Fresh Thyme Market is introducing Afresh Production Planning throughout its deli, produce, meat and bakery departments after moving production off paper sparked a significant lift in deli sales. The move brings the Midwest grocer onto the full Afresh Store Suite, from store ordering to in-store production and inventory management, on a single system across its fresh perimeter.
The partnership with Afresh supports Fresh Thyme’s long-term growth aspirations and its ongoing efforts to reduce waste, drive operational efficiencies and raise the bar even further on fresh, organic and better-for-you groceries that strengthen the customer experience and deliver value, according to the company.
Afresh says Fresh Thyme’s produce is rated among the region’s best, and its full-service butcher counters and made-in-store prepared foods round out a business built on fresh. The grocer turned to Afresh to keep differentiating on that exceptional quality and service.
“Fresh Thyme has consistently embraced innovations from Afresh. As we’ve expanded what’s possible with AI in fresh, they’ve continued to invest alongside us to help their teams operate more efficiently and continuously deliver shoppers an even stronger experience,” says Matt Schwartz, Afresh CEO. “Partnerships like this are what drive meaningful innovation in grocery.”
Production planning is at the core of Fresh Thyme’s operations and used to run on paper, with each store printing its own par sheets. The retailer’s support office had less visibility into what each department made until reports revealed opportunities for greater efficiency after the fact. Now Afresh’s artificial intelligence sets the day’s production plan for each item, accounting for the shelf life of ingredients and prepared items, demand, display sizes and the timing of shopper traffic, so food is freshest when shoppers want it.
“We’ve partnered with Afresh since 2019, and every year we’ve trusted them with more of our fresh operations. Production planning has been the most natural step yet. It’s simple and intuitive, so adherence climbed in a way we never could ... realize on paper,” says Josh Cotton, director of retail operations for Fresh Thyme Market.
In the deli, the plan sets how many rotisserie chickens to make and when to roast them, more for the lunch rush and fewer for off-peak traffic. In meat, it ties each cut to the subprimal it comes from, so the plan reflects what is on hand. In the bakery, it schedules the thawing and proofing that must start the night before.
The results showed up on the deli floor fast. Adherence to production plans jumped from 40% to 90%, and deli sales rose significantly. Fresh Thyme realized stronger efficiencies while also increasing sales due to Afresh’s recommendations more accurately targeting the true demand across prepared food.
Fresh Thyme is also rolling out Afresh Period Ending Inventory, replacing manual end-of-period counts with a scan that feeds the same system. With this rollout, Fresh Thyme now runs on the full Afresh Store Suite.
