RELEX Acquires Ida, Wielding AI to Combat Grocery's Fresh Food Waste

HELSINKI & PARIS – December 18, 2025 – In a significant move to tackle one of the grocery industry's most persistent and costly challenges, supply chain technology leader RELEX Solutions has announced its acquisition of Ida, a French software-as-a-service (SaaS) company. Ida specializes in AI-driven optimization for the complex world of fresh and ultra-fresh foods, a category notorious for high waste and operational headaches.

The acquisition integrates Ida’s specialized platform, which is already trusted by leading European grocers like Auchan and Coopérative U, into RELEX’s broader unified supply chain planning suite. This strategic combination aims to create a powerful, end-to-end solution that promises to reduce food spoilage, improve product availability, and enhance profitability for retailers navigating the difficult fresh food landscape.

The Fresh Food Conundrum

Fresh categories—including loose fruits and vegetables, bakery items, meat, seafood, and prepared meals—are the lifeblood of modern grocery retail. They drive foot traffic, define a store's brand image, and command significant consumer spending. Yet, they remain the most complex and financially risky segment to manage. Industry experts note that over 30% of fresh produce in supermarkets can become surplus, contributing to a global food waste crisis and eroding already thin profit margins.

The difficulties are inherent to the products themselves. Short shelf lives create a constant race against time, while demand is subject to high volatility, influenced by unpredictable factors like weather, local events, and sudden shifts in consumer behavior. Furthermore, data management is often fragmented, especially for loose, variable-weight items sold by the pound or piece. Many retailers still rely on manual ordering processes, gut feelings, or generic inventory systems ill-suited for the rapid pace and unique characteristics of perishables. This traditional approach frequently leads to a damaging cycle of overstocking, which results in waste, and understocking, which leads to lost sales and dissatisfied customers.

A Strategic Play in Supply Chain Tech

For RELEX Solutions, the acquisition of Ida is a calculated move that reinforces its long-term strategy of building a single, unified platform for all retail and supply chain planning needs. The Helsinki-based company has a track record of strategic acquisitions designed to broaden its capabilities, including the 2024 purchase of Optimity Software to enhance production planning and the 2022 acquisitions of Athena Retail for space management and Formulate for promotion planning.

By integrating Ida, RELEX is filling a critical gap and deepening its expertise in a high-value vertical. The move solidifies its position as a market leader, a status already recognized by top analyst firms like Gartner and IDC, which have consistently ranked RELEX as a leader in supply chain planning and retail AI solutions. This acquisition is not just about adding a new feature; it's about providing a holistic solution that connects central supply chain decisions with in-store execution, from the supplier all the way to the shelf.

“Fresh products have always been the hardest category to get right, where waste, availability, and margin meet daily reality,” said Mikko Kärkkäinen, Group CEO and Co-Founder, RELEX Solutions. “By integrating Ida’s advanced fresh replenishment capabilities, we’re helping grocers act faster and smarter across every category. We warmly welcome the Ida team to RELEX.”

The newly integrated capabilities will form 'RELEX Fresh Store Ordering' and bolster the existing 'RELEX In-store Production Planning,' creating a unified environment where grocers can manage everything from center-store dry goods to the most delicate ultra-fresh items within a single system.

AI-Powered Precision for the Produce Aisle

At the heart of the acquisition is Ida's powerful, AI-native optimization platform. Unlike generic inventory tools, Ida’s technology was built from the ground up to address the specific nuances of fresh food. Its algorithms analyze over a hundred different parameters—including at least three years of historical sales data, weather forecasts, seasonality, pricing, local competitor activity, and promotional calendars—to generate highly accurate daily sales forecasts and ordering recommendations.

The impact for its clients has been substantial. Retailers using Ida have reported waste reductions of up to 30% and sales increases of around 5%. These are not just theoretical gains; they are proven results from deployments in major European grocery chains such as Auchan, Coopérative U, Naturalia, and Biocoop. The system provides store associates and department managers with clear, data-driven guidance through a simple tablet interface, automating a process that can consume hundreds of hours annually and replacing guesswork with precision.

The technology also extends to in-store production planning for deli, seafood, and bakery departments, helping teams decide how much to prepare each day to meet demand without creating excess. This level of granular, AI-assisted planning empowers store teams to make smarter, faster decisions that directly impact the bottom line.

“Joining RELEX is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine how the world manages fresh food,” said Mateo Beacco, CEO and Co-Founder of Ida. “Together, we are creating the global standard for fresh optimization, reducing waste at scale, boosting availability, and empowering every store team with AI that delivers measurable impact from day one.”

Broader Implications for Retail and Sustainability

This acquisition arrives at a pivotal moment for the grocery industry. Faced with mounting economic pressures, supply chain disruptions, and a growing consumer demand for sustainability, retailers are urgently seeking technological solutions that offer both efficiency and a positive environmental impact. The RELEX-Ida combination directly addresses these macro-trends.

The potential to drastically cut food waste is perhaps the most significant societal benefit. By optimizing ordering and production, the integrated platform helps grocers become better environmental stewards while simultaneously improving their financial performance. This dual benefit of “doing well by doing good” is a powerful motivator for an industry under intense scrutiny for its environmental footprint.

Furthermore, the move reflects the broader shift towards AI and automation as essential tools for survival and growth in modern retail. As projected by the “State of AI in Grocery 2024” report, AI is expected to unlock over $136 billion in value for the sector by 2030. Solutions that automate complex decisions, enhance forecasting accuracy, and provide end-to-end visibility are no longer a luxury but a necessity for building resilient and agile supply chains. By bringing together RELEX's comprehensive platform with Ida's specialized intelligence, the combined company is poised to set a new benchmark for how technology can solve one of retail's oldest and most intractable problems.