AFresh

Afresh began as a research project in 2017 to develop AI-powered software that optimizes the entire food supply chain. Specifically, the company offers an in-store solution for grocery stores that applies artificial intelligence to manage the freshness of food. According to the company, the implementation of its technology has led to a 25%–45% reduction of in-store food waste and increased gross margin of fresh produce sales by 4 percentage points. The company generates revenue under a SaaS model. In March 2023, the company expanded into fresh departments, including meat, seafood, deli, and food service.

As of October 2024, the company’s technology was deployed across 3,000 stores in 40 states in the US and it reported that it was able to triple its customer base in 2021. Afresh also reported that it prevented 44 million lbs of food wastage as of 2024 while reducing 24 million kg of CO2 emissions and saving 886 million gallons of water.

Key customers and partnerships

Some of Afresh's key customers include Fresh Thyme Market, WinCo Foods, and Heinen’s. In 2019, the company also reported that it had established partnerships with three US grocery chains, each with more than 100 stores in operation.  The company also collaborated with Bashas’ Supermarkets Inc. (a chain of grocery stores based in North America with over 100 stores) in September 2021 and New Season Market (a chain of 19 privately owned grocery stores) in October 2021 to pilot the “Afresh AI-driven software solution” at selected stores.

In December 2022, Afresh partnered with SpartanNash to pilot the AI-powered Afresh platform at 10 of SpartanNash’s Family Fare grocery stores.  In January 2023, Afresh and Albertsons Companies announced the completion of an enterprise rollout of the Afresh predictive ordering and inventory management platform. 

Afresh also partnered with Albertsons Companies again in October 2024 for the launch of Afresh DC Forecasts, where Albertsons was its first customer.