Vallarta Supermarkets deploys AI solutions for fresh food management
A Hispanic-focused California grocer has implemented a host of new technology solutions to improve operations.
Vallarta Supermarkets has partnered with Logile Inc. to deploy the AI-powered workforce solutions firm’s Fresh Item Management, bringing “intelligent automation and streamlined execution” to its store locations. Logile says Vallarta’s transition to its suite for fresh food production has helped replace fragmented processes with a data-driven, automated approach.
The solutions behind Vallarta’s fresh production transformation include:
- AI and Machine Learning (ML)-Based Item-Level Forecasting: Logile’s forecasting includes sellable items, production items sold under the same UPC, ingredients and supplies. Its advanced forecasting models leverage AI and ML to predict demand with accuracy of up to 97% by analyzing historical data, seasonality, weather, events and market trends. These intelligent models continuously learn and adapt, optimizing inventory management, minimizing stockouts and reducing excess inventory, all while providing real-time insights for more efficient decision making and supply chain management.
- Production Planning: Logile produces production plans for all fresh departments based on item-specific production schedules, on-hand inventory, and minimum display parameters in conjunction with AI-generated forecasts. Both recipe and yield process production are supported. Batch sizes are optimized to consolidate like-items, and plans are tailored by role to guide production efficiency.
- Recipe and Nutrition Management: Logile’s system records ingredient formulations for all recipes and sub-recipes, with step-by-step production process documentation and associated food safety controls, pictures, videos and training guides. The ability to integrate with the FDC and other nutritional data sources supports the creation of all nutritional labeling content and allergen declarations. The system also supports cost calculation and gross profit management. Multiple costs can be defined, including ingredients, labor, supplies, overhead and transportation. Extensive alerts are supported for merchandising, food safety, nutritional content, or gross profit management.
- Grind Management: Logile provides systematic capture of all grind production batches and grinder cleaning events to comply with USDA regulations. Mobile device interaction is supported by Logile's store execution management system with the same devices used for task management and communications. The system also provides dashboard visibility to monitor compliance across a retail enterprise.
- Yield Management: Logile supports yield-based production where sellable products are created from base ingredients, as seen in meat cutting or fresh-cut fruit and vegetable offerings. The system supports cutting test samples and yield test creation specific to seasonal products (e.g., steaks vs. roasts), special ad/promo mix, and yield % by packer to support accurate product yield and gross profit management.
- Scale Management: Logile's enterprise scale management system allows for efficient host updates to all scale and labeling equipment. It automates timely synchronization of all devices and provides system alerting and process resolution for efficient corporate oversight. Logile supports host integration with all scale and labeling hardware providers.
- Cookbook: The next phase of Vallarta’s fresh food journey is the planned Q3 implementation of Cookbook. This tablet-based app guides users step by step through food production with full recipe visibility, including ingredients, batch sizes, process steps with visuals, and nutritional info. It replaces paper recipe books to ensure up-to-date, accessible instructions, improving accuracy, efficiency and consistency across operations.
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“Delivering fresh, high-quality products is at the heart of our operations, and we needed a smarter way to manage production and inventory," said Steve Netherton, chief information officer and VP of continuous improvement at Vallarta. "Logile’s technology has helped us modernize our approach, bringing centralization, better structure and visibility to fresh food management. Vallarta has seen a significant reduction in pitch and donation and now has enterprise visibility into performance compliance. Our associates can work more efficiently within a single seamless platform to reduce waste and ensure customers always find the fresh items they expect."
Headquartered in Santa Clarita, Vallarta operates approximately 55 stores throughout California.
