking price may indicate the price per serving of the requested dish. The number of servings may indicate how many servings of food have been requested. The delivery fee may indicate the cost of delivering the cooked food from the cooking service provider to the client. For example, the delivery fee may be a fixed rate. Alternatively, the delivery fee may be determined based on the combination of the client's location and the cooking service provider's location. The payment amount may indicate the amount of money the client should pay to the health management service provider for the cooking service. For example, the payment amount may be the sum of the total price calculated by multiplying the cooking price by the number of servings and the delivery fee. The request status may indicate the status of the cooking service request, indicated by the request ID. For example, the request status may be set to "Request submitted," "Request rejected," "Request accepted," "In transit," and "Delivered." "Request Submitted" may indicate that after the request for cooking assistance has been submitted, the cooking assistance provider has not yet chosen whether or not to accept the request. "Request Rejected" may indicate that the request for cooking assistance has been rejected by the cooking assistance provider."Request Accepted" may indicate that the request for cooking assistance has been accepted by the cooking assistance provider, and that the food to be cooked has not yet been picked up by the delivery person from the cooking assistance provider. "In Transit" may indicate that the food to be cooked assistance is in transit. "Delivered" may indicate that the delivery of the food to be cooked assistance has been completed. The tracking number may indicate the tracking number of the delivery slip attached to the food when the delivery person picks it up from the cooking assistance provider.

[0078] The storage unit 14 may also store image data of each cooking assistant, associated with the cooking assistant image URL. Furthermore, the storage unit 14 may store various programs such as an operating system, a DBMS (Database Management System), and a health management server program. The health management server program may be a program that causes the system control unit 11 to execute various processes related to health management services. The health management server program may be acquired from another device via a network NW, for example, or it may be recorded on a recording medium such as magnetic tape, optical disk, or memory card and read via a drive device.

[0079] The communication unit 15 may be configured, for example, by a network interface card. The communication unit 15 may connect to a device different from the health management server 1 via a network NW and control the communication status with the connected device.

[0080] [1-2-2. Recipe Server] Next, the configuration of the recipe server 2 will be described with reference to Figures 7 and 8. Figure 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the recipe server 2 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 7, the recipe server 2 includes a system control unit 21, a system bus 22, an input / output interface 23, a storage unit 24, and a communication unit 25. The system control unit 21 and the input / output interface 23 are connected via the system bus 22.

[0081] The system control unit 21 is composed of a CPU 21a, ROM 21b, RAM 21c, etc.

[0082] The input / output interface 23 performs interface processing between the storage unit 24 and the communication unit 25 and the system control unit 21.

[0083] The storage unit 24 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive. This storage unit 14 may function as an example of at least one of the means of storing recipe information and material information. The recipe information storage means may store recipe information for each recipe. The recipe information may be information that indicates a recipe. The material information storage means may store material information for each recipe. The material information may be information that indicates the materials used in the recipe. The recipe information may include material information. For example, the storage unit 14 may store databases such as recipe DB 24a and material DB 24b. At least one of these databases may be stored in the health management server 1 or another server device, rather than in the recipe server 2. The recipe server 2 may be able to access the databases via its server device. Also, the health management server 1 may be able to access the databases stored in the storage unit 24 via the recipe server 2.

[0084] Figure 8 shows an example of information stored in the database of Recipe Server 2. Recipe DB24a may store recipe information indicating each recipe posted to the recipe service. For example, as shown in Figure 8, Recipe DB24a may store recipe information such as recipe ID, user ID, recipe category ID, recipe title, cooking image URL, recipe comments, number of servings per ingredient, ingredient information, cooking instructions, cooking instructions image URL, dish name, food ID, recipe dish nutrient information, and recipe dish calories, all of which are associated with each other. The recipe ID may be identification information for identifying a posted recipe. The user ID may be identification information for identifying the recipe poster who posted the recipe in the recipe service. This user ID may also be identification information for identifying a user of the Internet Comprehensive Service. In this case, the user ID for the recipe service may be the same as the user ID for the health management service. The recipe category ID may be identification information for identifying the category of the recipe. The recipe title may be text indicating the title of the recipe. The recipe title may include the name of the dish cooked in that recipe. The cooking image URL may be identification information for identifying the image data of the dish. The cooking image may be an image of a dish prepared using that recipe. The recipe comment may be text that provides a brief explanation of the recipe by the recipe poster. The number of servings the ingredients are for may indicate how many servings the quantities of ingredients included in the recipe information are for. The ingredient information may be information about the ingredients used in that recipe. One or more ingredient information entries may be stored for a single recipe. Each ingredient information entry may include, for example, the ingredient name and quantity. The ingredient name may be text indicating the name of the ingredient. The quantity may be text indicating how much of the ingredient is needed. The cooking instructions may be text indicating at least one of the cooking method and procedure. The cooking image URL may be identification information to identify the image data of the cooking instructions image. The cooking instructions image may be an image showing how to cook according to that recipe. The dish name is the name of the dish prepared using that recipe.If the recipe title includes the name of the dish, the recipe information does not need to include a separate name of the dish from the recipe title. The food and beverage ID may indicate the food or beverage that can be prepared using that recipe. The recipe nutrient information may be information that allows for the identification of the amount of nutrients contained in the dish that can be prepared using that recipe. For example, the food and beverage nutrient information may include the amount of each target nutrient in one serving of that dish. The recipe calorie information may indicate the calories consumed in one serving of the dish prepared using that recipe.

[0085] The ingredient database 24b may store basic ingredient information for each ingredient in a dish. For example, as shown in Figure 8, the ingredient database 24b may store basic ingredient information such as ingredient ID, ingredient category ID, ingredient name, ingredient nutrient content information, and ingredient calories, all associated with each other. The ingredient ID may be identification information for identifying an ingredient. The ingredient category ID may be identification information for identifying the category to which the ingredient belongs. The ingredient name may be text indicating the name of the ingredient. For example, the ingredient name may include text indicating one or more names for the ingredient. The ingredient nutrient content information may indicate the amount of nutrients contained in the ingredient. For example, the ingredient nutrient content information may include the amount of that target nutrient per unit quantity in that ingredient for each target nutrient. The ingredient calories may indicate the calories consumed per unit quantity of that ingredient.

[0086] The storage unit 24 may also store image data of the dishes for each recipe, associated with the URL of the dish image. Furthermore, the storage unit 24 may store image data of the instructions for each recipe, associated with the URL of the instructions image. Additionally, the storage unit 24 may store screen information for each recipe's recipe screen, associated with the URL of that screen information. The URL of the recipe screen information may include, for example, the recipe ID. The recipe screen may display information specific to a particular recipe. The recipe screen may display information included in the recipe information. This screen information may be, for example, an HTML document, information indicating elements included in the screen, or information indicating instructions for displaying the screen. For example, each time the recipe information of a submitted recipe is stored in the recipe DB 24a, the recipe server 2 may generate screen information for the recipe screen based on that recipe information and store the generated screen information in the storage unit 24.

[0087] Furthermore, the storage unit 24 may store various programs such as an operating system, a DBMS, and a recipe server program. The recipe server program may be a program that causes the system control unit 21 to execute various processes related to the recipe service. The recipe server program may be acquired from another device via a network NW, or it may be recorded on a recording medium such as magnetic tape, optical disk, or memory card and read via a drive device.

[0088] The communication unit 25 may be configured, for example, by a network interface card. The communication unit 25 may connect to a device different from the recipe server 2 via a network NW and control the communication status with the connected device.

[0089] [1-2-3. Point Management Server] Next, the configuration of the point management server 3 will be described with reference to Figures 9 and 10. Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the overview configuration of the point management server 3 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, the point management server 3 includes a system control unit 31, a system bus 32, an input / output interface 33, a storage unit 34, and a communication unit 35. The system control unit 31 and the input / output interface 33 are connected via the system bus 32.

[0090] The system control unit 31 is composed of a CPU 31a, ROM 31b, RAM 31c, and the like.

[0091] The input / output interface 33 performs interface processing between the storage unit 34 and the communication unit 35 and the system control unit 31.

[0092] The storage unit 34 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive. A database such as the Available Points DB 34a may be stored in this storage unit 34. Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the database of the point management server 3. The Available Points DB 34a may store information about each user's available points. Available points may be points that a user possesses that can be used to pay for the purchase amount of a transaction in the points program. For example, as shown in Figure 10, the Available Points DB 34a may store the user ID and the number of available points, etc., in association with each other. The number of available points may indicate the number of available points held by the user indicated by the user ID.

[0093] The storage unit 34 may also store various programs such as an operating system, a DBMS, and a point management server program. The point management server program may be a program that causes the system control unit 31 to execute various points-related processes of the point program. The point management server program may be acquired from another device via a network NW, for example, or it may be recorded on a recording medium such as magnetic tape, optical disk, or memory card and read via a drive device.

[0094] The communication unit 35 may be configured, for example, by a network interface card. The communication unit 35 may connect to a device different from the point management server 3 via a network NW and control the communication status with the connected device.

[0095] [1-3. Overview of Functions] [1-3-1. Health Management Server] Next, the functional overview of the system control unit 11 in the health management server 1 will be described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. Figure 11 is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 11 in the health management server 1 according to this embodiment. The system control unit 11 may function as shown in Figure 11, by having the CPU 11a read and execute various program codes included in the health management server program, including a cooking service available information receiving unit 1101, a cooking service available information storage control unit 1102, a cooking service available ingredient availability information receiving unit 1103, a cooking service available ingredient availability storage control unit 1104, a nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105, a nutrition intake standard information acquisition unit 1106, a recipe information search control unit 1107, a suggested recipe information transmission unit 1108, a selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109, a cooking service provider search unit 1110, a cooking service provider suggestion order determination unit 1111, a suggested cooking service provider information transmission unit 1112, a selected cooking service provider identification information receiving unit 1113, a cooking service request information transmission unit 1114, a reception information receiving unit 1115, a delivery request information transmission unit 1116, a reward granting unit 1117, etc.

[0096] [1-3-1-1. Information registration by the cooking service provider] The Cooking Service Available Information Receiving Unit 1101 may receive Cooking Service Available Information from the Cooking Service Terminal 5. The Cooking Service Available Information may indicate dishes that the Cooking Service can prepare. For example, the Cooking Service Available Information may include identification information for identifying one or more dishes that can be prepared. Examples of this identification information include the food ID and dish name. The Cooking Service Available Information Receiving Unit 1101 may, for example, transmit screen information of the Cooking Service Available Registration Screen to the Cooking Service Terminal 5, thereby displaying the Cooking Service Available Registration Screen on the Cooking Service Terminal 5. The Cooking Service Available Registration Screen may be a screen for registering dishes that can be prepared. On the Cooking Service Available Registration Screen, the Cooking Service may be able to input search criteria for dishes. Examples of search criteria include the dish name (food name) and the category of the dish (food). The Health Management Server 1 may search for dishes that meet the entered search criteria. For example, it may be possible to determine whether or not a food item is a dish based on its category. The cooking service available food information receiving unit 1101 may, for example, send information about the searched dishes to the cooking service terminal 5, thereby displaying a list of the searched dishes on the cooking service available registration screen. The cooking service provider may select one or more dishes that can be cooked from the list. The cooking service terminal 5 may, for example, send cooking service available food information, including a list of food IDs for the selected dishes and the cooking service provider's cooking service provider ID, to the health management server 1.

[0097] The Cooking Service Available Information Storage Control Unit 1102 may store the Cooking Service Available Information received by the Cooking Service Available Information Receiving Unit 1101 in the Storage Unit 14 in association with the cooks who will be providing the service. For example, the Cooking Service Available Information Storage Control Unit 1102 may store each food and beverage ID included in the Cooking Service Available Information in the Cooking Service Available Information DB 14f in association with the cooks who will be providing the service.

[0098] The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information Receiving Unit 1103 may receive Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information from the Cooking Service Terminal 5. The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information may indicate the availability of ingredients that the cooking service provider can use for cooking. The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information may also indicate the availability status entered by the cooking service provider. The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information may include, for example, an ingredient ID and the availability status of the ingredient indicated by that ingredient ID. The availability status may be indicated, for example, by the presence or absence of the ingredient. Alternatively, the availability status may be indicated by the quantity of the ingredient. The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information Receiving Unit 1103 may, for example, transmit screen information of the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen to the Cooking Service Terminal 5, thereby causing the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen to be displayed on the Cooking Service Terminal 5. The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen may be a screen for setting or changing the availability status of ingredients that can be used for cooking. The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen may, for example, display a list of ingredients. For example, a list of ingredients pre-registered by the cooking service provider may be displayed as ingredients whose availability is managed. The cooking service provider may change the availability status of at least one ingredient from among the ingredients displayed on the cooking service availability setting screen. The cooking service provider terminal 5 may send the cooking service availability information, including the ingredient ID of the ingredient whose availability status has been changed, the changed availability status, and the cooking service provider ID of the cooking service provider, to the health management server 1.

[0099] If the cooking service provider is a restaurant, the information on the availability of ingredients for cooking service may also be information on surplus ingredients. Surplus ingredient information may indicate the amount of ingredients that the restaurant has in excess. For example, surplus ingredient information may indicate the amount of ingredients that the restaurant has in excess of the amount of ingredients it has to provide food to the restaurant. Alternatively, surplus ingredient information may indicate the amount of ingredients that the restaurant has that it does not intend to use to provide food to the restaurant. Alternatively, surplus ingredient information may indicate the amount of ingredients that the restaurant does not intend to use to prepare food according to its own established recipes. A restaurant's primary business is to prepare food according to its established recipes for customers who come to the restaurant and to serve the prepared food to the customers. Therefore, ingredients that the restaurant has to prepare food do not need to be included in the ingredients available for cooking service. For example, even if ingredients are purchased by a restaurant to prepare food for its customers, it may be expected that some ingredients will be left over depending on the number of customers who visit the restaurant afterward. Also, restaurants may purchase ingredients in excess of their usual quantity. In that case, there may be surplus ingredients from the beginning. Restaurants may enter the availability of ingredients that are no longer intended for use in preparing meals at their restaurant, or any surplus ingredients, as ingredients that can be used for the cooking service, on the cooking service availability setting screen.

[0100] If the cooking service provider is also a housekeeping service provider, all ingredients owned by that housekeeping service provider may be available for use in cooking. Housekeeping service providers specialize in providing housekeeping services. Cooking services are included in housekeeping services. Typically, cooking ingredients are used solely for cooking services.

[0101] The cooking service availability information storage control unit 1104 may store the cooking service availability information received by the cooking service availability information receiving unit 1103 in the storage unit 14. For example, the cooking service availability information storage control unit 1104 may associate the material ID, availability status, and cooking service provider ID included in the cooking service availability information and store them in the cooking service availability DB 14g. If the cooking service availability information is surplus material information, the cooking service availability information storage control unit 1104 may store that surplus material information in the storage unit 14 as cooking service availability information.

[0102] [1-3-1-2. Providing recipe information] The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire nutritional intake information. The nutritional intake information may show the nutritional intake status of the health management service user. The nutritional intake status may include what nutrients the health management service user has consumed so far. Furthermore, the nutritional intake status may include the amount of nutrients the health management service user has consumed so far.

[0103] The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire nutritional intake information from, for example, the health management service user terminal 7. The nutritional intake information acquired from the health management service user terminal 7 may be, for example, meal record information. In this case, the meal record information does not have to include either meal nutrient intake information or meal calories. The meal record information is information that indicates the food and beverages contained in the meals consumed by the health management service user. The nutritional intake status can be identified from the food and beverages contained in the meals consumed by the health management service user. Therefore, even if it does not include either meal nutrient intake information or meal calories, the meal record information can still be considered nutritional intake information. The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may, for example, transmit screen information of the meal addition screen to the health management service user terminal 7, thereby displaying the meal addition screen on the cooking agent terminal 5. The meal addition screen may be a screen for adding the contents of meals consumed by the health management service user. On the meal addition screen, the health management service user may be able to select the meal date and meal category. Also, on the meal addition screen, it may be possible to input search conditions for food and beverages. Examples of search criteria include the name of the food or beverage and the category of the food or beverage. The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may search for food or beverages that meet the entered search criteria. The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may, for example, transmit the information of the searched food or beverages to the health management service user terminal 7, thereby displaying a list of the searched food or beverages on the meal addition screen. Alternatively, the health management service user may take an image of the food or beverages they are about to consume using the camera provided in the health management service user terminal 7. The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may identify the food or beverages from the image using image recognition based on the data of the captured image. The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may transmit the information of the identified food or beverages to the health management service user terminal 7, thereby displaying a list of the searched food or beverages on the meal addition screen. The health management service user may select the food or beverages they consumed from the list. The health management service user terminal 7 may, for example, send a list of food and beverage IDs of selected food and beverages, along with meal record information including the user ID of the health management service user, the date of the meal, and the meal category, to the health management server 1.

[0104] The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may store the meal record information acquired from the health management service user terminal 7 in the meal record DB 14d. At this time, the nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may determine at least one of the meal nutrient intake information and meal calories based on the meal record information. For example, the nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire the food nutrient amount information and food calories associated with each food ID included in the food and beverage list from the food and beverage DB 14c. For example, the nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may calculate the intake of each target nutrient in the meal by adding up the amounts of that target nutrient included in the acquired food nutrient amount information for each target nutrient. The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may generate meal nutrient intake information that includes the calculated intake of each target nutrient. The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may also calculate meal calories by adding up the acquired food calories. The nutrition intake information acquisition unit 1105 may store information on meal nutrient intake and meal calories in the meal record DB 14d.

[0105] The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire nutritional intake information from the storage unit 14. The nutritional intake information acquired from the storage unit 14 may be, for example, at least one of the dietary nutrient intake information and dietary calories stored in the meal record DB 14d.

[0106] The nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire nutrition intake status information that shows the status of nutrition intake within a reference period, including the present. For example, the nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire meal record information that includes meal days within the reference period. In this case, the nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire, for example, a list of food and beverages included in all acquired meal record information as the final nutrition intake status information. Alternatively, for example, the nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire at least one of the meal nutrient intake information and meal calories associated with meal days within the reference period for the target health management service user from the meal record DB 14d. In this case, for example, the nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105 may calculate the intake of a target nutrient within the reference period by adding up the intake amounts of that target nutrient included in all acquired meal nutrient intake information for each target nutrient. Alternatively, for example, the nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105 may calculate the calorie intake within the reference period by adding up all acquired meal calories. The calorie intake indicates the calories consumed within that reference period. The nutrition intake information acquisition unit 1105 may acquire final nutrition intake information that includes at least one of the calculated intake amounts of target nutrients and the calculated dietary calories.

[0107] The nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may acquire nutrient intake standard information indicating a standard for nutrient intake. The nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may also acquire a calorie limit indicating the maximum amount of calories that can be consumed. For example, the nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may acquire nutrient intake standard information and a calorie limit from the nutrient intake standard DB 14b. The nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may, for example, acquire nutrient intake standard information indicating a standard for nutrient intake according to the physical characteristics of the health management service user. Examples of physical characteristics include gender, age, and weight. The nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may also acquire nutrient intake standard information indicating a standard for nutrient intake according to the health management service user's purpose. In this case, the nutrient intake standard DB 14b may store nutrient intake standard information and a calorie limit for each purpose. For example, each user may be able to select their purpose in advance. Alternatively, the health management server 1 may present several questions to the health management service user terminal 7. A health management service user may determine their final objective by answering these questions. For example, identification information identifying the selected objective may be stored in the user DB 14a. The nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may acquire nutrient intake standard information and calorie limits from the nutrient intake standard DB 14b based on the identification information stored in the user DB 14a. Alternatively, the health management service user may be able to set a standard amount of nutrient intake in advance for the desired nutrients. The health management service user may also be able to set a calorie limit in advance. In this case, the nutrient intake standard DB 14b may store nutrient intake standard information and calorie limits for each user. The nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may acquire nutrient intake standard information, including the set nutrient intake standard amount, and the set calorie limit from the health management service user terminal 7. The nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may store the acquired nutrient intake standard information and calorie limits in the nutrient intake standard DB 14b. Furthermore, the nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 may, when necessary, acquire nutrient intake standard information and calorie upper limits again from the nutrient intake standard DB 14b.

[0108] The recipe information search control unit 1107 may cause the recipe server 2 to search for recipe information for one or more recipes corresponding to the nutritional intake status of the health management service user, based on the nutritional intake status information acquired by the nutritional intake status information acquisition unit 1105. The recipe information search control unit 1107 may, for example, cause the recipe server 2 to perform a search by sending a recipe search request to the recipe server 2. The recipe search request may include, for example, nutritional intake status information. The recipe search request may also include important information stored in the user DB 14a for the health management service user. Here, in addition to the nutritional intake status information, the recipe information search control unit 1107 may cause the recipe server 2 to search for recipe information based on the nutritional intake standard information acquired by the nutritional intake standard information acquisition unit 1106. In this case, the recipe search request may include both nutritional intake status information and nutritional intake standard information.

[0109] The recipe information search control unit 1107 may accept input of recipe search criteria from the health management service user terminal 7. Examples of recipe search criteria include the recipe title, dish name, ingredient name, other keywords, and recipe category. The recipe information search control unit 1107 may also send a recipe search request including the recipe search criteria to the recipe server 2.

[0110] The recipe information search control unit 1107 may obtain recipe search result information from the recipe server 2, which indicates the results of the recipe search. The recipe search result information may include, for example, individual recipe information for each searched recipe. The individual recipe information may include information contained in the recipe information stored in the recipe DB 24a for each searched recipe. The individual recipe information may include, for example, a recipe ID, recipe title, cooking image URL, ingredient information, URL of the recipe screen information, food ID of the cookable dish, user ID of the recipe poster, etc. Furthermore, the individual recipe information may also include the presentation order of the recipe. The presentation order of the recipe may indicate the priority of presenting the recipe to the health management service user. The presentation order may also indicate the position or timing at which the recipe is displayed. The higher the presentation order, the more preferentially the recipe may be presented. For example, recipes may be presented in the order according to the presentation order.

[0111] There are cases where the user of the health management service does not enter meal record information for meals consumed within the reference period. In this case, the nutrition intake status information acquisition unit 1105 cannot acquire the nutrition intake status information corresponding to that reference period. In this case, the recipe information search control unit 1107 may determine that the recipe cannot be searched. The recipe information search control unit 1107 may also send information to the health management service user terminal 7 indicating that the recipe cannot be searched, without sending a recipe search request.

[0112] The suggested recipe information transmission unit 1108 may transmit suggested recipe information to the health management service user terminal 7. The suggested recipe information may be suggested information indicating that one or more recipes from among the recipes registered in the recipe service are available for presentation. For example, the suggested recipe information transmission unit 1108 may transmit suggested recipe information indicating that one or more recipes from among the viewable recipes or recipes posted by recipe contributors are available for presentation. Alternatively, the suggested recipe information transmission unit 1108 may transmit suggested recipe information indicating that one or more recipes retrieved by the recipe server 2 are available for presentation to the health management service user terminal 7.

[0113] The suggested recipe information transmission unit 1108 may transmit screen information of the recipe search results screen to the health management service user terminal 7 as an example of suggested recipe information. The recipe search results screen may be a screen that displays the search results for recipes. For example, the recipe search results screen may include a suggested recipe information display area for each searched recipe. The suggested recipe information display area may include, for example, the recipe title, ingredient names, and a cooking image. The suggested recipe information display areas may be arranged within the recipe search results screen in an order according to the suggested order. The suggested recipe information transmission unit 1108 may generate screen information for the recipe search results screen based on the recipe search results information obtained from the recipe server 2.

[0114] As another example of the presented recipe information, the presented recipe information transmission unit 1108 may transmit the screen information of the recipe screen of a recipe selected by the health management service user from among the recipes searched by the recipe server 2 to the health management service user terminal 7. For example, the health management service user can select the presented recipe information display area of ​​a desired recipe from the recipe search results screen displayed on the health management service user terminal 7. The health management service user terminal 7 may send a recipe screen request to the health management server 1, which includes the URL of the screen information of the recipe screen of the recipe corresponding to the selected presented recipe information display area. The presented recipe information transmission unit 1108 may obtain the screen information of the recipe screen from the recipe server 2 by, for example, sending the URL included in the recipe screen request to the recipe server 2. The presented recipe information transmission unit 1108 may display the recipe screen information on the health management service user terminal 7 by transmitting the obtained recipe screen information to the health management service user terminal 7. Alternatively, the system control unit 21 of the recipe server 2 may function as the presented recipe information transmission unit 1108. In this case, the health management service user terminal 7 may send a recipe screen request to the recipe server 2. The recipe server 2 may send screen information of the recipe screen to the health management service user terminal 7 in response to the recipe screen request. The recipe screen may include, for example, a recipe title, a cooking image, recipe comments, the number of servings the ingredients can serve, a list of ingredients, text showing how to make it, a cooking image, and the name of the dish. The list of ingredients may include the name and quantity of each ingredient. The recipe screen may also include a cooking price and a recipe selection element for requesting cooking assistance. The cooking price may indicate the price of the dish if the health management service user requests cooking assistance for a dish that can be made using that recipe. The recipe selection element for requesting cooking assistance may be an element that the recipe screen can operate on to select a recipe for which the health management service user requests cooking assistance. Examples of operable elements include buttons, icons, links, and menu items.

[0115] [1-3-1-3. Search for a cooking service provider] The selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109 may receive selected recipe identification information from the health management service user terminal 7, which identifies the selected recipe among the one or more recipes indicated by the presented recipe information transmitted by the presented recipe information transmitting unit 1108 that the health management service user has selected as the recipe for which they wish to request cooking assistance. The selected recipe identification information may be, for example, a recipe ID. For example, the health management service user operates a cooking assistance request recipe selection element included in the recipe screen displayed on the health management service user terminal 7. In response to this operation, the health management service user terminal 7 may send a selected recipe cooking assistance request request to the health management server 1, which includes the recipe ID of the recipe corresponding to the recipe screen. Note that each presented recipe information display area included in the recipe search results screen may also include a cooking assistance request recipe selection element. When the health management service user operates a cooking assistance request recipe selection element in any of the presented recipe information display areas, the health management service user terminal 7 may send a selected recipe cooking assistance request request to the health management server 1, which includes the recipe ID of the recipe corresponding to the operated cooking assistance request recipe selection element.

[0116] Here, the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109 may function to allow the health management service user to specify the food provision conditions. The food provision conditions may indicate the conditions under which the food prepared by the cooking service will be provided to the cooking service requester. Examples of food provision conditions include the number of people to be served, the location to be served, and the date and time of service. The number of people to be served may indicate how many servings of food will be provided. If the number of people to be served is not specified as a food provision condition, the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109 may assume that the number of people to be served is 1. The location to be served may indicate the place where the food will be served. For example, the location to be served may indicate the place where the food will be delivered. The location to be served may be indicated by an address, for example. If the location to be served is not specified as a food provision condition, the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109 may assume that the location to be served is the address of the cooking service requester. The date and time to be served may indicate the date and time on which the food will be served. For example, the date and time to be served may indicate the date and time on which the food will be delivered. If the date and time of service are not specified as a condition for providing the food, the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109 may, for example, assume that the food will be provided as soon as possible. The health management service user terminal 7 may send a request for cooking assistance for a selected recipe, including the food provision conditions, to the health management server 1.

[0117] After the selected recipe identification information is received by the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for one or more cooking service providers who meet predetermined conditions from among multiple cooking service providers registered with the health management service as cooking service providers who can use the cooking service matching system. These predetermined conditions are called cooking service request destination conditions. The cooking service request destination conditions may also be conditions for the destination of a request for cooking service using the selected recipe identified by the selected recipe identification information. For example, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for cooking service providers who meet the cooking service destination conditions based on cooking service provider information stored for each cooking service provider in the storage unit 14. The cooking service provider information may also be information about the cooking service provider. For example, the cooking service provider information may include at least one of the following: basic cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider DB 14e, cooking service available dish information stored in the cooking service available dish DB 14f, and availability information stored in the cooking service available ingredient availability DB 14g. The catering service provider search unit 1110 may search for one or more restaurants that meet the conditions for requesting catering services, based on the restaurant information stored in the storage unit 14 as catering service provider information.

[0118] The conditions for requesting a catering service may or may not include the requirement that the location of the health management service user is within the geographical service area where the food prepared by the catering service can be provided. The catering service provider search unit 1110 may search for catering service providers whose location is within the service area of ​​the health management service user. Here, the catering service provider search unit 1110 may search for one or more restaurants whose location is within the service area of ​​the health management service user. The catering service provider search unit 1110 may perform the search, for example, based on the health management service user location information and the service area information. The health management service user location information may be information indicating the location of the health management service user. The health management service user location information may include, for example, the address of the food provision location. The address of the provision location may be, for example, the address of the health management service user or the address of the provision location specified by the health management service user as a food provision condition. The service area information may be information that clearly indicates the service area in which the food prepared by the catering service can be provided by the restaurant. The service area information may be information stored in the storage unit 14 for each catering service provider. The scope of service information may include, for example, service area information or the address of the cooking service provider. If the cooking service provider is a restaurant, the service area information may correspond to the restaurant's location information. If the scope of service information is service area information, the health management service user's location being within the service area may mean, for example, that the service location is within the area indicated by the service area information. If the service area information includes the address of the cooking service provider, examples of the health management service user's location being within the service area include the service location being within a predetermined distance from the cooking service provider's address, the travel time from the cooking service provider's address to the service location being within a predetermined time, and the service location being in the same area as the area including the cooking service provider's address. Examples of the distance from the cooking service provider's address to the service location include the straight-line distance between the cooking service provider's address and the service location, and the travel distance from the cooking service provider's address to the service location. The travel distance may be, for example, the distance traveled by a delivery person using roads. The travel time may be, for example, the time required for a delivery person to travel from the cooking service provider's address to the service location using roads. For example, a map database may be stored in the memory unit 14.The map database may store, for example, the coordinates of the points where each road connects to other roads, the distance of each road, etc. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may calculate the travel distance or travel time based on the map database. In this way, the straight-line distance, travel distance, travel time, or region can be identified based on the cooking service provider's address. Therefore, the cooking service provider's address can correspond to service area information that can identify the geographical service area in which the cooking service provider can provide the food they have prepared.

[0119] The conditions for requesting a cooking service provider may or may not include the requirement that the provider be able to cook dishes that can be prepared using the selected recipe. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for cooking service providers who are capable of preparing those dishes. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may perform the search, for example, based on the selected recipe identification information and the information on dishes that can be prepared using the cooking service provider stored in the cooking service provider dish database 14f. For example, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may obtain dish identification information to identify dishes that can be prepared using the selected recipe. The dish identification information may be information included in the recipe information. Examples of dish identification information include the food ID and the dish name. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for cooking service providers who are capable of preparing those dishes by searching the cooking service provider ID associated with the food ID from the cooking service provider dish database 14f. Alternatively, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may obtain the food ID of the dish indicated by the dish name from the food ID database 14c. The food preparation service provider search unit 1110 may search for a food preparation service provider capable of preparing that dish by searching the food preparation service provider ID associated with the acquired food and beverage ID from the available dishes database 14f.

[0120] The conditions for requesting a cooking service provider may or may not include the requirement that the provider possesses the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking services. For example, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for a cooking service provider that possesses the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking services. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may also search for a cooking service provider that possesses all the ingredients used in the selected recipe. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may, for example, perform a search based on the ingredient information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe from the recipe information stored in the recipe DB 24a and the availability information stored in the cooking service available ingredients possession status DB 14g. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may, for example, obtain the ingredient information stored in the recipe DB 24a for the selected recipe from the recipe server 2. Alternatively, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may obtain the ingredient information of the selected recipe from the recipe search result information. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may obtain the material IDs of the materials used in the selected recipe from the material DB 24b by searching the material DB 24b for material names that match each material name included in the material information. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may also search the material availability status DB 14g for the ownership status associated with each obtained material ID. Based on the retrieved ownership status, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may determine whether the cooking service provider indicated by the cooking service provider ID associated with that ownership status possesses each material. For example, if the ownership status indicates "Yes", the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may determine that the material is possessed by the cooking service provider. Alternatively, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for cooking service providers who possess the materials used in the selected recipe in the quantities necessary for cooking service, as materials available for cooking service. Here, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for one or more restaurants that have more than the amount of ingredients used in the selected recipe that is necessary for cooking service, in excess of the amount of ingredients that the restaurant has to provide the food. For example, suppose the availability status indicates the quantity. In this case, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may calculate the amount of one serving of the ingredients by dividing the amount included in the ingredient information by the number of people the ingredients correspond to, as included in the recipe information.The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may determine that the ingredients are held by the cooking service provider if the quantity indicated by the holding status is equal to or greater than the amount for one serving. If the health management service user can specify the number of people to be served, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may calculate the amount of the ingredients for the number of people to be served by multiplying the amount for one serving of the ingredients by the number of people to be served. Then, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may determine that the ingredients are held by the cooking service provider if the quantity indicated by the holding status is equal to or greater than the amount for the number of people to be served.

[0121] The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for one or more restaurants that have the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking service. Here, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may also search for one or more restaurants that have extra of the ingredients used in the selected recipe. As mentioned above, when the cooking service provider is a restaurant, the information on the availability of ingredients for cooking service may be surplus ingredient information indicating the amount of ingredients that the restaurant has in excess. Restaurants may have to discard the extra ingredients they have at some point. By searching for restaurants that have extra of the ingredients used in the selected recipe, it is possible that cooking service requests will be made to the found restaurants. Restaurants that accept cooking service requests can carry out the cooking service using the extra ingredients they have. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the loss of ingredients that restaurants have.

[0122] Figure 12 shows an example of searching for a cooking service provider. As shown in Figure 12, the cooking service providers registered with the health management service include at least restaurants D, E, and F. The dish that can be cooked using the recipe selected by the health management service user is spaghetti with tomato sauce. The ingredients used in the selected recipe are spaghetti, tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Here, it may be assumed that all cooking service providers have salt and pepper. In this case, the availability of salt and pepper does not need to be stored in the cooking service ingredient availability DB14g. As shown in Figure 12, restaurant D can cook spaghetti with tomato sauce. Also, restaurant D has spaghetti, tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil as ingredients that can be used for cooking service. However, restaurant D does not have onions as ingredients that can be used for cooking service. Therefore, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may determine that restaurant D does not meet the requirements for a cooking service provider. Restaurant E is capable of cooking spaghetti with tomato sauce. Furthermore, restaurant E has all of the ingredients available for cooking service: spaghetti, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and olive oil. Therefore, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may determine that restaurant E meets the requirements for a cooking service provider. Restaurant F has all of the ingredients available for cooking service: spaghetti, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and olive oil. However, restaurant F is not capable of cooking spaghetti with tomato sauce. Therefore, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may determine that restaurant F does not meet the requirements for a cooking service provider.

[0123] The conditions for requesting a cooking service provider may include two or more predetermined conditions. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for a cooking service provider that meets all of these two or more conditions. For example, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for one or more cooking service providers or restaurants that have the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking service, and whose location is within the service area of ​​the health management service user.

[0124] The cooking service provider display order determination unit 1111 may determine the display order of information for one or more cooking service providers found by the cooking service provider search unit 1110. The cooking service provider display order may indicate the priority given to presenting the found cooking service providers to the health management service user. The cooking service provider display order may also indicate the position or timing at which the cooking service provider is displayed. The higher the display order, the more preferentially the information of that cooking service provider may be presented. For example, recipes may be presented in an order corresponding to the display order.

[0125] The cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 may determine the presentation order based, for example, on the location information of the health management service user and the location information of the cooking service provider. The cooking service provider location information may be information indicating the location of the cooking service provider. The cooking service provider location information may be information stored in the storage unit 14 for each cooking service provider. The cooking service provider location information may include, for example, the address of the cooking service provider stored in the cooking service provider DB 14e. The cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 may, for example, give a higher presentation order to a cooking service provider if their address is closer to the service location. Examples of a cooking service provider's address being close to the service location include a short straight-line distance, a short travel distance, and a short travel time. The straight-line distance, travel distance, and travel time can be calculated using the same method as described above.

[0126] The Presented Cooking Agent Information Transmission Unit 1112 may transmit the Presented Cooking Agent Information to the Health Management Service User Terminal 7. The Presented Cooking Agent Information may be presentation information that indicates the availability of one or more cooking agents from among those registered in the cooking agent service. For example, the Presented Cooking Agent Information Transmission Unit 1112 may transmit to the Health Management Service User Terminal 7 the Presented Cooking Agent Information that indicates the availability of one or more cooking agents found by the Cooking Agent Search Unit 1110. As an example of the Presented Cooking Agent Information, the Presented Cooking Agent Information Transmission Unit 1112 may transmit screen information of the cooking agent search results screen to the Health Management Service User Terminal 7. The cooking agent search results screen may be a screen that shows the search results for cooking agents. For example, the cooking agent search results screen may include a Presented Cooking Agent Information display area for each searched cooking agent. Each displayed area for information about a cooking service provider may include, for example, the cooking service provider's name, image, address, and promotional information. Each displayed area for information about a cooking service provider may further include a selection element for the cooking service provider to be requested. The selection element for the cooking service provider to be requested may be an element that can be operated by the user of the health management service to select the cooking service provider that the selection element corresponds to as the cooking service provider that the user wishes to request cooking services from.

[0127] The Presented Cooking Agent Information Transmission Unit 1112 may transmit to the Health Management Service User Terminal 7 presented cooking agent information that allows the presentation of one or more cooking agents found by the Cooking Agent Search Unit 1110, in an order corresponding to the presentation order determined by the Cooking Agent Presentation Order Determination Unit 1111. For example, the Presented Cooking Agent Information Transmission Unit 1112 may generate screen information for the cooking agent search results screen so that the display areas for the presented cooking agent information of the found cooking agents are arranged in the cooking agent search results screen in an order corresponding to the presentation order.

[0128] [1-3-1-4. Requesting a Cooking Service] The Selected Cooking Agent Identification Information Receiving Unit 1113 may receive from the Health Management Service User Terminal 7 selected cooking agent identification information, which identifies the cooking agent selected by the Health Management Service User as the desired cooking agent to prepare the selected recipe, from among the one or more cooking agents indicated by the presented cooking agent information transmitted by the Presented Cooking Agent Information Transmission Unit 1112. The Selected Cooking Agent Identification Information may be, for example, a cooking agent ID. For example, the Health Management Service User operates a selected cooking agent selection element in any of the presented cooking agent information display areas included in the cooking agent search results screen displayed on the Health Management Service User Terminal 7. In response to this operation, the Health Management Service User Terminal 7 may send a Selected Cooking Agent Cooking Request to the Health Management Server 1, which includes the cooking agent ID of the cooking agent corresponding to the operated selected cooking agent selection element.

[0129] The cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 may transmit cooking assistance request information indicating a request for cooking using a selected recipe identified by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information reception unit 1109 to the cooking assistance terminal 5. For example, the cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 may transmit cooking assistance request information to the cooking assistance terminal 5 used by a cooking assistance provider found by the cooking assistance provider search unit 1110. Here, the cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 may transmit cooking assistance request information to the cooking assistance terminal 5 used by any of the one or more cooking assistance providers found by the cooking assistance provider search unit 1110. For example, the cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 may transmit cooking assistance request information to the cooking assistance terminal 5 used by a selected cooking assistance provider identified by the selected cooking assistance provider identification information obtained by the selected cooking assistance provider identification information reception unit 1113. The cooking assistance request information may include, for example, information about the health management service user who will be requesting the cooking assistance. The cooking assistance request information may include the conditions for providing the food. The cooking assistance request information may include information about the selected recipe. The information about the selected recipe may be, for example, information for presenting the selected recipe to the cooking assistance provider. For example, the information about the selected recipe may include the recipe information of that selected recipe. For example, the information about the selected recipe may include the recipe title, the name of the dish, a list of ingredients, and instructions. The list of ingredients may include the name and quantity of each ingredient used in the selected recipe. The quantity of each ingredient may be, for example, the quantity for one serving. In addition, the information about the selected recipe may include at least one of the following: a picture of the dish and a picture of the instructions. In addition, the information about the selected recipe may include the URL of the screen information of the recipe screen of the selected recipe. The cooking assistance request information may include information for displaying the cooking assistance request acceptance selection screen display elements on the cooking assistance provider terminal 5. This information may be written in HTML, for example. The elements for displaying the cooking assistance request acceptance selection screen may be elements that can be operated to display the cooking assistance request acceptance selection screen on the cooking assistance terminal 5. The cooking assistance request acceptance selection screen may be a screen that accepts an operation to decide whether or not to accept the cooking assistance request indicated by the cooking assistance request information.Furthermore, the cooking assistance request information may include a request ID. The cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 may send the cooking assistance request information to the cooking assistance terminal 5, for example, by email, push notification, or HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). The cooking assistance terminal 5 may display the cooking assistance request information on its screen. This allows the cooking assistance provider to confirm the cooking assistance request information. If the cooking assistance request information includes a URL of screen information for a recipe screen, the cooking assistance provider may be able to select that URL from the displayed cooking assistance request information. Once a URL is selected, the recipe server 2 may send the screen information of the recipe screen associated with the selected URL to the cooking assistance terminal 5. The cooking assistance terminal 5 may display the recipe screen based on this screen information.

[0130] The cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 may store the cooking assistance request record information in the cooking assistance request DB 14h. For example, the cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 may store the cooking assistance request record information when the selected cooking assistance provider identification information is obtained by the selected cooking assistance provider identification information receiving unit 1113, or it may transmit the cooking assistance request record information after the cooking assistance request information has been transmitted. Here, the cooking assistance request information transmission unit 1114 may store a request status indicating "request sent" in the cooking assistance request DB 14h.

[0131] The reception information receiving unit 1115 may receive reception information from the cooking service provider terminal 5 indicating that the cooking service provider has accepted the cooking service request indicated by the cooking service request information transmitted by the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114. For example, the cooking service provider operates the cooking service request acceptance selection screen display element included in the cooking service request information displayed on the cooking service provider terminal 5. In response to this operation, the reception information receiving unit 1115 may transmit screen information of the cooking service request acceptance selection screen to the cooking service provider terminal 5. Based on the screen information, the reception information receiving unit 1115 may display the cooking service request acceptance selection screen. On the cooking service request acceptance selection screen, the cooking service provider selects whether or not to accept the cooking service request. Alternatively, the cooking service provider may be able to select whether or not to accept the cooking service request in the cooking service request information displayed on the cooking service provider terminal 5. For example, the cooking service request information displayed on the screen may include links corresponding to accepting the cooking service request and links corresponding to rejecting the cooking service request. If it is chosen to accept the request for cooking assistance, the cooking assistance terminal 5 may send acceptance information to the health management server 1. If it is chosen not to accept the request for cooking assistance, the cooking assistance terminal 5 may send rejection information to the health management server 1. The rejection information may be information indicating that the acceptance of the request for cooking assistance has been rejected. Examples of cases in which a request for cooking assistance may be rejected include cases where there are not enough ingredients to be used for cooking assistance, cases where the cooking assistance provider does not have the time or personnel to perform the cooking assistance, or cases where the cooking method shown in the selected recipe is not suitable for the cooking assistance provider.

[0132] When the reception information receiving unit 1115 receives reception information, it may store a request status indicating "request received" in the cooking service request DB 14h, associated with the request ID of the cooking service request corresponding to that reception information. Alternatively, when the reception information receiving unit 1115 receives rejection information, it may store a request status indicating "rejected" in the cooking service request DB 14h, associated with the request ID of the cooking service request corresponding to that rejection information.

[0133] The delivery request information transmission unit 1116 may transmit delivery request information to the delivery management server 4 when it receives reception information from the reception information receiving unit 1115. The delivery request information may also be information indicating a request from the cooking service provider who received the cooking service request to the cooking service requester to deliver the food prepared by the cooking service provider. The delivery request information may include information about the cooking service provider who received the cooking service request. Information about the cooking service provider may include, for example, the cooking service provider's name, address, and telephone number. The delivery request information may also include information about the cooking service requester. Information about the cooking service requester may include, for example, the cooking service requester's name, the address of the delivery location, and telephone number. The delivery request information may also include information about the food to be delivered. Information about the food may include, for example, the name of the dish and the number of people to whom it will be served.

[0134] Upon receiving delivery request information, the delivery management server 4 may generate a slip number and send this slip number to the health management server 1. Subsequently, the delivery management server 4 may send the delivery status along with the slip number to the health management server 1 as needed for the requested delivery. The delivery status may indicate the status of the food delivery. For example, the delivery status may be set to "Collecting," "Delivering," or "Delivered." "Collecting" indicates that the delivery person is on their way to the cook's location to pick up the food. "Delivering" indicates that the delivery person is on their way to the health management service user's location with the food. "Delivered" indicates that the delivery to the health management service user has been completed. The health management server 1 may change the request status stored in the cook's request DB 14h according to the delivery status sent from the delivery management server 4. For example, if the delivery status is "Delivering," the health management server 1 may change the request status to "Delivering." If the delivery status is "Delivered," health management server 1 may change the request status to "Delivered."

[0135] [1-3-1-5. Granting of Rewards] The reward granting unit 1117 may grant a reward to the recipe poster identified by the user ID included in the recipe information of the selected recipe, which is identified by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109 from among the recipe information stored in the recipe DB 24a, when reception information is received by the reception information receiving unit 1115. The reward granting unit 1117 may grant a reward on the condition that reception information is received by the reception information receiving unit 1115. Examples of reward types include points from a points program, electronic coupons, electronic money, cash, etc. The value of the reward granted to the recipe poster may be uniformly predetermined. Alternatively, the value of the reward may be a value corresponding to the cooking price or payment amount of the dish that can be cooked with the selected recipe. For example, the value of the reward may be a value equivalent to a predetermined percentage of the cooking price or payment amount. The reward granting unit 1117 may directly obtain the user ID of the recipe poster of the selected recipe from the recipe DB 24a of the recipe server 2. Alternatively, the reward distribution unit 1117 may obtain the user ID of the recipe poster of the selected recipe from the recipe search results information. The user ID included in the recipe search results information is also the same user ID that was originally included in the recipe information stored in the recipe DB 24a.

[0136] When the reception information receiving unit 1115 receives reception information, it indicates that the cooking service provider to whom the cooking service request was made has accepted the request. The cooking service provider who has accepted the request prepares the meal using the selected recipe chosen by the health management service user. The prepared meal is delivered from the cooking service provider to the health management service user by a delivery person. In this way, the submitted recipe is put to actual use. It is considered pleasing for the recipe submitter that their submitted recipe is useful. Since a reward is given when a recipe is used, it can provide an incentive for recipe service users to submit recipes.

[0137] There may be an ownership management system (or server device) that manages the ownership status of an object of the same type as the reward, and manages the ownership status of the object by the recipe poster. This object is called an owned object. For example, if the reward and owned object are points, the ownership management system may be the point management server 3. If the reward is an owned object other than points, the ownership management system may be a system or server device not shown in the diagram. The ownership management system may store ownership status information for each user who can use or own the owned object, associated with that user, indicating the user's ownership status of the owned object. The ownership status information may indicate whether or not the user owns the owned object. The ownership status information may also indicate the quantity of owned objects currently held by the user. Furthermore, for each of the one or more owned objects currently held by the user, the ownership status information may indicate what kind of owned object it is. If the reward is points, the ownership status information may be the number of available points stored in the available points DB 34a of the point management server 3. If the reward and owned object 1 are electronic coupons, the ownership status information may be the owned coupon DB. The owned coupon database may store owned coupon information for each electronic coupon owned by each user. The owned coupon information may also be information indicating the electronic coupons owned by the user. For example, the owned coupon information may include at least one of the following: user identification information to identify the user, provider identification information to identify the provider of the transaction target to which the electronic coupon can be used, transaction target identification information to identify the transaction target to which the electronic coupon can be used, and discount information indicating the discount rate or the amount discounted by the electronic coupon. If the reward is electronic money, the owned target ownership status information may be the balance of the electronic money. The balance of the electronic money may be stored, for example, on one of the server devices of the owned target management system. Alternatively, the balance of the electronic money may be stored on the IC (Integrated Circuit) chip of the user's terminal device (for example, the recipe contributor terminal 6).If the reward is in cash, the ownership management system may be an unillustrated banking system of each bank. The banking system may manage the balance of cash held in each depositor's deposit account. In this case, the ownership status information may be the balance of the deposit account.

[0138] The reward granting unit 1117 may grant rewards by, for example, causing the ownership status information of an object stored in a predetermined storage means in the ownership management system to be updated by the ownership management system. For example, the reward granting unit 1117 may cause the ownership status information of an object stored in its storage means to be updated by sending an ownership status information update request to the ownership management system. The ownership status information update request may also be information indicating a request to update the ownership status information of an object. The ownership status information update request may also include user identification information for identifying the recipe poster to whom the reward will be granted in the ownership management system. The ownership status information update request may also include granted ownership information indicating the object to be granted as a reward. For example, the granted ownership information may include the quantity of the object to be granted. For example, if the reward is points, the ownership status information update request may also be a point addition request. The point addition request may also be information indicating a request to add points to the number of available points. The granted ownership information included in the point addition request may also be the number of points to be added. The number of points to be added may indicate the number of points to be granted. If the reward is electronic money, the granted ownership information may indicate the amount of electronic money to be granted. If the reward is cash, the ownership status information update request may be a remittance request. The remittance request may be information indicating a request to transfer funds, for example, from the deposit account of the health management service operator to the recipe poster's deposit account. The recipient of the remittance request may be the banking system of the bank that manages the deposit account of the health management service operator. The granted ownership information included in the remittance request may indicate the amount of cash to be granted. The user identification information included in the remittance request may include the recipe poster's account number, branch number, and bank code. The remittance request may also include the health management service operator's account number and branch number. The granted ownership information may indicate details of the granted ownership. For example, if the reward is an electronic coupon, the granted ownership information may be coupon information. The coupon information may be information indicating the coupon to be granted. The types of information included in the coupon information may be the same as the types of information included in the owned coupon information.When the ownership management system receives an ownership status information update request from the health management server 1, it may update the ownership status information based on the ownership status information update request. For example, if the reward is points, the recipe server 2 may update the number of available points by adding the number of points indicated by the granted ownership information to the number of available points stored in the available points DB 34a associated with the user ID of the recipe poster to whom the points were granted. If the reward is an electronic coupon, the ownership management system may update the owned coupon DB by storing the coupon information as granted ownership information as owned coupon information in the owned coupon DB associated with the user identification information of the recipe poster. If the reward is electronic money, the ownership management system may update the balance by adding the amount of electronic money indicated by the granted ownership information to the balance stored associated with the user identification information of the recipe poster. If the reward is cash, the sending bank system may cooperate with the receiving bank system to process the remittance. At this time, the recipient bank system may update its balance by adding the amount indicated by the granted ownership information to the balance associated with the recipe poster's account number and branch number.

[0139] The reward payment unit 1117 may pay the reward at any time after the reception information is received by the reception information receiving unit 1115. For example, the reward payment unit 1117 may pay the reward at the time the reception information is received, at the time the payment amount for the cooking service request is settled, at the time the delivery person picks up the food from the cooking service provider, or at the time the delivery person delivers the food to the cooking service requester.

[0140] [1-3-2. Recipe Server] Next, the functional overview of the system control unit 21 in the recipe server 2 will be described with reference to Figures 13 to 16. Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 21 in the recipe server 2 according to this embodiment. The system control unit 21 may function as a recipe information receiving unit 2101, a recipe information storage control unit 2102, a recipe information storage control unit 2102, a cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103, a cooking nutrient amount information storage control unit 2104, a recipe search unit 2105, and a recipe presentation order determination unit 2106, etc., as shown in Figure 13, by the CPU 21a reading and executing various program codes included in the recipe server program.

[0141] [1-3-2-1. Posting a recipe] The recipe information receiving unit 2101 may receive recipe information from the recipe poster terminal 6 indicating a recipe posted by the recipe poster. The recipe information received from the recipe poster terminal 6 may include, for example, the recipe poster's user ID, recipe title, image data of the dish, recipe comments, number of servings the ingredients are suitable for, ingredient information, cooking instructions, image data of the cooking instructions, and the name of the dish. For example, the recipe information receiving unit 2101 may display the recipe posting screen on the recipe poster terminal 6 by sending screen information of the recipe posting screen to the recipe poster terminal 6. The recipe posting screen may be a screen that receives input of information about the recipe to be posted. For example, on the recipe posting screen, the recipe poster may be able to input the recipe title, the path to the image data of the dish, recipe comments, number of servings the ingredients are suitable for, ingredient information, cooking instructions, the path to the image data of the cooking instructions, and the name of the dish. Note that if the recipe poster enters a recipe title that includes the name of the dish, the recipe poster does not need to enter the name of the dish separately from the recipe title. When a recipe submitter performs an operation to request publication of their recipe on the recipe submission screen, the recipe submitter terminal 6 may send recipe information corresponding to the input on the recipe submission screen to the health management server 1. In this way, the recipe information receiving unit 2101 may receive the recipe information.

[0142] The recipe information storage control unit 2102 may store the recipe information acquired by the recipe information receiving unit 2101 in the storage unit 24. For example, the recipe information storage control unit 2102 may generate a recipe ID for the posted recipe. The recipe information storage control unit 2102 may also generate URLs for image data for each of the cooking images and cooking instructions included in the recipe information. The recipe information storage control unit 2102 may also acquire the name of the dish included in the recipe information. Alternatively, the recipe information storage control unit 2102 may acquire the name of the dish from the recipe title. For example, the recipe information storage control unit 2102 may extract each keyword constituting the recipe title by morphological analysis. The recipe information storage control unit 2102 may identify a keyword indicating the name of the dish from the extracted keywords by searching for food and beverage names that match each extracted keyword in the food and beverage DB 14c of the health management server 1. The health management server 1 may acquire a food and beverage ID associated with the name of the dish from the food and beverage DB 14c. The recipe information storage control unit 2102 may add the recipe ID, the URL of the image data, and the food / drink ID to the recipe information. The recipe information storage control unit 2102 may also delete the image data from the recipe information and store the deleted image data separately in the storage unit 14. The recipe information storage control unit 2102 may then store the recipe information in the recipe DB 24a.

[0143] [1-3-2-2. Determining the Nutritional Content of Recipe Dishes] The cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may calculate the amount of nutrients contained in a dish that can be cooked according to the recipe information indicated by the recipe information stored in the storage unit 24, for each recipe information stored in that recipe information. For example, the cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may calculate the amount of nutrients contained in a dish that can be cooked according to the recipe information indicated by the recipe information stored in the storage unit 24 by the recipe information storage control unit 2102. The cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may perform the calculation based, for example, on the ingredient nutrient amount information stored in the ingredient DB 24b and the ingredient information contained in the recipe information stored in the storage unit 24. For example, the cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may calculate the amount of ingredients per serving used in a recipe by dividing the amount contained in each ingredient information by the number of people for which the ingredients are used in the recipe information. The cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may obtain ingredient nutrient amount information from the ingredient DB 24b that is associated with the ingredient name that matches the ingredient name contained in each ingredient information. At this time, the cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may also obtain the ingredient calories. The nutrient content calculation unit 2103 may calculate the content of each target nutrient in the ingredients used in the recipe by multiplying the content of each target nutrient included in the ingredient nutrient information by the amount per serving. The nutrient content calculation unit 2103 may also calculate the content of each target nutrient in the dish that can be cooked using the recipe by adding up the content of that target nutrient among the ingredients. Alternatively, the nutrient content calculation unit 2103 may calculate the calories consumed from the ingredients used in the recipe by multiplying the ingredient calories of each ingredient used in the recipe by the amount per serving. The nutrient content calculation unit 2103 may then calculate the calories of the recipe dish by adding up the calculated calories among the ingredients.

[0144] Even for the same dish, the amount of nutrients it contains may differ depending on the recipe. Specifically, even for dishes with the same name, some recipes may use at least one different ingredient, or the amount of ingredients used per serving may differ from other recipes. The food and beverage nutrient information and food and beverage calories stored in the food and beverage DB14c represent the general or average amount of nutrients and calories, respectively. While it is possible to find a reasonably appropriate recipe by searching for recipes that match the nutritional intake status of a health management service user using the food and beverage nutrient information and food and beverage calories stored in the food and beverage DB14c, it is possible to present health management service users with more appropriate recipes by searching for recipes using the nutrient amounts and calories calculated by the food nutrient calculation unit 2103.

[0145] Figure 14(a) shows an example of ingredients used in a recipe. As shown in Figure 14(a), for example, a recipe for tomato spaghetti has been posted. The ingredients used in this recipe are spaghetti, tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. The amount of ingredients in this recipe is for 1 person. The cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 calculates the nutrient content of the ingredients used in the recipe based on the ingredient DB 24b. For example, the ingredient DB 24b may store the nutrient content per gram for spaghetti, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Alternatively, for example, the ingredient DB 24b may store the nutrient content per piece for tomatoes, onions, and garlic. The amount of spaghetti used in the recipe is 100 grams. The amount of tomatoes is 1. The amount of onions is 1 / 4. The amount of garlic is 1 clove. The amount of olive oil is 2 tablespoons. The amount of salt is a pinch. The amount of pepper is a small amount. Here, the cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may calculate what fraction of a garlic clove one clove is equivalent to. The cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may also calculate the weight equivalent to two tablespoons of olive oil. The cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103 may also calculate the weight equivalent to a small amount of salt and a small amount of pepper. Figure 14(b) is a diagram showing an example of ingredient nutrient amount information stored in ingredient DB 24b. As shown in Figure 14(b), 1 gram of spaghetti contains 8 grams of protein. 1 tomato contains 2 grams of protein. 1 onion contains 0.25 grams of protein. 1 clove of garlic contains 0.05 grams of protein. Olive oil, salt, and pepper do not contain protein. Figure 14(c) is a diagram showing an example of the amount of nutrients contained in the amount of ingredients used in a recipe. As shown in Figure 14(c), 100 grams of spaghetti contains 8 grams of protein. Two tomatoes contain 4 grams of protein. A quarter onion contains 0.25 grams of protein. One clove of garlic is equivalent to 10 cloves of garlic. Therefore, one clove of garlic contains 0.05 grams of protein.Therefore, the amount of protein in the tomato spaghetti that can be cooked using this recipe is 12.3 grams.

[0146] The cooking nutrient amount information storage control unit 2104 may store recipe cooking nutrient amount information, which indicates the amount of nutrients calculated by the cooking nutrient amount calculation unit 2103, in the storage unit 24 in association with the recipe information. For example, the cooking nutrient amount information storage control unit 2104 may associate the recipe cooking nutrient amount information with the recipe information by adding the recipe cooking nutrient amount information to the recipe information stored in the recipe DB 24a. Alternatively, the cooking nutrient amount information storage control unit 2104 may associate the recipe cooking nutrient amount information with the recipe information by storing the recipe ID and recipe cooking nutrient amount information in association with the recipe information in a predetermined database different from the recipe DB 24a. The cooking nutrient amount information storage control unit 2104 may generate recipe cooking nutrient amount information that includes the content of each target nutrient calculated by the cooking nutrient amount information storage control unit 2104 as the content of the target nutrient in a dish that can be cooked using the recipe. The cooking nutrient amount information storage control unit 2104 may store the generated recipe cooking nutrient amount information. Furthermore, the cooking nutrient information storage control unit 2104 may store the recipe calories calculated by the cooking nutrient calculation unit 2103 in the storage unit 24, associating them with the recipe information.

[0147] Furthermore, the recipe server 2 may obtain the nutritional information and calorie content of a dish from the food and beverage DB 14c of the health management server 1, rather than calculating the amount of nutrients and calories of the dish based on the ingredient information. The recipe server 2 may then add the nutritional information and calorie content to the recipe information as the nutritional information and calorie content of the dish, respectively.

[0148] [1-3-2-3. Recipe Search] The recipe search unit 2105 may search for one or more recipes that correspond to the nutritional intake status of a health management service user, based on the nutritional intake status information obtained by the nutritional intake status information acquisition unit 1105 of the health management server 1 and the recipe dish nutrient amount information associated with the recipe information stored in the recipe DB 24a. Here, in addition to the nutritional intake status information and the recipe dish nutrient amount information, the recipe search unit 2105 may also search for one or more recipes that correspond to the nutritional intake status of a health management service user, based on the nutritional intake standard information obtained by the nutritional intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 of the health management server 1. For example, the recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes that satisfy the nutritional intake standards indicated by the nutritional intake standard information for the health management service user, depending on their nutritional intake status. The recipe search unit 2105 may use at least one of the recipe dish nutrient amount information and recipe dish calories included in the recipe information. Furthermore, the recipe search unit 2105 may perform a search using the information included in the recipe search request transmitted by the recipe information search control unit 1107 of the health management server 1.

[0149] The recipe nutrient information associated with a recipe, used for searching recipes, may be, for example, recipe nutrient information contained in recipe information stored in recipe DB24a. Alternatively, the recipe nutrient information associated with a recipe may be food nutrient information stored in food DB14c associated with the food ID contained in that recipe information. The food ID contained in the recipe information indicates the dishes that can be cooked using the recipe indicated by that recipe information. Therefore, food nutrient information associated with the same food ID as the food ID contained in the recipe information may correspond to the recipe nutrient information associated with that recipe information.

[0150] The recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes in which the sum of the nutrient intake indicated by the nutrient intake status information and the nutrient content indicated by the recipe dish nutrient content information satisfies the nutrient intake standard indicated by the nutrient intake standard information. For example, the recipe search unit 2105 may calculate the difference between the standard amount of nutrient intake within the standard period indicated by the nutrient intake standard information and the nutrient intake within the standard period indicated by the nutrient intake status information as the remaining standard amount. The recipe search unit 2105 may calculate the remaining standard amount for each target nutrient. The recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes that satisfy the nutrient intake standard based on the nutrient content and the remaining standard amount in dishes that can be cooked using the recipe indicated by the recipe dish nutrient content information. For example, the recipe search unit 2105 may determine whether the nutrient intake standard is met for each target nutrient in each recipe. For example, if the nutrient intake standard information includes a lower limit as the standard amount for a certain target nutrient, the difference from the lower limit is calculated as the remaining standard amount. This difference is called the remaining lower limit. In this case, the recipe search unit 2105 may determine that the nutrient intake standard is met if the nutrient content in the dish that can be cooked using the recipe is above the lower limit. If the nutrient intake standard information includes an upper limit as the standard amount for a certain target nutrient, the difference between the upper limit and the standard amount is calculated as the remaining standard amount. This difference is called the remaining upper limit. In this case, the recipe search unit 2105 may determine that the nutrient intake standard is met if the nutrient content in the dish that can be cooked using the recipe is below the upper limit. If the nutrient intake standard information includes both a lower limit and an upper limit as the standard amount for a certain target nutrient, the recipe search unit 2105 may determine that the nutrient intake standard is met if the nutrient content in the dish that can be cooked using the recipe is above the lower limit and below the upper limit.

[0151] If the nutrient intake reference information includes a tolerable upper intake level as an upper limit for at least some target nutrients, the recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes in which the sum of the nutrient intake within the reference period and the nutrient content in the dishes that can be prepared using the recipes indicated by the recipe dish nutrient information is less than or equal to the tolerable upper intake level. The recipe search unit 2105 may also exclude from the search results recipes in which the sum of at least one target nutrient exceeds the tolerable upper intake level. This makes it possible to search for recipes that pose a low risk of causing health problems.

[0152] Figure 15 shows an example of the conditions for the amount of nutrients that can be included in a dish that can be cooked using a recipe. As shown in Figure 15, the target nutrients are assumed to include protein, lipids, and carbohydrates. The tolerable upper intake level for protein is 100 grams. The tolerable upper intake level for lipids is 80 grams. The tolerable upper intake level for carbohydrates is 450 grams. A certain health management service user has registered meal records for breakfast and lunch for today, which is the reference period. Based on the meal record information, the protein intake to date calculated for today is 30 grams. The lipid intake is 45 grams. The carbohydrate intake is 190 grams. Therefore, the recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes in which the protein content is 70 grams or less, the lipid content is 80 grams or less, and the carbohydrate content is 260 grams or less.

[0153] The nutrient intake reference information includes one of the following as the reference amount for each target nutrient: target amount, adequate amount, recommended amount, or required amount. In this case, the recipe search unit 2105 may calculate the number of target nutrients that meet the nutrient intake reference indicated by that reference amount. This makes it possible to search for recipes that contribute to maintaining or improving health.

[0154] The recipe search unit 2105 may determine a score for each recipe based on the number of target nutrients that meet the nutritional intake standards. This score may indicate the priority of the recipe's presentation. A higher score indicates a higher priority. For example, the recipe search unit 2105 may assign a higher score to recipes that have a larger number of target nutrients that meet the nutritional intake standards. The recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes whose determined score is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

[0155] Figure 16 shows an example of the conditions for the amount of nutrients to be included in dishes that can be cooked using the recipe. As shown in Figure 16, the target nutrients include protein, lipids, and carbohydrates. The target amount of protein is 50 grams or more and 65 grams or less. The target amount of lipids is 30 grams or more and 55 grams or less. The target amount of carbohydrates is 270 grams or more and 320 grams or less. As in the case of Figure 15, today's protein intake to date is 30 grams. Lipid intake is 45 grams. Carbohydrate intake is 190 grams. The recipe search unit 2105 may add 1 to the score of recipes with a protein content of 20 grams or more and 35 grams or less. The recipe search unit 2105 may also add 1 to the score of recipes with a lipid content of 5 grams or less. The recipe search unit 2105 may also add 1 to the score of recipes with a carbohydrate content of 80 grams or more and 130 grams or less. Furthermore, the recipe search unit 2105 may add 1 to the score of recipes where the sum of the salt intake during the reference period and the amount of salt contained in the dishes that can be prepared using the recipe is less than or equal to the target amount.

[0156] The recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes based on the calorie limit, the calories consumed within a reference period included in the nutritional intake information, and the calories in the recipe dish included in the recipe information. For example, if the health management service user's priorities indicate "calorie emphasis," the recipe search unit 2105 may exclude from the search results any recipes where the sum of the calories in the recipe dish and the calories consumed within the reference period exceeds the calorie limit. This reduces the risk of exceeding the calorie limit. If the health management service user's priorities indicate "balance emphasis," or if no priorities are set, the recipe search unit 2105 does not need to exclude a recipe from the search results even if the sum of the calories in the recipe dish and the calories consumed within the reference period exceeds the calorie limit.

[0157] If the nutritional intake information includes meal record information, the recipe search unit 2105 may calculate the amount of nutrients consumed within the reference period based on the meal record information. The recipe search unit 2105 may then search for recipes using the same method as described above based on the calculated nutrient amounts.

[0158] There are cases where the number of meals a health management service user has eaten within a reference period is considerably less than the number of meals corresponding to that reference period. For example, suppose the reference period is 1 day and the number of meals corresponding to that reference period is 3. Suppose the health management service user has eaten only 1 meal so far. Even in this case, the recipe search unit 2105 may include the recipe in the search results as a recipe appropriate for the user's nutritional intake if the total nutritional intake for 2 meals, which is the sum of the user's total nutritional intake and the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be cooked using the recipe, meets the nutritional intake standard. Furthermore, there are cases where the number of meals a health management service user has eaten within a reference period is greater than or equal to the number of meals corresponding to that reference period. For example, suppose the reference period is 1 day and the health management service user has eaten 3 meals so far. Even in this case, the recipe search unit 2105 may include the recipe in the search results as a recipe appropriate for the user's nutritional intake if the total nutritional intake for 4 meals, which is the sum of the user's total nutritional intake and the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be cooked using the recipe, meets the nutritional intake standard. Regardless of the number of meals, it's sufficient as long as the nutritional intake standards are met.

[0159] If a health management service user can input recipe search criteria, the recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes that are appropriate to the health management service user's nutritional intake and that satisfy the search criteria. Here, the health management service user may perform the search based on recipe information stored in the recipe DB 24a. For example, if the search criteria include keywords such as recipe title, dish name, or ingredient name, the recipe search unit 2105 may perform the search based on at least one of the recipe title, dish name, ingredient name, recipe comment, or cooking instructions included in the recipe information. If the search criteria include a recipe category, the recipe search unit 2105 may perform the search based on the recipe category ID included in the recipe information.

[0160] The recipe search unit 2105 may send recipe search result information, which indicates the result of the recipe search, to the health management server 1.

[0161] The recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 may determine the presentation order of the recipes retrieved by the recipe search unit 2105. For example, the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 may calculate a score for each recipe in the same manner as described above. The recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 may assign a higher presentation order to a recipe with a higher score. The recipe search unit 2105 may transmit recipe search result information, including the presentation order determined by the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 for each retrieved recipe, to the health management server 1. Note that the recipe search unit 2105 may also function as the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106.

[0162] The system control unit 21 may receive search criteria entered by the recipe service user from the recipe service user terminal 6. The recipe search unit 2105 may search for recipes that meet the search criteria without considering the nutritional intake status of the recipe service user. The system control unit 21 may send screen information of the recipe search results screen, which shows the recipe search results from the recipe search unit 2105, to the recipe service user terminal 6. The system control unit 21 may also send screen information of the recipe screen of the recipe selected by the recipe service user from the searched recipes to the recipe service user terminal 6. The health management server 1 or service server 2 may function to allow the recipe service user to request cooking assistance using the recipes corresponding to this recipe screen.

[0163] [1-3-3. Point Management Server] Next, the functional overview of the system control unit 31 in the point management server 3 will be described with reference to Figure 17. Figure 17 is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 31 in the point management server according to this embodiment. The system control unit 31 may function as a point addition request receiving unit 3101 and a point addition unit 3102, etc., as shown in Figure 17, by the CPU 31a reading and executing various program codes included in the point management server program.

[0164] The point addition request receiving unit 3101 may receive point addition requests transmitted by the reward granting unit 1117 of the health management server 1.

[0165] The point addition unit 3102 may increase the number of available points for the recipe poster whose cooking request has been accepted by the cooking service provider, based on the point addition request received by the point addition request receiving unit 3101. For example, the point addition unit 3102 may update the number of available points by adding the number of points to be added in the point addition request to the number of available points stored in the available points DB 34a associated with the user ID of the recipe poster included in the point addition request.

[0166] [1-4. Operation of the communication system] Next, the operation of the communication system will be explained with reference to Figures 18 to 24. The system control unit 11 of the health management server 1, the system control unit 21 of the recipe server 2, and the system control unit 31 of the point management server 3 may execute the processes described below according to the various program codes contained in the server programs they each store.

[0167] The processes shown in Figures 18 to 24 are illustrative examples, and any process may be executed as long as the objective is achieved. The order of the processes is not limited to the order shown in Figures 18 to 24. Furthermore, at least one of the steps shown in Figures 18 to 24 may be omitted.

[0168] Figure 18 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when a cooking service provider registers information. As shown in Figure 18, the cooking service available food information receiving unit 1101 of the health management server 1 sends an HTML document of the cooking service available registration screen to the cooking service provider terminal 5 in response to a request from the cooking service provider terminal 5 (step S101). The cooking service provider terminal 5 displays the cooking service available registration screen based on this HTML document (step S102). The cooking service provider selects one or more dishes that can be cooked on the cooking service available registration screen (step S103). The cooking service provider terminal 5 sends the cooking service available food information, including the food ID of each selected dish and the cooking service provider's ID, to the health management server 1 (step S104). The cooking service available information storage control unit 1102 of the health management server 1 associates each food and beverage ID included in the cooking service available information with the cooking service provider ID included in the cooking service available information and stores it in the cooking service available DB 14f (step S105).

[0169] Subsequently, the Health Management Server 1's Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information Receiving Unit 1103 sends an HTML document of the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen to the Cooking Service Terminal 5 in response to a request from the Cooking Service Terminal 5 (Step S106). The Cooking Service Terminal 5 displays the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen based on this HTML document (Step S107). On the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen, the Cooking Service provider selects, as necessary, the ingredients whose availability will be managed as ingredients usable for cooking services. The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen displays a list of ingredients whose availability will be managed. The Cooking Service provider changes the availability status of one or more ingredients (Step S108). The Cooking Service Terminal 5 sends the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information, including the ingredient ID and the changed availability status of each ingredient whose availability status has been changed, as well as the Cooking Service provider's Cooking Service provider ID, to the Health Management Server 1 (Step S109). The Health Management Server 1's Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information Storage Control Unit 1104 updates the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability DB 14g based on the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information (step S110). For example, for each ingredient ID included in the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information, the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information Storage Control Unit 1104 overwrites the availability status stored in the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability DB 14g, which is associated with the combination of that ingredient ID and the cook's ID included in the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information, with the changed availability status.

[0170] Figure 19 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when a recipe poster submits a recipe. As shown in Figure 19, the recipe information receiving unit 2101 of the recipe server 2 sends an HTML document of the recipe submission screen to the recipe poster terminal 6 in response to a request from the recipe poster terminal 6 (step S201). The recipe poster terminal 6 displays the recipe submission screen based on this HTML document (step S202). The recipe poster enters the recipe information on the recipe submission screen (step S203). The recipe poster sends the recipe information, including the entered information and the user ID of the recipe poster, to the recipe server 2 (step S204). The recipe information storage control unit 2102 stores the transmitted recipe information in the recipe DB 24a (step S205). At this time, the recipe information storage control unit 2102 generates a recipe ID and the URL of each image data. The recipe information storage control unit 2102 also obtains the food and beverage ID of the dishes that can be cooked with that recipe based on the recipe title or dish name included in the recipe information. The recipe information storage control unit 2102 adds the recipe ID, URL, and food / drink ID to the recipe information.

[0171] Next, the cooking nutrient content calculation unit 2103 retrieves the ingredient nutrient content information and ingredient calories associated with the ingredient name in the ingredient information for each ingredient information included in the recipe information stored in step S205 from the ingredient DB 24b (step S206). Next, for each ingredient information, the cooking nutrient content calculation unit 2103 calculates the nutrient content of the ingredients used in the recipe for each target nutrient amount, based on the amount of ingredients, the ingredient nutrient content information, and the number of people the ingredients are intended for (step S207). Next, the cooking nutrient content calculation unit 2103 calculates the nutrient content of the dish that can be cooked using the recipe by adding up the nutrient content of those ingredients (step S208). Next, for each ingredient information, the cooking nutrient content calculation unit 2103 calculates the calories of the ingredients used in the recipe, based on the amount of ingredients, the ingredient calories, and the number of people the ingredients are intended for (step S209). Next, the cooking nutrient content calculation unit 2103 calculates the recipe dish calories by adding up the calories of those ingredients (step S210). Next, the cooking nutrient information storage control unit 2104 adds the recipe cooking nutrient information and recipe cooking calories, including the content calculated in step S208, to the recipe information stored in step S205 (step S211).

[0172] Figure 20 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing by the communication system S when a health management service user records their meal details. For example, the health management service user selects to add meal details in the health management app. Then, as shown in Figure 20, the health management service user selects the meal date and meal category, and selects one or more food and beverages consumed in the meal (step S301). The health management service user terminal 7 transmits meal record information, including the selected meal date and meal category, a food and beverage list including the food and beverage IDs of the selected food and beverages, and the user ID of the health management service user, to the health management server 1 (step S302). The nutrition intake information acquisition unit 1105 of the health management server 1 stores the transmitted meal record information in the meal record DB 14d (step S303). Next, the nutrition intake information acquisition unit 1105 calculates the amount of nutrients consumed and the amount of calories consumed in that meal based on the food and beverage IDs included in the meal record information, and the food and beverage nutrient amount information and calories consumed stored in the food and beverage DB 14c (step S304). Next, the calculated nutrient intake and dietary calories are added to the dietary record information stored in the dietary record DB14d in step S303 (step S305).

[0173] Figure 21 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when a recipe tailored to the user's nutritional intake is presented to a user of the health management service. For example, a user of the health management service selects a request for recipe suggestions in the health management application. In response to this operation, the health management service user terminal 7 sends a recipe suggestion request, including the user ID of the health management service user, to the health management server 1 (step S401). The nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 of the health management server 1, upon receiving the recipe suggestion request, searches the meal record DB 14d for meal record information, including the user ID and meal dates within the reference period, as included in the recipe suggestion request (step S402). Next, the nutritional intake information acquisition unit 1105 calculates the intake amount for each target nutrient and the calories consumed within the reference period based on the meal nutrient amount information and meal calories included in each acquired meal record (step S403). Next, the nutrition intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 acquires nutrition intake standard information and calorie upper limits from the nutrition intake standard DB 14b (step S404). For example, the nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 acquires the gender, age, and weight associated with the user ID included in the recipe suggestion request from the user DB 14a. The nutrient intake standard information acquisition unit 1106 acquires nutrient intake standard information and calorie upper limits corresponding to that gender, age, and weight. Next, the recipe information search control unit 1107 acquires the importance information associated with the user ID included in the recipe suggestion request from the user DB 14a (step S405). Next, the recipe information search control unit 1107 sends a recipe search request to the recipe server 2, including the amount of nutrients consumed within the standard period, calories consumed within the standard period, nutrient intake standard information, calorie upper limits, and importance information (step S406).

[0174] When the recipe server 2 receives a recipe search request, the recipe search unit 2105 searches for recipes among the multiple recipes posted to the recipe service in which the sum of the intake amount within the reference period included in the recipe search request and the nutrient content indicated by the recipe dish nutrient content information stored in the recipe DB 24a is less than or equal to the tolerable upper intake level (step S407). For example, for each nutrient among the target nutrients for which a tolerable upper intake level has been set, the recipe search unit 2105 determines whether the sum of the intake amount within the reference period and the nutrient content in the recipe dish is less than or equal to the tolerable upper intake level. For all nutrients, the recipe search unit 2105 searches for recipes in which the sum of the intake amount within the reference period and the nutrient content in the recipe dish is less than or equal to the tolerable upper intake level as search results. Next, the recipe search unit 2105 excludes from the search results any recipes in which the sum of the calories consumed within the reference period included in the recipe search request and the calories in the recipe dish stored in the recipe DB 24a exceeds the calorie limit included in the recipe search request (step S408). If the priority information included in the recipe search request is set to "balance-oriented," the recipe search unit 2105 may skip step S408. Next, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 determines a score for each recipe included in the search results (step S409). For example, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 determines, for each target nutrient, whether the sum of the amount of nutrients consumed within the reference period and the amount of nutrients indicated by the recipe dish nutrient amount information for the searched recipe meets the standard indicated in the nutrient intake standard information. The cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 assigns a higher score the more target nutrients that meet the standard. Next, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 determines the presentation ranking of each recipe according to the determined score (step S410). For example, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 assigns a higher presentation ranking the higher the score. Next, the cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 sends recipe search result information, including the recipe ID, recipe title, cooking image URL, ingredient information, URL of the HTML document of the recipe screen, food ID of the dish that can be cooked, and presentation order for each searched recipe, to the health management server 1 (step S411).

[0175] The recipe information transmission unit 1108 of the health management server 1, upon receiving the recipe search results information, generates an HTML document for the recipe search results screen based on the recipe search results information (step S412). For example, the recipe information transmission unit 1108 obtains a template for the HTML document for the recipe search results screen from the storage unit 14. The recipe information transmission unit 1108 adds the recipe ID, recipe title, cooking image URL, and ingredient names of each searched recipe to this HTML document. At this time, the recipe information transmission unit 1108 arranges the information of the searched recipes in an order according to the presentation order. Next, the recipe information transmission unit 1108 transmits the generated HTML document to the health management service user terminal 7 (step S413). The health management service user terminal 7 displays the recipe search results screen based on this HTML document (step S414).

[0176] Figure 22 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking assistant. After step S414, the health management service user selects one of the searched recipes from the recipe search results screen (step S501). The health management service user terminal 7 sends a recipe screen request to the recipe server 2, which includes the URL of the HTML document of the recipe screen for the selected recipe (step S502). The recipe server 2 retrieves the HTML document of the recipe screen associated with the URL included in the recipe screen request from the storage unit 24 and sends this HTML document to the health management service user terminal 7 (step S503). The health management service user terminal 7 displays the recipe screen based on this HTML document (step S504).

[0177] The health management service user selects the recipe on the recipe screen as the recipe for which they want to request cooking assistance (step S505). In response to this operation, the health management service user terminal 7 sends a request to the health management server 1 for cooking assistance for the selected recipe, including the recipe ID of the selected recipe and the user ID of the health management service user (step S506).

[0178] When the health management server 1 receives a request for cooking assistance for a selected recipe, the cooking assistance provider search unit 1110 searches for cooking assistance providers registered with the health management service whose service location is within the service area (step S507). For example, the cooking assistance provider search unit 1110 may obtain the address of the health management service user associated with the user ID included in the request for cooking assistance for a selected recipe from the user DB 14a as information indicating the service location. The cooking assistance provider search unit 1110 performs a search based on the address of the health management service user and the service area information stored in the cooking assistance provider DB 14e. Next, the cooking assistance provider search unit 1110 extracts cooking assistance providers who can cook the selected recipe from the searched cooking assistance providers (step S508). For example, the cooking assistance provider search unit 1110 obtains the food and beverage ID of the dish that can be cooked using the recipe indicated by the recipe ID included in the request for cooking assistance for a selected recipe from the recipe search result information received from the recipe server 2. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 extracts results based on the food and beverage ID and the cooking service provider ID and food and beverage ID stored in the cooking service available recipes DB 14f. Next, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 extracts as search results (step S509) cooking service providers who possess all the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking service from the cooking service provider search results information. For example, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 obtains the ingredient information of the selected recipe from the recipe search results information. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 obtains the ingredient ID associated with the ingredient name included in each ingredient information from the ingredient DB 24b of the recipe server 2. For each cooking service provider extracted in step S508, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 obtains the ownership status associated with each obtained ingredient ID from the cooking service available ingredient ownership status DB 14g. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 extracts results based on the obtained ownership status. Next, the cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 determines the ranking of each cooking service provider extracted as a search result in step S509, according to the distance from the location of the health management service user to the address of the cooking service provider (step S510). For example, the cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 assigns a higher ranking to cooking service providers with shorter distances.Next, the Presented Cooking Service Provider Information Transmission Unit 1112 generates an HTML document for the cooking service provider search results screen based on the basic cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider DB 14e (step S511). For example, the Presented Cooking Service Provider Information Transmission Unit 1112 obtains a template for the HTML document for the cooking service provider search results screen from the storage unit 14. The Presented Cooking Service Provider Information Transmission Unit 1112 adds the cooking service provider ID, cooking service provider name, URL of the cooking service provider image, cooking service provider address, and appeal information for each of the searched cooking service providers to this HTML document. At this time, the Presented Cooking Service Provider Information Transmission Unit 1112 arranges the information of the cooking service providers extracted as search results in an order according to the presentation order. Next, the Presented Cooking Service Provider Information Transmission Unit 1112 transmits the generated HTML document to the health management service user terminal 7 (step S512). The health management service user terminal 7 displays the cooking service provider search results screen based on this HTML document (step S513).

[0179] Figure 23 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when a cooking service request is made. After step S513, the health management service user selects one of the cooking service providers found in the search results from the cooking service provider search results screen (step S601). The health management service user terminal 7 sends a request for a selected cooking service provider to the health management server 1, including the cooking service provider ID of the selected cooking service provider and the user ID of the health management service user (step S602). The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 of the health management server 1, upon receiving the request for a selected cooking service provider, stores the cooking service request record information in the cooking service request DB 14h (step S603). For example, the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 generates a request ID. The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 also obtains the cooking price associated with the food and beverage ID of the dish that can be cooked with the selected recipe from the food and beverage DB 14c. Furthermore, the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 calculates the payment amount by adding the delivery fee to the cooking price. The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 obtains the user ID and cooking service ID included in the selected cooking service request as the requester ID and the requested cooking service ID, respectively. The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 obtains the user ID stored in the recipe DB 24a of the recipe server 2, associated with the recipe ID of the selected recipe, from the recipe server 2 as the recipe poster ID. The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 generates cooking service request record information including the request ID, requester ID, requested cooking service ID, recipe ID of the selected recipe, recipe poster ID, cooking price, number of servings, delivery fee, payment amount, etc. The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 stores the generated cooking service request record information. Next, the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 transmits the cooking service request information to the selected cooking service provider's terminal 5 (step S604). For example, the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 generates cooking service request information including the request ID, the recipe title of the selected recipe, the name of the dish, a list of ingredients, and instructions, the URL of the image data of the dish, the URL of the image data of the instructions, and the URL of the HTML document of the recipe screen, the cooking price, the name of the cooking service provider, the address of the service location, and the number of people to be served.The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 transmits the generated cooking service request information. Next, the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 stores a request status indicating "request sent" in the cooking service request DB 14h, associated with the generated request ID (step S605).

[0180] Upon receiving the cooking service request information, the cooking service provider terminal 5 displays the cooking service request information on its screen, for example, in response to an operation by the cooking service provider (step S606). Next, the cooking service provider selects to accept the cooking service request (step S607). In response to this operation, the cooking service provider terminal 5 sends acceptance information, including the request ID, to the health management server 1 (step S608). The cooking service provider begins cooking the dish according to the recipe. At this point, the cooking service provider's inventory status of ingredients may change. In that case, the inventory status information stored in the cooking service ingredient availability DB 14g may be updated by executing a process similar to the process shown in steps S106 to S110 in Figure 18. Upon receiving the acceptance information, the acceptance information receiving unit 1115 of the health management server 1 changes the request status stored in the cooking service request DB 14h, associated with the request ID included in the acceptance information, to "Request Accepted" (step S609). Next, the reception information receiving unit 1115 executes a settlement process for the cooking service requester to pay the payment amount (step S610). Examples of payment methods that can be used for settlement processing include credit cards, debit cards, and electronic money. For example, the user DB 14a may store credit card information that has been pre-configured for each health management service user. The credit card information may include, for example, the card number, expiration date, and the name of the credit card user. The reception information receiving unit 1115 performs the settlement process in cooperation with a system (not shown) of the credit card company, for example, using the cooking service requester's credit card information and payment amount. Next, the delivery request information transmission unit 1116 transmits delivery request information to the delivery management server 4 (step S612). Next, the reception information receiving unit 1115 transmits a cooking service request acceptance notification to the health management service user terminal 7, indicating that the cooking service request has been accepted by the selected cooking service provider (step S612). For example, the reception information receiving unit 1115 may send a cooking assistance request acceptance notification via push notification of the health management app or by email. Based on the cooking assistance request acceptance notification, the health management service user terminal 7 displays on the screen that the cooking assistance request has been accepted (step S613).

[0181] Figure 24 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when a reward is awarded to a recipe contributor. At some point after the reception of the reception information by the health management server 1 (step S608), the process shown in step 24 is executed. As shown in Figure 24, the reward awarding unit 1117 of the health management server 1 obtains the recipe contributor ID from the cooking assistance request record information stored in step S603 (step S701). Next, the reward awarding unit 1117 sets the number of points to be added to a predetermined value (step S702). Next, the reward awarding unit 1117 sends a point addition request including the recipe contributor's user ID and the number of points to be added to the point management server 3 (step S703). The point addition unit 3102 of the point management server 3 updates the number of available points by adding the number of points to be added included in the point addition request to the number of available points stored in the available points DB 34a associated with the recipe contributor ID included in the received point addition request (step S704). After the point addition request is sent, the reward granting unit 1117 sends a point granting notification to the recipe poster terminal 6 of the recipe poster, indicated by the acquired user ID (step S705). For example, the reward granting unit 1117 may send the point granting notification by email. Based on this point granting notification, the recipe poster terminal 6 displays on the screen that points have been awarded to the recipe poster and the number of points awarded (step S706).

[0182] As described above, according to this embodiment, the health management server 1 may acquire nutritional intake information. The recipe server 2 may search for one or more recipes corresponding to the nutritional intake status of the health management service user based on the nutritional intake information and the amount of nutrient content of dishes associated with the recipe information stored in the storage unit 14. The health management server 1 may also transmit the suggested recipe information of the searched recipe to the health management service user terminal 7. The health management server 1 may also receive selected recipe identification information from the health management service user terminal 7, which identifies the selected recipe among the one or more recipes indicated by the suggested recipe information that the health management service user has selected as the recipe for which they wish to request cooking assistance. The health management server 1 may also transmit cooking assistance request information indicating a request for cooking assistance using the selected recipe to the cooking assistance terminal 5 used by the cooking assistance provider. In this case, when the cooking assistance provider accepts the cooking assistance request, the cooking assistance provider cooks the dish using the selected recipe. The cooked dish is then provided to the health management service user. Therefore, users of the health management service can consume the food they have selected without having to cook it themselves. This allows for the provision of recipes that take the user's health into consideration, while also reducing the effort required for the user to cook.

[0183] Here, the health management server 1 may search for one or more recipes based on the nutrition intake standards information, according to the nutrition intake status of the health management service user. In this case, it can search for recipes that can be prepared so that the nutrition intake of the person eligible for cooking assistance meets the standards, based on their past nutrition intake status.

[0184] Here, the recipe server 2 may search for recipes where the sum of the amount of nutrients indicated by the nutritional intake status information and the amount of nutrients indicated by the cooking nutrient amount information associated with the recipe information satisfies the nutritional intake standard indicated by the nutritional intake standard information. In this case, the server searches for recipes where the amount of nutrients consumed by the health management service user in the meals they have eaten so far and the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be cooked using that recipe satisfy the nutritional intake standard. Therefore, recipes that take the user's health into consideration can be presented.

[0185] Furthermore, the recipe server 2 may calculate the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be cooked using the recipes indicated by the recipe information, based on the ingredient nutrient amount information and ingredient information contained in the recipe information stored in the storage unit 24. The recipe server 2 may also store the calculated amount of recipe dish nutrient amount information in the storage unit 24 in association with the recipe information. Furthermore, the recipe server 2 may search for one or more recipes that correspond to the nutritional intake status of the health management service user based on the dish nutrient amount information stored in the storage unit 24. In this case, even if the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes differs depending on the recipe, even if the dishes that can be cooked are the same, the recipe can be searched using ingredient nutrient amount information that indicates an appropriate amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be cooked using the recipes.

[0186] Furthermore, the health management server 1 may search for a cooking service provider who has the ingredients used in the selected recipe available for cooking service, based on the ingredient information contained in the recipe information stored in the memory unit 24 and the ingredient availability information stored in the memory unit 14. In this case, it is possible to search for a cooking service provider who meets the conditions for requesting cooking service using the recipe selected by the health management service user in terms of the ingredients they possess.

[0187] Furthermore, the health management server 1 may search for a cooking service provider whose location is within the service area of ​​the health management service user, based on the health management service user's location information and the service area information stored in the storage unit 14. In this case, the search will find cooking service providers whose service area includes the health management service user's location and who can provide the food they have prepared. Therefore, it is possible to search for a cooking service provider who meets the requirements for the location of the cooking service request in terms of geographical location.

[0188] Furthermore, the health management server 1 may search for a cooking service provider that meets the predetermined conditions for requesting cooking services using the selected recipe identified by the selected recipe identification information, based on the cooking service provider information stored in the storage unit 14. Alternatively, the health management server 1 may send cooking service request information to the cooking service provider terminal 5 used by the searched cooking service provider. In this case, the cooking service can be requested from a cooking service provider that is appropriate as the recipient of the cooking service request.

[0189] Furthermore, the health management server 1 may search for one or more cooking service providers that meet the conditions for requesting cooking services. The health management server 1 may also determine the presentation order of the one or more cooking service providers found. The health management server 1 may also transmit information about the searched cooking service providers to the health management service user terminal 7, indicating that the one or more cooking service providers found can be presented in the order determined by the presentation order. The health management server 1 may also receive information from the health management service user terminal 7 about selected cooking service providers, identifying the selected cooking service provider chosen by the health management service user as the recipient of the cooking service request from among the one or more cooking service providers indicated by the presented cooking service provider information. The health management server 1 may also transmit cooking service request information to the cooking service terminal 5 used by the selected cooking service provider identified by the selected cooking service provider identification information. In this case, the presentation order of the searched cooking service providers is determined. A user of a health management service who receives a search result for one or more cooking service providers selects one of them as the provider to request cooking services from. The cooking service request information is then sent to the client's terminal used by the selected cooking service provider. Cooking service providers with a higher ranking in the presentation tend to be selected by health management service users with a higher probability. Therefore, the likelihood of a cooking service provider being selected can be controlled by their ranking in the presentation.

[0190] Here, the cooking service health management server 1 may, based on the location information of the health management service user and the location information of the cooking service provider stored in the storage unit 14, give a higher priority to the cooking service provider that is closer to the health management service user's location. In this case, the cooking service provider that is closer to the health management service user's location can be more easily selected as the provider of cooking services.

[0191] Furthermore, the health management server 1 may transmit to the health service user terminal 7 present recipe information indicating that one or more of the viewable recipes are available for presentation. The health management server 1 may also receive from the health service user terminal 7 selected recipe identification information, which identifies the selected recipe chosen by the health management service user as the recipe for which they wish to request cooking assistance. The health management server 1 may also search for restaurants that possess the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking assistance, based on the ingredient information stored in the storage unit 24 and the ingredient availability information stored in the storage unit 14. The health management server 1 may also transmit cooking assistance request information to the cooking assistance terminal 5 used by the found restaurant. In this case, the search for restaurants to which cooking assistance requests are received can be performed in a way that ensures the ingredients possessed by the restaurant are effectively utilized.

[0192] Here, the health management server 1 may search for restaurants that have extra ingredients used in the selected recipe. In this case, the restaurants can make effective use of the extra ingredients they have.

[0193] Furthermore, the health management server 1 may receive input material availability information from the cooking service terminal 5 used by the restaurant, which indicates the availability of materials that the restaurant can use for cooking services. Alternatively, the health management server 1 may store the input material availability information as material availability information in the storage unit 14. In this case, the restaurant will be able to input the storage status used for searching for restaurants.

[0194] Furthermore, the health management server 1 may receive confirmation information from the cooking service terminal 5 indicating that the cooking service provider has received a cooking service request indicated by the cooking service request information. Also, if the health management server 1 receives confirmation information, it may award a reward to the recipe poster of the selected recipe based on the poster identification information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe among the recipe information stored in the storage unit 24. In this case, the poster of the recipe used for the cooking service can receive a reward. Therefore, it is possible to provide users with an incentive to post recipes.

[0195] Here, the health management server 1 may award points as a reward. In this case, the recipe poster can earn points.

[0196] Furthermore, the health management server 1 may award rewards by updating the ownership status information stored in the memory unit 34 for recipe contributors.

[0197] [2. Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 25. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to the embodiments described so far. In the first embodiment, the health management server 1 displays information on cooking service providers found using the cooking service provider request criteria to the health management service user terminal 7, and the health management service user selects a cooking service provider from among the displayed cooking service providers to whom the cooking service request will be made. In this embodiment, the health management server 1 may determine which cooking service provider to whom the cooking service request will be made from among the cooking service providers that meet the cooking service provider request criteria.

[0198] For example, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may identify a cooking service provider that is ranked first in presentation order using the same or a similar method as the cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 uses to determine the presentation order. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may also decide that the cooking service provider to be requested is the cooking service provider ranked first in presentation order.

[0199] The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for a cooking service provider located closest to the location of a person who can utilize cooking services, based on the location information of the health management service user and the location information of the cooking service provider. Examples of proximity between the location of a person who can utilize cooking services and the location of a cooking service provider include a short distance and a short travel time. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may calculate the distance or travel time in the same manner as described in the first embodiment. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may also search for a cooking service provider or restaurant that has the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking services, and that is located closest to the location of the person who can utilize cooking services.

[0200] The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 may transmit the cooking service request information to the cooking service terminal 5 used by the cooking service provider search unit 1110.

[0201] Figure 25 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. In Figure 25, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as in Figure 22. As shown in Figure 25, first, steps S501 to S509 are executed. Next, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 searches for the cooking service provider whose address is closest to the location of the health management service user from among the cooking service providers extracted in step S509 (step S521). Next, the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 stores the cooking service request record information in the cooking service request DB 14h (step S621). At this time, the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 includes the cooking service provider ID of the searched cooking service provider as the request destination cooking service provider ID in the cooking service request record information. In other respects, step S621 may be the same as step S603 shown in Figure 23. Next, the cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 transmits the cooking service request information to the cooking service terminal 5 of the searched cooking service provider (step S622). After that, steps S605 to S613 shown in Figure 23 are executed.

[0202] As explained above, according to this embodiment, the nearest cooking assistant is searched for from the location of the health management service user. Cooking assistance request information is transmitted to the cooking assistant terminal 5 of the searched cooking assistant. Therefore, cooking assistance can be requested from a cooking assistant whose location is less burdensome to travel between the cooking assistant's location and the location of the cooking assistance user.

[0203] [3. Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 26 to 28. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In this embodiment, the order in which the search results for cooking service providers are presented may be determined according to the expiration dates of the ingredients available for cooking service.

[0204] Figure 26(a) shows an example of information stored in the Health Management Server 1's Available Ingredients for Cooking Service DB14g. As shown in Figure 26(a), the Available Ingredients for Cooking Service DB14g may store information such as cook service provider ID, ingredient ID, ownership status, and expiration date in association with each other. The expiration date may be valid if the ownership status indicates that the ingredient is in possession. The expiration date may indicate how long the ingredient, indicated by the ingredient ID, can be used for cooking, as it is held by the cook service provider indicated by the cook service provider ID. The expiration date may be indicated by a date or by a date and time. The expiration date may be configurable by the cook service provider.

[0205] Figure 26(b) shows an example of the availability of ingredients that can be used for cooking services. As shown in Figure 26(b), Restaurant C has carrots, leeks, and potatoes that can be used for cooking services. The expiration date for the carrots is August 15th. The expiration date for the leeks is August 12th. The expiration date for the potatoes is August 21st. Restaurant C does not have any radishes, tomatoes, or onions that can be used for cooking services.

[0206] The Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information Receiving Unit 1103 may acquire Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information from the Cooking Service Terminal 5, which indicates the ingredients available for use in cooking services and their expiration dates. For example, the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Information Receiving Unit 1103 may transmit screen information of the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen, where the expiration dates of ingredients can be set, to the Cooking Service Terminal 5. On the Cooking Service Available Ingredients Availability Setting Screen, the Cooking Service set or change the availability status of ingredients, as well as set or change the expiration date. The expiration date to be set may be, for example, an expiration date, a best-before date, or an expiration date determined by the Cooking Service. For ingredients available for cooking services whose expiration date is not approaching in the near future, the Cooking Service may leave the expiration date unset. The cooking service provider terminal 5 may transmit information on the availability of ingredients for cooking services, including the ingredient ID of the ingredient whose availability or expiration date has been changed, the availability and expiration date of that ingredient, and the cooking service provider ID of the cooking service provider, to the health management server 1. The cooking service available ingredients availability storage control unit 1104 may store the transmitted cooking service available ingredients availability information in the cooking service available ingredients availability DB 14g. For example, the cooking service available ingredients availability storage control unit 1104 may, for each ingredient ID included in the cooking service available ingredients availability information, overwrite the availability and expiration date stored in the cooking service available ingredients availability DB 14g, associated with the combination of the ingredient ID and the cooking service provider ID included in the cooking service available ingredients availability information, with the availability and expiration date included in the cooking service available ingredients availability information.

[0207] The cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may determine the ranking of one or more retrieved cooking service providers based on the ingredient information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe and the cooking service provider availability information stored in the cooking service provider availability information DB 14g, which indicates the availability status and expiration date of the ingredients. In this case, the cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may give a higher ranking to cooking service providers whose expiration dates for the ingredients used in the selected recipe are closer to the present. This helps to reduce the loss of ingredients due to the expiration date. If multiple ingredients are used in cooking using the recipe, for example, the cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may determine the ranking for each cooking service provider using the nearest expiration date among those ingredients.

[0208] Figure 27 shows an example of determining the order in which cooking service providers are presented. As shown in Figure 27, the dish that can be cooked using the recipe selected by the health management service user is spaghetti with tomato sauce. The ingredients used in the selected recipe are spaghetti, tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Here, salt and pepper may be assumed to be all available to the cooking service provider. The cooking service providers found who meet the conditions for requesting cooking services include at least Restaurant E and Restaurant F. Restaurant E and Restaurant F each have spaghetti, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and olive oil. At Restaurant E, there are no expiration dates set for the spaghetti and olive oil. The expiration date for the tomatoes is August 10th. The expiration date for the onions is August 12th. The expiration date for the garlic is August 16th. Therefore, the nearest expiration date is August 10th. At Restaurant F, the expiration date for the spaghetti is December 31st. The expiration date for tomatoes is August 12th. The expiration date for onions is August 11th. The expiration date for garlic is August 15th. There is no expiration date set for olive oil. Therefore, the nearest expiration date is August 11th. The food preparation service provider ranking determination unit 1111 ranks restaurant E higher than restaurant F based on the expiration date of August 10th for restaurant E and the expiration date of August 11th for restaurant F.

[0209] If there are multiple cooking service providers with the same expiration date for their ingredients, the cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 may determine the presentation order for those cooking service providers based on other conditions. For example, the cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 may give a higher presentation order to cooking service providers whose addresses are closer to the location where the health management service user is located.

[0210] Figure 28 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. In Figure 28, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as in Figure 22. As shown in Figure 28, first, steps S501 to S509 are executed. Next, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 determines the presentation ranking of each cooking service provider extracted as a search result in step S509, based on the expiration dates of the ingredients used in the selected recipe (step S531). For example, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 assigns a higher presentation ranking to cooking service providers whose expiration dates are closer to the present. Next, steps S511 to S513 are executed.

[0211] As explained above, according to this embodiment, cooking service providers with ingredients that are closer to their expiration date will be ranked higher in the presentation. Cooking service providers ranked higher in the presentation tend to be selected by health management service users as cooking service providers with a higher probability. Therefore, the loss of ingredients due to expiration dates can be reduced.

[0212] [4. Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In the third embodiment, the health management server 1 determined the order in which to present cooking service providers that meet the conditions for requesting cooking service based on the expiration dates of the ingredients. In this embodiment, the health management server 1 may determine the cooking service provider to be requested to be the cooking service provider with the shortest expiration date of the ingredients. Similar to the third embodiment, the expiration dates may be stored in the cooking service available ingredient inventory DB 14g.

[0213] The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for a cooking service provider whose ingredients have the closest expiration date to those used in the selected recipe, based on the ingredient information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe and the cooking service available ingredient availability information stored in the cooking service available ingredient availability DB 14g. Here, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for a cooking service provider whose ingredients used in the selected recipe have the closest expiration date to those used in the selected recipe, among those who have the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking service. For example, in step S521 shown in Figure 25, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for a cooking service provider whose ingredients have the closest expiration date to those used in the selected recipe, among those extracted in step S509. The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 may transmit cooking service request information to the cooking service provider terminal 5 used by the cooking service provider search unit 1110. If there are multiple cooking service providers whose ingredients used in the selected recipe have the closest expiration dates, steps S511 to S513 shown in Figure 22 may be performed. This allows the health management service user to select a cooking service provider from among the multiple providers to request cooking services from. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for cooking service providers or restaurants that have the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking services, and which cooking service provider or restaurant has the closest expiration date for the ingredients used in the selected recipe.

[0214] As described above, according to this embodiment, based on the availability information of the ingredients used in the selected recipe, a cooking service provider with the closest expiration date for those ingredients is searched for. Cooking service request information is sent to the cooking service provider's terminal 5. Therefore, the loss of ingredients due to expiration dates can be minimized.

[0215] [5. Fifth Embodiment] Next, a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 29 to 31. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In the embodiments described so far, the cooking price for the cooking service was predetermined for each dish. In this embodiment, the cooking service provider may be able to set the cooking price. The health management server 1 may determine the order in which the searched cooking service providers are presented according to the cooking price set by the cooking service provider.

[0216] Figure 29(a) shows an example of information stored in the Health Management Server 1's Meals Available for Cooking Service DB14f. As shown in Figure 29(a), the Meals Available for Cooking Service DB14f may store information such as cook service provider ID, food / drink ID, and cooking price, all associated with each other. The cooking price may indicate the price of a meal when the cook service provider indicated by the cook service provider ID prepares the meal indicated by the food / drink ID.

[0217] Figure 29(b) shows examples of dishes that can be prepared by a catering service. As shown in Figure 5, the dishes that can be prepared by a catering service at restaurant A include tomato spaghetti, Neapolitan spaghetti, pomodoro spaghetti, meat spaghetti, and arrabiata. The preparation cost for tomato spaghetti is 900 yen. The preparation cost for Neapolitan spaghetti is 1,000 yen. The preparation cost for pomodoro spaghetti is 1,200 yen. The preparation cost for meat spaghetti is 1,200 yen. The preparation cost for arrabiata is 1,400 yen. The dishes that can be prepared by a catering service at restaurant B include mushroom cream spaghetti, tomato sauce spaghetti, pescatore spaghetti, arrabiata spaghetti, and carbonara spaghetti. The preparation cost for cream spaghetti is 1,500 yen. The preparation cost for tomato sauce spaghetti is 1,400 yen. The preparation cost for pescatore spaghetti is 1,600 yen. The preparation cost for arrabiata spaghetti is 1,500 yen. The cost of preparing carbonara is 1,500 yen. As you can see, even for the same dish, the price of preparation can vary depending on the cook.

[0218] The Cooking Service Available Information Receiving Unit 1101 may obtain Cooking Service Available Information from the Cooking Service Terminal 5, which indicates the dishes that a cooking service provider can prepare and their prices. For example, the Cooking Service Available Information Receiving Unit 1101 may transmit screen information of a Cooking Service Available Registration Screen, in which the cooking price can be entered, to the Cooking Service Terminal 5. On the Cooking Service Available Registration Screen, the cooking service provider selects the dishes they can prepare and enters the cooking price for the selected dishes. The Cooking Service Terminal 5 may transmit the Cooking Service Available Information, including the food and beverage ID of the selected dish, the cooking price for that dish, and the cooking service provider's ID, to the Health Management Server 1. The Cooking Service Available Information Storage Control Unit 1102 may store the transmitted Cooking Service Available Information in the Cooking Service Available DB 14f. For example, the cooking service available information storage control unit 1102 may store, in association with each food and beverage ID included in the cooking service available information, the cooking price and the cooking service provider ID included in the cooking service available information.

[0219] The Cooking Service Provider Presentation Ranking Determination Unit 1111 may determine the presentation ranking of one or more cooking service providers found by the Cooking Service Provider Search Unit 1110 based on the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109 and the cooking prices stored in the Cooking Service Provider Available Dishes DB 14f. Here, the Cooking Service Provider Presentation Ranking Determination Unit 1111 may use the cooking prices of dishes that can be cooked with the selected recipe for each found cooking service provider. For example, the Cooking Service Provider Presentation Ranking Determination Unit 1111 may obtain the food and beverage ID of a dish from the recipe information, including the recipe ID of the selected recipe. The Cooking Service Provider Presentation Ranking Determination Unit 1111 may use the cooking prices associated with the cooking service provider ID and the obtained food and beverage ID of each found cooking service provider. The Cooking Service Provider Presentation Ranking Determination Unit 1111 may give a higher presentation ranking to cooking service providers with lower cooking prices.

[0220] Figure 30 shows an example of determining the order in which touted cooks are presented. As shown in Figure 30, the dish that can be cooked using the recipe selected by the health management service user is tomato sauce spaghetti. The touted cooks found that meet the conditions for requesting a touted cook include at least restaurants A and B. The cooking price for tomato spaghetti at restaurant A is 900 yen. The cooking price for tomato spaghetti at restaurant B is 1,400 yen. Therefore, the touted cooks presentation order determination unit 1111 places restaurant A higher in the presentation order than restaurant B.

[0221] Furthermore, the cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may prioritize cooking service providers with higher cooking prices. For example, the health management service user may be able to choose whether to prioritize cooking service providers with lower cooking prices or cooking service providers with higher cooking prices.

[0222] Figure 31 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. In Figure 31, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as in Figure 22. As shown in Figure 31, steps S501 to S509 are executed first. Next, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 determines the presentation ranking of each cooking service provider extracted as a search result in step S509, based on the cooking price of the dishes that can be cooked with the selected recipe (step S531). For example, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 gives a higher presentation ranking to cooking service providers with lower cooking prices. Next, steps S511 to S513 are executed. Here, each presentation recipe information display area included in the recipe search results screen may include the cooking price set by the cooking service provider for the dishes that can be cooked with the selected recipe.

[0223] As explained above, according to this embodiment, a cooking service provider can set a price for each dish they are able to prepare. The ranking of the searched cooking service providers is then determined based on the prices of the dishes they can prepare using the recipe selected by the health management service user. Therefore, the likelihood of a cooking service provider being selected can be controlled based on the prices they set for the dishes they can prepare using the recipe.

[0224] [6. Sixth Embodiment] Next, the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 32 and 33. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In the fifth embodiment, the cooking service provider could input the price of the dish. In addition to this, in this embodiment, the health management service user can set a price condition for the dish as a condition for searching for cooking services. This condition is called the price condition. The cooking price may be stored in the cooking service available dish DB14f, as in the fifth embodiment.

[0225] Figure 32 shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in the health management server 1 according to this embodiment. In Figure 32, the same elements as in Figure 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in Figure 32, the system control unit 11 may function as a cooking service-available food information receiving unit 1101 to a reward granting unit 1117, as well as a price condition information receiving unit 1118.

[0226] The price condition information receiving unit 1118 may receive price condition information from the health management service user terminal 7. Price condition information is information indicating price conditions. For example, the recipe screen may include an input field for entering price conditions near the cooking request recipe selection element. Alternatively, when a health management service user operates the cooking request recipe selection element, a window for accepting price condition input may be displayed on the recipe screen. Alternatively, the price condition information receiving unit 1118 may send screen information of the screen for accepting price conditions to the health management service user terminal 7 in response to a selected recipe cooking request sent from the health management service user terminal 7 by the health management service user operating the cooking request recipe selection element. The health management service user may be able to input an upper limit of the cooking price as a price condition. The health management service user may also be able to input a lower limit of the cooking price. Furthermore, the health management service user may be able to input both the lower limit and the upper limit of the cooking price. The health management service user terminal 7 may send the price condition information indicating the entered price conditions to the health management server 1. Price condition information may include at least one of the lower and upper price limits.

[0227] The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for one or more cooking service providers whose cooking prices for dishes that can be cooked using the selected recipe identified by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe provider search unit 1110, based on the price information stored in the available dishes DB 14f. For example, the cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 may obtain the food and beverage ID of the dish from the recipe information of the selected recipe. The cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 may identify the cooking price associated with each searched cooking service provider's cooking service provider ID and the obtained food and beverage ID. The cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 may determine whether the cooking price satisfies the price conditions by comparing each identified cooking price with at least one of the lower limit and upper limit values ​​of the price included in the price condition information. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for one or more cooking service providers or restaurants that have the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking service, and whose dishes that can be prepared using the selected recipe meet the conditions indicated by the price condition information.

[0228] Figure 33 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. In Figure 33, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as in Figure 22. As shown in Figure 33, first, steps S504 to S505 are executed. In step S505, when the recipe screen selects the corresponding recipe as the recipe for which cooking service is to be requested, the health management service user terminal 7 displays a window for entering price conditions. Next, the health management service user enters the price conditions (step S551). The health management service user terminal 7 sends a request for cooking service for a selected recipe to the health management server 1, which includes the recipe ID of the selected recipe, the user ID of the health management service user, and price condition information indicating the entered price conditions (step S552). Next, steps S507 to S509 are executed. Next, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 extracts cooking service providers from among those extracted in step S509, those whose cooking price for dishes that can be cooked using the selected recipe meets the condition indicated by the price condition information, as the final search result (step S553). Next, the cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 determines the presentation order of each cooking service provider extracted as a search result in step S553, according to the distance from the location of the health management service user to the address of the cooking service provider (step S510). In addition, the cooking service provider presentation order determination unit 1111 may determine the presentation order of cooking service providers according to the cooking price for dishes that can be cooked using the recipe, similar to the fifth embodiment. Next, steps S511 to S513 are executed.

[0229] As explained above, according to this embodiment, the price of a dish that can be prepared using a recipe selected by the health management service user is searched for, and a cooking service provider that meets the specified conditions is found. Therefore, in terms of the price of the dish, it is possible to search for a cooking service provider that meets the conditions specified by the health management service user as a condition for requesting cooking services.

[0230] [7. Seventh Embodiment] Next, with respect to the seventh embodiment, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far, except for the points described below. In this embodiment, as in the fifth embodiment, the cooking service provider may be able to set the cooking price. The health management server 1 may search for the cooking service provider with the lowest cooking price for the dishes that can be cooked using the selected recipe. The cooking service provider DB 14f may store the cooking prices, as in the fifth embodiment.

[0231] The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for the restaurant with the lowest price for a dish that can be cooked using the selected recipe, identified by the selected recipe identification information received by the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109, based on the cooking prices stored in the available dishes database 14f. For example, in step S521 shown in Figure 25, the cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for the restaurant with the lowest price for a dish that can be cooked using the selected recipe among the cooking service providers extracted in step S509. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may also search for the cooking service provider with the lowest cooking price by comparing the cooking prices stored in the available dishes database 14f, associated with the cooking service provider ID of each searched cooking service provider, with the cooking prices associated with the food and beverage IDs included in the recipe information of the selected recipe. The cooking service request information transmission unit 1114 may transmit cooking service request information to the cooking service provider terminal 5 used by the cooking service provider searched by the cooking service provider search unit 1110. If there are multiple cooking service providers offering the lowest cooking price, steps S511 to S513 shown in Figure 22 may be performed. This allows the health management service user to select a cooking service provider from among the multiple providers to request cooking services from. The cooking service provider search unit 1110 may search for a cooking service provider or restaurant that has the ingredients used in the selected recipe as available ingredients for cooking services, and that has the lowest price for a dish that can be cooked using the selected recipe, as identified by the selected recipe identification information.

[0232] As explained above, according to this embodiment, the cook who has set the lowest price for the meal is searched for. The cook request information is sent to the cook's terminal 5 of the searched cook. Therefore, it is possible to search for a cook who is advantageous to the health management service user in terms of price.

[0233] [8. Eighth Implementation] Next, an eighth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 34 to 36. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In this embodiment, the health management server 1 may determine the presentation order of the cooking service provider in the search results according to the amount of the usage fee paid by the cooking service provider for using the cooking service matching system or the cooking service request system.

[0234] Each cooking service provider may have a contract with the operator of the cooking service matching system or health management service to pay a usage fee, for example, on a monthly or yearly basis. The amount of the usage fee that each cooking service provider pays may be specified by the cooking service provider themselves. For example, a cooking service provider may be able to specify the amount of the usage fee when starting to use or applying to use the cooking service matching system. Alternatively, for example, a cooking service provider may be able to change the amount of the usage fee after starting to use the cooking service matching system. The higher the amount of the usage fee, the more favorably the cooking service provider may be treated by the cooking service matching system. For example, a cooking service provider may be able to input the amount of the usage fee. Alternatively, a cooking service provider may be able to select one of several pricing options. The number of options is not limited to a specific number. For example, a cooking service provider may be able to select one of several pricing plans. Each pricing plan may be, for example, an option for the amount of the usage fee.

[0235] Figure 34(a) shows an example of information stored in the Cooking Service Provider DB14e of the Health Management Server 1. As shown in Figure 34(a), the Cooking Service Provider DB14e may store basic cooking service provider information such as Cooking Service Provider ID, Cooking Service Provider Name, Provider Category ID, Address, Telephone Number, Email Address, Service Area Information, Cooking Service Provider Image URL, Appeal Information, and Pricing Plan ID, all of which are associated with each other. The Pricing Plan ID may be identification information that identifies the pricing plan selected by the cooking service provider, as indicated by the Cooking Service Provider ID.

[0236] Figure 34(b) shows an example of a pricing plan. For example, as shown in Figure 34(b), the selectable pricing plans may include Plan X, Plan Y, and Plan Z. The monthly fee for Plan X is 10,000 yen. The monthly fee for Plan Y is 20,000 yen. The monthly fee for Plan Z is 30,000 yen.

[0237] Figure 35 shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in the health management server 1 according to this embodiment. In Figure 35, the same elements as in Figure 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in Figure 35, the system control unit 11 may function as a cooking service-available food information receiving unit 1101 to a reward payment unit 1117, as well as a usage fee information receiving unit 1119 and a usage fee information storage control unit 1120.

[0238] The usage fee information receiving unit 1119 may receive usage fee information from the cooking service terminal 5. The usage fee information may be information indicating the amount of the usage fee specified by the cooking service provider using the cooking service terminal 5. The information indicating the amount of the usage fee may be, for example, a pricing plan ID. A pricing plan ID indicating a pricing plan specified by the cooking service provider can be said to be information indicating the amount of the usage fee that the cooking service provider will pay under that pricing plan. The usage fee information receiving unit 1119 may transmit the pricing plan selection screen to the cooking service terminal 5 by transmitting the screen information of the pricing plan selection screen to the cooking service terminal 5. The pricing plan selection screen may be a screen that accepts the operation of selecting a pricing plan. The cooking service provider selects a pricing plan on the pricing plan selection screen. The cooking service terminal 5 may transmit the usage fee information, including the pricing plan ID of the selected pricing plan and the cooking service provider's cooking service provider ID, to the health management server 1. As a result, the usage fee information receiving unit 1119 may receive the usage fee information.

[0239] The usage fee information storage control unit 1120 may store the usage fee information received by the usage fee information receiving unit 1119 in the storage unit 14. For example, the usage fee information storage control unit 1120 may store the fee plan ID included in the usage fee information in the cooking service provider DB 14e, in association with the cooking service provider ID included in the usage fee information.

[0240] The cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may determine the ranking of one or more cooking service providers retrieved by the cooking service provider search unit 1110 based on the usage fee information stored in the storage unit 14 by the usage fee information storage control unit 1120. For example, the cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may rank higher the usage fee. In the example in Figure 35, the cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may rank cooking service providers who have contracted for price plan Z the highest. The cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may rank cooking service providers who have contracted for price plan Y the second highest. The cooking service provider ranking determination unit 1111 may rank cooking service providers who have contracted for price plan X the third highest.

[0241] Figure 36 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for a cooking service provider. In Figure 36, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as in Figure 22. As shown in Figure 36, first, steps S504 to S509 are executed. Next, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 obtains the price plan ID associated with the cooking service provider ID of each cooking service provider extracted as a search result in step S509 from the cooking service provider DB 14e (step S561). Next, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 determines the presentation ranking of each cooking service provider extracted as a search result according to the usage fee corresponding to the price plan indicated by the price plan ID (step S562). For example, the cooking service provider presentation ranking determination unit 1111 may give a higher presentation ranking to cooking service providers who have contracted a price plan with a higher usage fee. Next, steps S511 to S513 are executed.

[0242] As explained above, according to this embodiment, cooking service providers who set higher service fees will be ranked higher in the search results. Therefore, cooking service providers who pay higher service fees can be given preferential treatment in the cooking service matching system.

[0243] [9. Ninth Embodiment] Next, the ninth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 37 to 41. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In this embodiment, at least one of the recipe service user and the health service user may be able to rate the recipes posted to the recipe service. The recipe server 2 may determine the presentation order of the searched recipes according to the ratings of the recipes.

[0244] Figure 37 is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the recipe server 2 according to this embodiment. In Figure 37, the same elements as in Figure 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in Figure 37, the storage unit 24 of the recipe server 2 may store a recipe DB 24a, an ingredient DB 24b, a user evaluation DB 24c, and a recipe evaluation DB 24d.

[0245] Figure 38 shows an example of the information stored in the user evaluation DB24c and recipe evaluation DB24d of the recipe server 2.

[0246] The user evaluation DB24c may store user evaluation information indicating the level of evaluation of a recipe from at least one of the recipe service users and health service users each time an evaluation is performed. For example, as shown in Figure 38, the user evaluation DB24c may store user evaluation information such as recipe ID, user ID, evaluation date and time, and evaluation value, associated with each other. The recipe ID may indicate the recipe that was evaluated. The user ID may indicate the user who performed the evaluation. The evaluation date and time may indicate the date and time the evaluation was performed. The evaluation value may be a value indicating the level of the evaluation. For example, the evaluation value may be any integer from 1 to 5.

[0247] The recipe evaluation DB24d may store recipe evaluation information for each recipe, indicating the level of evaluation given to the recipe by at least one of the recipe service users and the health service users. For example, as shown in Figure 38, the recipe evaluation DB24d may store recipe evaluation information such as a recipe ID and an evaluation value, associated with each other. The recipe ID may indicate the recipe that was evaluated. The evaluation value may be a value indicating the level of the evaluation. The initial value of the evaluation value may be "no evaluation". "No evaluation" may indicate that no one has evaluated that recipe.

[0248] Figure 39 shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 21 in the recipe server 2 according to this embodiment. In Figure 39, the same elements as in Figure 13 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in Figure 39, the system control unit 21 may function as a recipe information receiving unit 2101 to a recipe presentation order determination unit 2106, as well as a user evaluation information receiving unit 2107, a user evaluation information storage control unit 2108, and a recipe evaluation information update unit 2109, etc.

[0249] The user evaluation information receiving unit 2107 may receive user evaluation information indicating the level of evaluation of a recipe from viewers who have viewed the recipe, from at least one of the recipe service user terminal 6 and the health management service user terminal 7. Recipe viewers may be, for example, recipe service users who have viewed a recipe in the recipe service, health management service users who have viewed a recipe in the health management service, or cooking service requesters or cooking service users who have requested cooking services in the health management service. Cooking service requesters and cooking service users are users who have viewed a recipe on the recipe screen or recipe search results screen displayed on the health management service user terminal 7 and have requested cooking services for that recipe. Therefore, cooking service requesters and cooking service users may be included among the recipe viewers.

[0250] For example, a recipe screen may include an interactive element to display a window for selecting an evaluation value for the corresponding recipe. Examples of such elements include buttons, icons, and links. The viewer selects an evaluation value in that window. The health management service user terminal 7 may send user evaluation information, including the selected evaluation value, the viewer's user ID, and the recipe ID of the recipe corresponding to the recipe screen, to the recipe server 2. In this way, the user evaluation information storage control unit 2108 may receive the user evaluation information. At least one of the presented recipe information display areas included in the recipe screen and the recipe search results screen may include information indicating the level of evaluation for the recipe.

[0251] The user evaluation information storage control unit 2108 may store the user evaluation information received by the user evaluation information receiving unit 2107 in the user evaluation information DB 24c.

[0252] The recipe evaluation information update unit 2109 may update the recipe evaluation information stored in the recipe evaluation DB 24d based on the cooking proxy recipe evaluation information received by the user evaluation information receiving unit 2107. At this time, the recipe evaluation information update unit 2109 may perform the update based on the recipe evaluation information received by the user evaluation information receiving unit 2107 and the user evaluation information already stored in the user evaluation DB 24c. For example, the recipe evaluation information update unit 2109 may acquire each evaluation value associated with the recipe ID included in the recipe evaluation information received by the user evaluation information receiving unit 2107 from the user evaluation DB 24c. The recipe evaluation information update unit 2109 may determine a new evaluation value for the recipe indicated by the recipe ID based on the evaluation value included in the recipe evaluation information received by the user evaluation information receiving unit 2107 and the evaluation value acquired from the user evaluation DB 24c. For example, the user evaluation information receiving unit 2107 may calculate the average value of the evaluation values from the user as the evaluation value for the recipe. The user evaluation information receiving unit 2107 may rewrite the evaluation value stored in the recipe DB 24a in association with the recipe ID of the recipe with the determined evaluation value.

[0253] The recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 may determine the presentation order of one or more recipes searched by the recipe search unit 2105 based on the recipe evaluation information stored in the recipe evaluation DB 24d. For example, the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 may increase the presentation order of recipes with higher evaluations. Alternatively, the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 may determine the score of each searched recipe based on the number of target nutrients that meet the nutrient intake criteria and the recipe evaluation information. For example, the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 may increase the presentation order as the number of target nutrients that meet the nutrient intake criteria increases, and may also increase the presentation order as the evaluation is higher.

[0254] FIG. 40 is a sequence diagram showing a processing example of the communication system S when a recipe service user makes an evaluation. For example, the recipe service server 2 transmits an HTML document of a recipe search result screen of recipes that satisfy the search conditions input by the recipe service user to the recipe service user terminal 6, and the recipe service server 2 displays the recipe search result screen. When the recipe user selects any one of the searched recipes, as shown in FIG. 40, the recipe server 2 transmits an HTML document of the screen information of the recipe screen of the selected recipe to the recipe service user terminal 6 (step S801). The recipe service user terminal 6 displays the recipe screen based on this HTML document (step S802). On the recipe screen, the user selects an evaluation value for the recipe (step S803). The recipe service user terminal 6 transmits user evaluation information including the recipe ID of the recipe corresponding to the recipe screen, the selected evaluation value, and the user ID of the recipe service user to the recipe server 2 (step S804). The user evaluation information storage control unit 2108 of the recipe server 2 stores the transmitted user evaluation information in the user evaluation DB 24c (step S805). Next, the recipe evaluation information update unit 2109 updates the evaluation value stored in the recipe evaluation DB 24d in association with the recipe ID included in this user evaluation information (step S806).

[0255] FIG. 41 is a sequence diagram showing a processing example of the communication system S when a recipe according to the nutritional intake situation is presented to the health management service user. In FIG. 41, the same reference numerals are given to the same processes as in FIG. 21. As shown in FIG. 41, first, steps S401 to S408 are executed. Next, the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 determines a score for each recipe included in the search result according to the evaluation of the recipe (step S421). For example, the cooking agent presentation order determination unit 1111 acquires the evaluation value associated with the recipe ID of each recipe from the recipe evaluation DB 24d. The cooking agent presentation order determination unit 1111 sets a higher presentation order for a higher evaluation value. Next, steps S410 to S414 are executed.

[0256] As described above, according to this embodiment, viewers who view a recipe can rate it. Based on the level of this rating, the order in which the searched recipes are presented based on the presented recipe information is determined. Therefore, recipes can be presented in an order that corresponds to their rating.

[0257] [10. Tenth Implementation] Next, a tenth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 42 and 43. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In this embodiment, after a request for cooking assistance is received by the cooking assistance provider, the user who requested the cooking assistance may be able to rate the recipe used in that cooking assistance. The recipe server 2 may determine the order in which the retrieved recipes are presented according to the ratings of the recipes. The storage unit 24 of the recipe server 2 may store the user rating DB 24c and the recipe rating DB 24d.

[0258] Figure 42 shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in the health management server 1 according to this embodiment. In Figure 42, the same elements as in Figure 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in Figure 42, the system control unit 11 may function as a cooking service-available food information receiving unit 1101 to a reward granting unit 1117, as well as a user evaluation information receiving unit 1121.

[0259] At least one of the user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 of the health management server 1 and the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 of the recipe server 2 may, after receiving reception information from the cooking service terminal 5 via the reception information receiving unit 1115, receive user evaluation information from the health management service user terminal 7, indicating the level of evaluation from the cooking service user for the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information via the selected recipe identification information receiving unit 1109. Here, if the health management server 1 receives user evaluation information from the health management service user terminal 7, the recipe server 2 may receive that user evaluation information from the health management server 1. If the recipe server 2 receives user evaluation information from the health management service user terminal 7, the health management server 1 may receive user evaluation information from the recipe server 2. Note that the cooking service user may be an example of a viewer who has viewed a recipe. The cooking service user is a user who has viewed a recipe on the recipe screen or recipe search results screen displayed on the health management service user terminal 7 and has requested cooking services for that recipe.

[0260] The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 may control the system so that the user who requested the cooking service can evaluate the recipe used in the cooking service corresponding to the cooking service request only after the health management server 1 has received the acceptance information from the cooking service terminal 5 that received the cooking service request information from the health management server 1. Whether or not the health management server 1 has received the acceptance information from the cooking service terminal 5 can be determined from the request status stored in the cooking service request DB 14h. If the request status is set to "Request Received," "In Delivery," or "Delivered," the health management server 1 has received the acceptance information. The point at which evaluation becomes possible may be predetermined. For example, evaluation may be possible from the time the health management server 1 receives the acceptance information, from the time the payment processing is completed, from the time the food is shipped from the cooking service provider, or from the time the food is delivered to the cooking service user. For example, the user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 may transmit screen information of the evaluation input screen to the health management service user terminal 7 of the cooking service user. The evaluation input screen may be a screen for receiving evaluations of recipes used in cooking services used by the health management service user. The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 may transmit screen information of the evaluation input screen from the health management service user terminal 7 upon request, for example. For example, the health management server 1 may send a notification corresponding to an event to the health management service user terminal 7 when the health management server 1 receives reception information, when payment processing is completed, when the food is shipped from the cooking service provider, or when the food is delivered to the cooking service user. This notification may be presentation information that clearly indicates that the event has occurred. The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 may send this notification, for example, by email or push notification from the health management app. This notification may include a URL for screen information of the evaluation input screen for inputting evaluations of recipes used in cooking services corresponding to that event. This URL may include, for example, the request ID for the cooking service request or the recipe ID for the recipe.The health management service user terminal 7 displays the notification content on its screen based on the notification information. The health management service user may display the evaluation information input screen by selecting the URL displayed on the screen. When the health management service user enters an evaluation value on the evaluation information input screen, the health management service user terminal 7 may send the user evaluation information to the health management server 1 or the recipe server 2.

[0261] The evaluation input screen may be, for example, the cooking service usage history screen. The cooking service usage history screen may be a screen that shows the usage history of cooking services by a health management service user using the health management service user terminal 7. For example, the cooking service usage history screen may include a cooking service request record display area for each request accepted by the cooking service provider. For example, the cooking service request record display area may be displayed only for requests whose request status is "Delivered". Alternatively, the cooking service request record display area may be displayed only for requests whose request status is either "Delivered" or "In Delivery". Alternatively, the cooking service request record display area may be displayed only for requests whose request status is either "Delivered", "In Delivery", or "Request Accepted". The cooking service request record display area may be an area that displays information related to the cooking service request. For example, each cooking service request record display area may include the recipe name of the recipe used for the cooking service, the name of the dish, the cooking price, the payment amount, the name of the cooking service provider to whom the cooking service was requested, the date and time of the request, etc. Each cooking request record display area may further include an element that allows for the display of a window for selecting an evaluation value for the recipe corresponding to that cooking request record display area. User evaluation information may also be transmitted from the health management service user terminal 7 to the health management server 1 or the recipe server 2.

[0262] The health management server 1 and recipe server 2 may operate in such a way that the cooking service user can only evaluate a recipe after receiving a cooking service request from the cooking service user. Alternatively, the cooking service user may be able to evaluate a recipe after receiving a cooking service request from the cooking service user, and as in the ninth embodiment, at least one of the recipe service user and the health management service user may also be able to evaluate the recipe from, for example, the recipe screen, regardless of whether or not it is a recipe for which cooking service has been requested.

[0263] The recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 may determine the presentation order of the retrieved recipes in a manner similar to that described in the ninth embodiment.

[0264] Figure 43 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when a health management service user performs an evaluation. Figure 43 shows an example where the evaluation of the recipe can be performed after the delivery of the food is completed. In Figure 43, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as in Figure 41. In step S613 shown in Figure 23, the health management service terminal 7 displays on the screen that the request for cooking assistance has been received. Subsequently, the food prepared by the requested cooking assistance is delivered to the health management service user by a delivery person. The delivery person inputs the completion of the delivery into a terminal device (not shown), associating it with the delivery slip number of the food. The terminal device transmits the delivery slip number to the delivery management server 4. Then, as shown in Figure 43, the delivery management server 4 transmits the delivery status indicating "delivery completed" along with this slip number to the health management server 1 (step S821). The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 of the health management server 1 searches the cooking service request DB 14h for cooking service request record information, including the slip number received along with the delivery status. The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 changes the request status included in the retrieved cooking service request record information to "delivered" (step S822). Since the request status has been changed to "delivered", the user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 sends a delivery completion notification to the health management service user terminal 7 (step S823). The delivery completion notification may be a presentation notification indicating that the delivery of the food has been completed. At this time, the user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 generates a URL including the request ID and recipe ID included in the retrieved cooking service request record information as the URL of the screen information on the evaluation input screen. The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 includes this URL in the delivery completion notification. The health management service user terminal 7 displays the delivery completion notification on the screen (step S824).

[0265] The health management service user selects a URL from the delivery completion notification (step S825). In response to this selection, the health management service user terminal 7 sends a request for an evaluation input screen, including the URL, to the health management server 1 (step S826). The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 sends an HTML document of the evaluation input screen to the health management service user terminal 7 in response to the evaluation input screen request (step S827). The health management service user terminal 7 displays the evaluation input screen based on this HTML document (step S828). The health management service user selects an evaluation value on the evaluation input screen (step S829). The health management service user terminal 7 sends user evaluation information, including the recipe ID of the recipe corresponding to the evaluation input screen, the selected evaluation value, and the user ID of the health management service user, to the health management server 1 (step S830). The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 of the health management server 1 forwards the transmitted user evaluation information to the recipe server 2 (step S831). Note that user evaluation information may be sent directly from the health management service user terminal 7 to the recipe server 2, rather than via the health management server 1. Upon receiving the user evaluation information, the recipe server 2 executes steps S805 and S806.

[0266] As described above, according to this embodiment, recipes can be presented in an order corresponding to the level of evaluation determined by the client, taking into account the evaluation of the dish when the dish was cooked using the recipe was eaten.

[0267] [11. Eleventh Embodiment] Next, the 11th embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 44 and 45. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In this embodiment as well, as described in the 10th embodiment, after a request for cooking assistance is received by the cooking assistance provider, the user who requested the cooking assistance may be able to rate the recipe used in that cooking assistance. The health management server 1 may award a reward to the recipe poster according to this rating. The recipe server 2 may or may not determine the order in which recipes are presented according to their ratings. The storage unit 24 of the recipe server 2 may or may not store the user rating DB 24c. The storage unit 24 may or may not store the recipe rating DB 24d.

[0268] Similar to the tenth embodiment, at least one of the user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 of the health management server 1 and the recipe presentation order determination unit 2106 of the recipe server 2 may, after receiving reception information from the cooking assistant terminal 5 via the reception information receiving unit 1115, receive user evaluation information from the health management service user terminal 7 indicating the level of evaluation from the cooking assistant user for the selected recipe.

[0269] The reward granting unit 1117 may grant a reward to the recipe poster who submitted the selected recipe after receiving user evaluation information from either the user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 or the recipe presentation ranking determination unit 2106. In this case, the reward granting unit 1117 may increase the value of the reward granted as the evaluation indicated by the acquired user evaluation information increases. For example, the value of the reward may correspond to the number of points, the discount rate or amount of an electronic coupon, or the amount or value of electronic money.

[0270] Figure 44 shows an example of the relationship between the rating of a recipe and the number of points awarded as a reward. As shown in Figure 44, the higher the rating, the more points are awarded, and the lower the rating, the fewer points are awarded. For example, if the rating is 1, 10 points may be awarded. If the rating is 2, 20 points may be awarded. If the rating is 3, 30 points may be awarded. If the rating is 4, 40 points may be awarded. If the rating is 5, 50 points may be awarded.

[0271] Figure 45 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when a health management service user performs an evaluation and then a reward is given to the recipe poster. In Figure 45, the same reference numeral is used for processes that are the same as those in Figures 24 and 43.

[0272] As shown in Figure 45, steps S821 to S829 are executed first. Next, the health management service user terminal 7 sends user evaluation information to the health management server 1, which includes the request ID of the request corresponding to the evaluation input screen, the recipe ID of the recipe corresponding to the evaluation input screen, the selected evaluation value, and the user ID of the health management service user (step S841). The user evaluation information receiving unit 1121 of the health management server 1 sends the user evaluation information, which includes the information excl...

Claims

1. A means for acquiring nutritional intake information that shows the nutritional intake status of individuals who are eligible for cooking assistance services, A recipe search means searches for one or more recipes according to the nutritional intake status of the person who can use the cooking assistance service, based on the acquired nutritional intake status information and recipe information indicating a recipe, and the recipe information associated with the recipe information, which is stored for each recipe in a recipe information storage means that associates the recipe information with the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be cooked using the recipe, and the recipe information associated with the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means, A means for transmitting presented recipe information, which displays the one or more of the retrieved recipes, to a cooking service terminal device used by the person who can use the cooking service, A selection recipe identification information receiving means receives from the cooking service user terminal device a selection recipe identification information that identifies the selected recipe from the one or more recipes indicated by the transmitted presented recipe information that the cooking service user has selected as the recipe for which they wish to request cooking assistance. A cooking assistance request information transmission means transmits cooking assistance request information indicating a request for cooking assistance using the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information to a cooking assistance terminal device used by the cooking assistance provider. A cooking service request system characterized by having the following features.

2. The cooking assistance request system according to claim 1, characterized in that the recipe search means searches for one or more recipes based on nutrient intake standard information indicating a standard for nutrient intake.

3. The nutritional intake status indicated by the acquired nutritional intake status information includes the amount of nutrients consumed by the person who can utilize the cooking assistance service. The cooking assistance request system according to claim 2, characterized in that the recipe search means searches for one or more recipes in which the sum of the amount of nutrients indicated by the acquired nutritional intake information and the amount of nutrients indicated by the cooking nutrient amount information associated with the recipe information satisfies the standard of nutrient intake indicated by the nutrient intake standard information.

4. The recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means includes ingredient information indicating the ingredients used in the recipe. A calculation means calculates the amount of nutrients contained in a dish that can be cooked according to the recipe indicated by the recipe information, based on the material nutrient amount information stored in a material nutrient amount information storage means that stores material nutrient amount information indicating the amount of nutrients contained in each ingredient, and the material information contained in the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means. A cooking nutrient amount information storage control means that stores the recipe cooking nutrient amount information, which represents the calculated amount, in the recipe information storage means as cooking nutrient amount information, associated with the recipe information. Furthermore, The cooking assistance request system according to claim 1, characterized in that the recipe search means searches for one or more recipes according to the nutritional intake status of the person who can use the cooking assistance service, based on the cooking nutrient amount information stored in the recipe information storage means by the cooking nutrient amount information storage control means.

5. The system further comprises a recipe presentation order determination means that determines the presentation order of one or more retrieved recipes based on the evaluation information stored in an evaluation information storage means that stores evaluation information indicating the level of evaluation of the recipe from viewers who have viewed the recipe, for each recipe. The cooking assistance request system according to claim 1, characterized in that the presenting recipe information transmission means transmits the presenting recipe information, which shows the retrieved one or more recipes in an order corresponding to the determined presentation order, to the cooking assistance service user terminal device.

6. The evaluation information stored in the evaluation information storage means indicates the level of evaluation of the recipe by viewers who have viewed the recipe and used the cooking service that utilized the recipe. Reception information receiving means receives from the cooking service terminal device reception information indicating that the cooking service provider has received the cooking service request indicated by the transmitted cooking service request information, After the reception information is received by the reception information receiving means, the cooking service recipe evaluation information receiving means receives cooking service recipe evaluation information from the cooking service user terminal device, which indicates the level of evaluation of the selected recipe by the cooking service user. Based on the received cooking service recipe evaluation information, an update means updates the evaluation information of the selected recipe stored in the evaluation information storage means, Furthermore, The cooking assistance request system according to claim 5, characterized in that the recipe presentation order determination means determines the presentation order of the one or more retrieved recipes based on the evaluation information updated by the update means.

7. The system further includes a cooking service provider search means that searches for a cooking service provider who meets predetermined conditions as a condition for requesting cooking services using the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information, based on the cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means, which stores cooking service provider information for each cooking service provider. The cooking service request system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the cooking service request information transmission means transmits the cooking service request information to the cooking service terminal device used by the searched cooking service provider.

8. The recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means includes ingredient information indicating the ingredients of the recipe. The cooking agent information stored in the cooking agent information storage means includes material possession status information indicating the possession status of materials that the cooking agent possesses that can be used for cooking services, The cooking service request system according to claim 7, characterized in that the cooking service provider search means searches for a cooking service provider who has the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking service, based on the ingredient information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information and the ingredient possession status information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means.

9. The cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means includes service area information that can identify the geographical area in which the cooking service provider can provide the food prepared by the cooking service provider. The cooking service request system according to claim 7, characterized in that the cooking service provider search means searches for a cooking service provider whose location is within the service area, based on cooking service provider location information indicating the location of the cooking service provider and the service area information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means.

10. The cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means includes price information indicating the price set by the cooking service provider as the price of each dish that the cooking service provider is capable of preparing. The system further includes a price condition information acquisition means for acquiring price condition information indicating the price conditions of the dishes from the cooking service user terminal device, The cooking service request system according to claim 7, characterized in that the cooking service provider search means searches for a cooking service provider whose price for a dish that can be cooked using the selected recipe satisfies the conditions indicated by the received price condition information, based on the price information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means.

11. The aforementioned information on the availability of materials indicates the materials that the cooking service provider possesses as materials that can be used for cooking services, and the expiration dates of those materials. The aforementioned cooking service provider search means searches for one or more cooking service providers who have the ingredients used in the selected recipe as ingredients available for cooking service, A cooking agent presentation order determination means for determining the presentation order of one or more searched cooking agents based on the ingredient information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information and the ingredient possession status information stored in the cooking agent information storage means, wherein the cooking agent presentation order determination means gives a higher presentation order to cooking agents whose expiration dates for the ingredients used in the selected recipe are closer. A means for transmitting information about a designated cooking agent to a terminal device for users of cooking services, which transmits information about designated cooking agents that allows the one or more cooking agents found to be searched to be presented in the order corresponding to the determined presentation order. A selected cooking service provider identification information receiving means receives selected cooking service provider identification information from the cooking service provider terminal device, which identifies a selected cooking service provider selected by the cooking service provider as the recipient of the cooking service request, from among the one or more cooking service providers indicated by the transmitted presented cooking service provider information. Furthermore, The cooking service request system according to claim 8, characterized in that the cooking service request information transmission means transmits the cooking service request information to the cooking service terminal device used by the selected cooking service provider identified by the received selected cooking service provider identification information.

12. The aforementioned cooking service provider search means searches for one or more cooking service providers that meet the predetermined conditions, A means for determining the order in which to present the one or more cooking agents that have been searched, A means for transmitting information about a designated cooking agent to a terminal device for users of cooking services, which transmits information about designated cooking agents that allows the one or more cooking agents found to be searched to be presented in the order corresponding to the determined presentation order. A selected cooking agent identification information receiving means receives selected cooking agent identification information from the cooking agent terminal device, which identifies a selected cooking agent from among the one or more cooking agents whose information has been transmitted by the presented cooking agent information transmitting means, that the cooking agent selected by the cooking agent-available person as the recipient of the cooking agent request. Furthermore, The cooking service request system according to claim 7, characterized in that the cooking service request information transmission means transmits the cooking service request information to the cooking service terminal device used by the selected cooking service provider identified by the received selected cooking service provider identification information.

13. The cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means includes price information indicating the price set by the cooking service provider as the price of each dish that the cooking service provider is capable of preparing. The cooking service request system according to claim 12, characterized in that the means for determining the order in which to present cooking service providers is determined based on the price information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means, wherein the means for determining the order in which to present the one or more cooking service providers that have been searched is determined.

14. The cooking agent information stored in the cooking agent information storage means includes cooking agent location information indicating the location of the cooking agent, The cooking service request system according to claim 12, wherein the cooking service provider presentation order determination means gives a higher presentation order to cooking service providers who are closer to the location of the person who can provide cooking services, based on the location information of the person who can provide cooking services, which indicates the location of the person who can provide cooking services, and the location information of the cooking service provider stored in the cooking service provider information storage means.

15. The cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means includes usage fee information indicating the amount of the usage fee that the cooking service provider will pay for using the cooking service request system, which is the amount specified by the cooking service provider. The cooking service request system according to claim 12, characterized in that the means for determining the order in which to present cooking service providers is ranked higher based on the usage fee information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means, thereby ranking cooking service providers who have set a higher usage fee higher.

16. The aforementioned information on the availability of materials indicates the availability of materials that the cooking service provider can use for cooking and the expiration dates of those materials. The cooking service provider search means searches for a cooking service provider whose ingredients used in the selected recipe, identified by the received selected recipe identification information, are available for cooking service, based on the ingredient information included in the recipe information of the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information and the ingredient possession status information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means, and the cooking service provider whose ingredients used in the selected recipe have the closest expiration date. This is the cooking service provider request system according to claim 8.

17. The cooking service provider information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means includes price information indicating the price set by the cooking service provider as the price of each dish that the cooking service provider is capable of preparing. The cooking service request system according to claim 7, characterized in that the cooking service provider search means searches for the cooking service provider with the lowest price for a dish that can be cooked using the selected recipe, based on the price information stored in the cooking service provider information storage means.

18. The cooking agent information stored in the cooking agent information storage means includes cooking agent location information indicating the location of the cooking agent, The cooking service request system according to claim 7, wherein the cooking service provider search means searches for the cooking service provider closest to the location of the cooking service provider based on the location information of the cooking service provider who is available to provide cooking services and the location information of the cooking service provider stored in the cooking service provider information storage means.

19. In a method for requesting cooking services performed by computer, A step to obtain nutritional intake information showing the nutritional intake status of individuals who are eligible for cooking assistance, A recipe search step involves searching for one or more recipes according to the nutritional intake status of the person who can use the cooking assistance service, based on the acquired nutritional intake status information and recipe information indicating a recipe, and the recipe information associated with the recipe information, which is stored for each recipe in a recipe information storage means that associates the recipe information with the amount of nutrients contained in the dishes that can be cooked using the recipe, and the recipe information associated with the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage means, which searches for one or more recipes according to the nutritional intake status of the person who can use the cooking assistance service, A recipe information transmission step, which transmits the suggested recipe information, which shows one or more of the searched recipes in a presentable manner, to a cooking service terminal device used by the cooking service provider, A selection recipe identification information receiving step, which receives selection recipe identification information from the cooking service provider terminal device, which identifies the selected recipe among the one or more recipes indicated by the transmitted presented recipe information that the cooking service provider has selected as the recipe for which they wish to request cooking service; A cooking assistance request information transmission step, which transmits cooking assistance request information indicating a request for cooking assistance using the selected recipe identified by the received selected recipe identification information to a cooking assistance terminal device used by the cooking assistance provider, A method for requesting cooking services, characterized by including the following:

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