Dive Brief:
- Fresh Thyme is rolling out new Afresh technology to improve ordering and inventory management in its deli and prepared foods departments, according to a Tuesday announcement.
- Afresh Store Order for Food Service will provide guidance on inventory levels and placing orders while AI-driven technology provides insight on order recommendations and auto-orders.
- This new initiative expands Fresh Thyme and Afresh’s partnership, which began in 2019, and continues the AI-technology company’s efforts to bring its capabilities beyond produce departments.
Dive Insight:
As food waste continues to be a main sustainability concern across the industry, technology companies and grocers continue to seek out new solutions to improve inventory management that will cut back on waste.
Afresh’s new system in Fresh Thyme’s deli and prepared foods sections taps the same AI data engine used in its additional platforms for other fresh departments to “sense hard-to-track factors” — including shelf life, seasonality, holidays and imperfect register scanning — for individual fresh items, according to the press release.
For the prepared foods department specifically, Afresh’s system helps store employees navigate ordering ingredients that are common across many recipes as well as adjust for potential ingredient substitutions, the announcement noted.
By the end of this year, Afresh’s platforms will be in use at all of Fresh Thyme’s “core” fresh departments across its entire 70-store fleet, according to the press release.
Afresh’s ordering and inventory management technology is becoming more common throughout the industry as grocers utilize it to cut back on food waste and further sustainability efforts. Currently, Albertsons, Cub Foods and Heinen’s are using the company’s AI-driven platforms in their fresh departments.
Earlier this month, Albertsons became the first retailer to test a new, separate Afresh forecasting solution for distribution centers that automatically compiles data that buyers use to forecast demand for upcoming orders from their stores. Albertsons is piloting the solution across produce, meat, seafood, deli and foodservice for 17 distribution centers.
Afresh announced in March 2023 an expansion of its food waste reduction technology beyond just produce to other fresh departments.
