Stater Bros. Markets expands use of AI to manage inventory

Stater Bros. Markets has announced they will be expanding their partnership with Afresh, an AI company that offers intelligence solutions for food supply chains.

In 2025, Stater Bros. rolled out Afresh’s Fresh Replenishment for their produce department providing the company with a connected system that links real store demand directly to buying decisions.

“We’ve been impressed with Afresh’s partnership with our teams,” said Bertha Luna, Executive Vice President, Store Operations, Stater Bros. Markets. “They took the time to earn trust, and the results speak for themselves—produce shrink is down, shelves are full, and our customers notice the difference. When teammates see a solution that supports their work, adoption follows naturally.”

For decades, produce buying at Stater Bros. has been guided by deep expertise and hands-on merchandising practices. As the company modernized its fresh operations, it adopted traditional forecasting tools commonly used in center-store categories. While effective for more stable items, these technologies struggled to keep pace with the complexity and variability of fresh products.

Fresh categories require frequent ordering, rapid response to changing conditions, and close alignment between stores and distribution centers. In contrast, center-store forecasting tools treat demand as static, relying on weekly snapshots and historical averages.

“Fresh operations don’t follow a single, predictable path—signals change, conditions shift, and outcomes vary,” said Matt Schwartz, CEO at Afresh. “By extending the same intelligence from store ordering into DC procurement, Stater Bros. is aligning decisions across the supply chain on a system built to operate under that uncertainty. When inventory decisions learn from each other instead of operating in silos, retailers can reduce waste, improve service levels, and deliver the freshness customers expect.”

Stater Bros. says the move is strengthening service to stores while supporting fresher products, more efficient inventory flow, and continued operational excellence.

“Having spent my career in fresh produce, in both retail and sales and merchandising, I know firsthand the hours consumed by synthesizing data and relying on guesswork for critical fresh decisions,” said Jacob Cadwallader, Director of Produce, Stater Bros. Markets. “Afresh’s interconnected system—coordinating decisions from the store to the DC—is the breakthrough we’ve needed to improve accuracy and efficiency. Automating forecasting allows our buying teams to stay laser-focused on supporting our stores, sharpen long-term purchasing decisions, and strengthen our commitment to delivering the quality our customers expect from us.”