Albertsons gets sharper picture of perishables supply chain

Albertsons Cos. has gained a more holistic view of its perishables supply chain with the adoption of the Procurant USA’s purchasing and order management platform.

A cloud-based buying application, the Procurant One system connects all suppliers and stakeholders across Albertsons’ supply chain for perishable foods, giving the supermarket giant’s buyers more visibility and insight when placing orders and allowing automated fulfillment of routine orders, Watsonville, Calif.-based Procurant said yesterday.

In turn, suppliers get mobile, real-time access to buyers as well as to the end-to-end order process, from bid to payment, according to Procurant. That also translates into better information, faster issue resolution, smoother collaboration and improved food safety and traceability for all stakeholders, the global food supply chain company said.

Procurant One has been implemented in produce and floral departments across all Albertsons retail banners, such as Albertsons, Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Acme, United Supermarkets and Vons, Procurant said.

“Perishable goods are critical to our success, and the complexity of our business and scale of operations require systems that are aligned with the demands of a modern, fast-moving supply chain,” Rich Mendonsa, vice president of produce and floral procurement at Albertsons Cos., said in a statement. “From day one, Procurant has been a great partner and has worked closely with our team to bring this new system online, smoothly and in record time.”

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The platform connects all stakeholders across Albertsons’ supply chain for fresh foods, giving its buyers more visibility and insight when placing orders.

For grocery retailers, the Procurant software lets users change and process orders from anywhere at any time, and prebuilt order guides provide simplified order processing, the company said. The system also enables retailers to collaborate with trading partners, track and trace products from field to delivery, build and tender loads to carriers, receive mobile alerts and visibility for updated loads, and negotiate with suppliers and confirm order changes on the fly. Users also get traceability and blockchain capabilities and can analyze spend with contextual reporting.

Procurant described its solution as the first new perishable goods buying platform for retailers in more than 20 years. Other food retailers and wholesalers using the system include Alex Lee, Lunds & Byerlys, Northgate Gonzalez Market, Cumberland Farms and Sodexo.

“This is a big day for Procurant and a great day for Albertsons Cos. and their network of produce and floral suppliers,” Procurant CEO Eric Peters stated. “From the very first conversation, we knew we had a shared objective to modernize and improve the perishables buying process. I’m proud of the work we’ve done to get them live and transacting in record time, and to help bring a modern digital procurement platform to one of the industry’s largest and most influential retailers.”

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The nation’s second-largest supermarket operator, Albertsons has 2,278 retail food and drug stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia under such banners as Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Markets and Balducci’s Food Lovers Market.