Kraft Heinz achieves all-time high demand forecast accuracy with 25% inventory reduction using o9 Solutions AI

Material shortages and pricing volatility have forced companies to rethink how they plan and forecast. At Kraft Heinz, teams across sales, finance, and category management worked from different versions of the data, with no unified source of truth. The company was carrying excess inventory, and supply chain losses were adding to food waste.

In 2022, Kraft Heinz partnered with o9 Solutions to deploy their Digital Brain platform across North American demand planning operations. The implementation centered on machine learning and predictive analytics operating at the weekly item-location level. The AI functions as a virtual scientist, continuously running thousands of demand simulations to refine forecasts and optimize inventory allocation and replenishment decisions. The platform integrates inputs from sales and operations planning, finance, and category management, helping unify cross-functional decisions that conflicting data versions had previously fragmented. Forecasts are designed for explainability — planners can interrogate why the system makes specific recommendations, reducing bias and building trust. The North American rollout was comprehensive, while EMEA deployments followed a more adaptive approach calibrated to regional market maturity.

Kraft Heinz achieved measurable improvements across forecast accuracy, inventory efficiency, and waste reduction since the 2022 deployment:

• 8% increase in monthly forecast accuracy, improving production efficiency and supply stability
• 10% improvement in short-term accuracy at the weekly item-location level, enabling faster inventory allocation decisions
• 70% forecast accuracy at a four-week planning lag, improving supply-demand alignment
• 25% reduction in excess inventory, advancing the company's goal of zero overstock in North America
• 10% decrease in supply chain losses, directly cutting food waste and reinforcing sustainability commitments

Beyond the metrics, service levels improved materially — ensuring product availability during market volatility. Demand Planning Lead Marcelo Iuki framed these results as meaningful progress toward a higher ceiling, not a final destination.

• Forecast accuracy gains can carry downstream: Kraft Heinz reported an 8% monthly accuracy improvement alongside a 25% reduction in excess inventory and 10% fewer supply chain losses — outcomes that affect cost, sustainability, and service simultaneously.
• Explainability is a prerequisite for adoption; planners are far more likely to trust and act on AI recommendations they can interrogate and understand.
• Regional deployment pacing matters — North America and EMEA required different rollout approaches based on organizational readiness and market maturity.
• Eliminating cross-functional data silos amplifies AI value beyond what demand-only models can deliver; integrating finance and category management inputs is as important as the algorithm itself.
• In food and beverage, supply chain efficiency and sustainability goals are reinforcing — better forecasting reduces food waste and improves both ESG outcomes and margins.