Afresh AI Fresh Food Ordering and Store Operations Platform

Afresh is a San Francisco grocery technology company founded in 2017 with a mission to eliminate food waste and make fresh food more accessible. It addresses the shrink that grocers suffer in fresh departments, where shifting assortments, random-weight packs, many vendors and short shelf life make manual ordering inaccurate and lead to both waste and empty shelves.

The platform builds data models of products, inventory and operations, then makes ordering decisions under uncertainty that balance availability, freshness, labour and margin, with AI agents automating routine work and escalating to staff when judgment is needed. Modules cover Store Ordering, Period Ending Inventory, Production Planning for deli and bakery, Recipe Management and DC Buying for distribution centres. Customers include Albertsons Companies, Meijer, Wakefern, Grocery Outlet, Heinen's and Fresh Thyme.

• Store Ordering: recommends order quantities for each item across fresh and centre-store departments.
• Period Ending Inventory: speeds up period close with more accurate ending inventory counts.
• Production Planning: plans deli and bakery production for freshness and less waste.
• Recipe Management: keeps recipes in one digital source of truth linked to planning.
• DC Buying: buys for distribution centres based on real store demand.
• AI agents: automate routine workflows and bring in staff when human judgment is required.

• Vietnamese supermarket chains optimising daily orders of vegetables, fruit, meat and seafood per store.
• Retailers with in-store kitchens planning ready-meal and bakery production to reduce end-of-day disposal.
• Distribution centres of grocery chains aligning purchasing with actual store sell-through.

• Less shrink: retail partners report up to 25% reduction in shrink.
• Higher sales: partners report a 3% sales lift and a 7% improvement in inventory turns.
• Faster ordering: the platform is positioned as faster than conventional computer-assisted ordering.
• Measurable impact: Afresh reports more than 200 million pounds of food waste prevented.

Fresh departments are where grocers lose most margin to spoilage, and retailers are replacing rule-based replenishment with AI that handles perishables and weather or promotion swings. As modern grocery chains and convenience formats expand across Southeast Asia, the same pressure to cut shrink and report food waste is growing in the region.

Founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco. Raised 34 million USD in April 2026, co-led by Just Climate and HighSage Ventures. Live in more than 12,500 departments across 40 US states, with 70% year-over-year revenue growth reported. Named a 2026 IDC Innovator in AI sustainability software; SOC 2 compliant.