SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Afresh Technologies has tapped into the power of a major retail chain for its latest rollout. The solutions provider has teamed up with Albertsons to implement Afresh’s AI solutions across its network of stores. The two recently announced the completion of an enterprise rollout of the predictive ordering and inventory management platform.
"Supply chain and store technology implementations typically require a multi-year transformation and radical overhauls," said Afresh Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Matt Schwartz. "Afresh and Albertsons Cos. have partnered to complete the fastest in-store technology rollout in Albertsons Cos.’ history and did so across thousands of stores in just months, helping Albertsons Cos.' family of stores realize the transformational value in their fresh produce departments now; not years down the line."
The rollout took place in more than 2,200 Albertsons stores including Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Vons, and ACME and allows store teams to better order and plan fresh produce inventory, reducing food waste and achieving superior freshness, a release stated.
The platform reportedly provides department managers with easy-to-use ordering tools that leverage real-time insights. While it could typically take years to implement this type of large-scale enterprise software in the grocery industry, Afresh was able to complete the rollout of its system to Albertsons within seven months.
"Driving sustainability practices across Albertsons Cos. is essential to our business and the communities we serve,” said Suzanne Long, Chief Sustainability and Transformation Officer at Albertsons. “Our partnership with Afresh helps us improve ordering and better manage our inventory of fresh fruits and vegetables so our customers have access to fresher products, and we’re able to make meaningful progress toward achieving our goal to have zero food waste going to landfill by 2030.”
While competing solutions rely on near-perfect data, Afresh recognizes the unique challenges of fresh food and is built to produce results despite hard-to-predict and error-prone data, the release continued.
"What ultimately made this rollout so successful is a strong partnership with the Albertsons Cos. team and their willingness to embrace innovation and be a real partner in technology," said Schwartz. "Afresh is proud to serve Albertsons Cos., and we look forward to creating real, long-term impact for their fresh product offerings.”
Stay tuned for more unique partnerships in the fresh space.
