Fresh Thyme Expands AI Production Planning Across Fresh Departments

Fresh Thyme Market is expanding its use of artificial intelligence across produce and other fresh departments after an initial production-planning rollout helped the retailer sharply increase adherence to production plans and boost deli sales.

The 70-store Midwest retailer is rolling out Afresh Production Planning across produce, deli, meat and bakery departments.

Fresh Thyme has worked with Afresh since 2019, when it began using the company’s technology for produce ordering. The latest expansion moves beyond determining what stores should order and focuses on helping employees determine how much fresh product should be prepared and when.

The technology replaces paper production sheets with recommendations that account for factors such as expected demand, promotions, holidays and changing sales patterns.

“We’ve partnered with Afresh since 2019, and every year we’ve trusted them with more of our fresh operations,” said Josh Cotton, director of retail operations for Fresh Thyme.

Results from the retailer’s deli implementation helped drive the broader rollout.

Fresh Thyme said stores using paper production guides had followed their plans about 40% of the time. After implementing Afresh Production Planning, adherence increased to approximately 90%.

Deli sales increased 8.8%, while rotisserie chicken sales jumped 70% year over year. Before the change, stores could sell out of chickens during peak periods while producing too many during slower periods. The system allowed production to be shifted more closely toward actual demand.

The challenge is particularly relevant in fresh departments, where retailers must balance having enough product available for shoppers with the risk of shrink from short shelf lives.

Produce presents its own complications because demand, perishability, promotions, weather and merchandising can quickly change the amount of inventory a store needs.

Fresh Thyme’s earlier use of Afresh for produce ordering resulted in a reported 25% shrink reduction and an 80% decrease in stockouts, according to an Afresh case study.

The new production-planning rollout extends the retailer’s use of technology deeper into its fresh operations.

Rather than relying on individual stores to make production decisions from static worksheets or employee experience alone, the system provides recommendations based on expected store-level demand.

Fresh Thyme operates 70 stores across 10 Midwest states and has increasingly positioned fresh foods as a point of differentiation.

For produce retailers, the expansion offers another example of how AI is moving beyond forecasting and corporate analytics into daily department operations.

The goal is relatively straightforward: put the right amount of fresh product in front of shoppers at the right time, while producing or ordering less of what may ultimately become shrink.