How to spot voids and protect ...
November 8, 2021
From avocado oil pioneer to multi-category powerhouse: How Chosen Foods harnesses Crisp to fuel nationwide expansion and revolutionize their UNFI supply chain.
Chosen Foods, trailblazer of a now-booming avocado oil market, has come a long way from its single-SKU beginnings. Today, this certified B Corp offers a diverse range of better-for-you pantry essentials, from their signature avocado oils to mayos, salad dressings, sauces, and even an instant-classic chocolate hazelnut spread. But with rapid expansion comes complex challenges in inventory management, distribution optimization, and maintaining sustainability commitments across a growing retail network.
Since becoming a Crisp customer in 2021, Chosen Foods has leveraged data to fuel their growth while maintaining lean, efficient operations. In 2023, they became early adopters of the UNFI Insights platform powered by Crisp, further enhancing their ability to make data-driven decisions.
Now, a year of remarkable success highlights how the platform’s clean, accessible reporting supported explosive nationwide growth and new product launches for Chosen Foods, all while helping the team optimize their supply chain and achieve zero food waste.
Avocado revolution
Chosen Foods’ evolution from a single avocado oil SKU to up to 5 sizes reflects the growing demand for their better-for-you, heart-healthy, high smoke-point product. The popularity of their oil, coupled with a mission to ‘clean up the pantry,’ has led to rapid new product line innovations and market expansion in supermarket chains across the US.
Chosen has seen tremendous growth within their core categories and in addition, they have been expanding into new categories.
“Crisp has helped us manage our route to market and inventory needs” explains Tiana Ukleja, Director of Natural Sales at Chosen Foods. “Where is our inventory? What Distribution Centers are in need? These are questions we need to answer daily.”
“I refresh Crisp multiple times daily,” adds Christian Ruff, Sr. Key Account Manager, “to check in real-time when our products are hitting Distribution Centers. Our velocities continue to increase in all categories and we have to continually make adjustments to forecasts.”
“I refresh Crisp multiple times daily to check in real-time when our products are hitting Distribution Centers. Our velocities continue to increase in all categories and we have to continually make adjustments to forecasts.”
Christian Ruff, Sr. Key Account Manager at Chosen Foods
Well-oiled supply chain
The UNFI Insights platform has been a game-changer for Chosen Foods, fueling remarkable growth across their UNFI (NASDAQ: UNFI) distribution network. Here, the company’s seen 35% year-over-year sales growth in its natural and conventional channels, with standout performances at several retailers: Stop & Shop surged 212%, Giant Foods grew 70%, and Harris Teeter rose 44%.
Independent retailers also thrived, thanks to well-stocked DCs and responsive order planning, seeing strong 50% YOY sales growth.
Product assortments, resets, and timing vary across all of these accounts, but with real-time data reporting the team possesses full visibility of their far-reaching distribution network, seeing when and where products hit shelves daily. “UNFI Insights by Crisp saves us hours on reporting each week by consolidating our info into a user-friendly format,” Christian shares, “on top of giving us peace of mind.”
“UNFI Insights by Crisp saves us hours on reporting each week by consolidating our info into a user-friendly format – on top of giving us peace of mind.”
Christian Ruff, Sr. Key Account Manager at Chosen Foods
Waste-free operations
Perhaps most impressive is Chosen Foods’ ability to reduce waste in their UNFI supply chain. The platform’s detailed breakdown of DC SKU inventory, including quantity on hand, on-order quantity, and forecast quantity, allows the team to make precise decisions about inventory allocation and replenishment.
Currently in the UNFI Insights spoilage risk dashboard – calculated by weeks on hand and weeks to expiration – the team sees very little to no food waste.
“Zero waste is a huge difference from a previous role that I held where we constantly had thousands of units and dollars on spoilage alert,” notes Tiana. “It’s not uncommon for CPG brands to deal with spoilage (which is not only expensive to the company but also hard to imagine sitting in a landfill unused) – let alone with limited data visibility.”
“Zero waste is a huge difference from a previous role that I held where we constantly had thousands of units and dollars on spoilage alert.”
Tiana Ukleja, Director of Natural Sales at Chosen Foods
New frontiers
Other features including UNFI Insights’ category performance reports highlight Chosen Foods’ success beyond their core avocado oil products. Category growth doesn’t generally happen overnight, and that’s why it’s so impressive to see the brand’s 10% YOY category share growth in the saturated (if you will) salad dressings space.
Sustainable success 🥑
Chosen Foods has mastered fast, efficient growth while not only scaling but optimizing operations. “We’ve accelerated growth while effectively eliminating waste in our distribution supply chain thanks to Crisp,” Tiana Ukleja shares. “With daily, actionable insights into our inventory and sales, Chosen Foods can confidently innovate and expand our product lines while upholding our commitment to sustainability as a certified B Corp.”
As the market for avocado oil and avocado-oil based products continues to expand, Crisp is excited to be part of Chosen Foods’ ongoing success story, fueled by the power of data.
“We’ve accelerated growth while effectively eliminating waste in our distribution supply chain thanks to Crisp. With daily, actionable insights into our inventory and sales, Chosen Foods can confidently innovate and expand our product lines while upholding our commitment to sustainability as a certified B Corp.”
Tiana Ukleja, Director of Natural Sales at Chosen Foods
Certified B Corp Chosen Foods’ mission is to do good in the world by being good for the world, replacing bad fats with the good fats of 100% pure avocado oil across the kitchen pantry.
