Fresh Thyme Deploys AI Solution to Battle Food Waste

Fresh Thyme Farmers Market of Downers Grove, Ill., has announced a partnership with Afresh Technologies, a Silicon Valley-based AI-powered fresh food technology company, to reduce food waste in its stores and make quality fresh foods more accessible to customers throughout the Midwest.

Seeking to stem the tide of fresh food supply-chain inefficiencies that contribute to billions of dollars in fresh food waste in the U.S. grocery industry, Fresh Thyme is launching Afresh’s in-store Fresh Replenishment tools across its chain of 75 stores.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to bringing healthier, fresh food to all, we’ve partnered with Afresh to reduce food waste and provide our customers with the freshest produce imaginable,” said Chris Sherrell, president and CEO of Fresh Thyme. “We are a forward-thinking grocery chain that’s making big investments in our fresh food supply chain and technology with a commitment to reducing waste and giving customers the best experience possible in fresh.”

Using its AI-powered fresh replenishment platform, Afresh seeks to eliminate food waste, improve its partners’ profitability, and make fresher, healthier food accessible.

“Afresh was founded with the singular goal of using technology to help retailers reduce waste and make higher-quality, healthier food accessible to all people,” said Matt Schwartz, co-founder and CEO of Afresh. “We’re proud to partner with Fresh Thyme to advance their mission of improving the way communities eat by providing fresher, healthier food at incredible values.”

 “Fresh Thyme is aggressively adopting emerging technologies like Afresh’s AI solutions to drive our digital transformation with a focus on providing unparalleled experiences for our customers,” said Ramesh Reddy, Fresh Thyme's chief information officer. “We believe in exceeding the expectations of our guests by providing exceptionally fresh food at a great value while doing our part to reduce food waste.”