Albertsons deploys AI-powered ordering and inventory platform

Afresh Technologies and Albertsons Companies (Boise, Idaho) announced today the rollout of the Afresh platform into the meat and seafood departments in more than 2,200 Albertsons Cos. banner stores including Safeway, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Vons and ACME. The Afresh platform drives better decision-making across the fresh supply chain with intelligent and connected solutions purpose-built for the complexities of fresh food.

After a successful two-month pilot in meat and seafood departments in 2023, the Afresh platform began an immediate chainwide rollout across Albertsons Cos. banner stores.

“Managing a meat and seafood department is particularly challenging because of the financial implications of shrink. To meet these challenges, Afresh is leveraging AI at scale to support accurate ordering for complex cutting and production items,” said Dain Charette, chief revenue officer at Afresh. “Additionally, we are excited about furthering our mission and continuing to support Albertsons’ ESG goal of reducing food waste.”

The Afresh platform will enable Albertsons Cos.’ meat and seafood teams to keep coolers and freezers light while boosting in-stock rates with AI-powered recommendations for high-value, hyper-perishable items like fresh poultry and prefilled order quantities for slower-moving, prepackaged items such as bacon. With an intuitive interface and workflows that follow department-specific best practices, department managers of any tenure can quickly place profit-maximizing orders.

Meat and seafood is the top-selling fresh category in grocery stores, accounting for 12% of fresh sales in 2021 according to FMI. In early 2023, Afresh announced its expansion beyond produce into other core fresh departments, including meat, seafood, deli, and food service.