Quick Overview

  • Albertsons announced Tuesday that it has begun using an AI-driven proprietary fresh produce inspection tool.
  • The tool, called Intelligent Quality Control, is currently used in some warehouses to measure the quality and consistency of strawberries and grapes, based on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise, including Vision AI and Gemini models.
  • This proprietary tool highlights Albertsons' ambition to build its own backend technology and leverage AI to improve operations.

In-Depth Analysis

Although Albertsons' Intelligent Quality Control program is currently mainly used to inspect strawberries and grapes, the retailer said it plans to expand this solution to the entire berry department, roll the tool out nationwide, and include more fresh products.

In a video released with the announcement, Albertsons demonstrated how its "next-generation inspection tool" evaluates the quality of fresh strawberries. In one of the company's warehouses, a worker used a tablet equipped with the Intelligent Quality Control program to photograph plastic containers filled with berries. The tool then scored the produce according to Albertsons' quality standards—deep red strawberries received high scores, while discolored ones received lower scores.

According to the announcement, this new AI tool helps Albertsons rate produce faster, provides richer data, and applies scoring that aligns with the retailer's standards in a more consistent manner.

"We built the AI-driven Intelligent Quality Control tool to support our excellent quality inspection teams in our distribution centers, and early results show it is extremely useful in improving the consistency of quality ratings, which is critical for highly perishable products like fruits and vegetables," said Evan Rainwater, Albertsons' Chief Supply Chain Officer, in a statement.

Other retailers are also using AI to improve fresh department merchandise management and reduce waste. Hy-Vee recently partnered with Relex to strengthen its fresh category forecasting and ordering processes. Late last year, Afresh, whose customers include Albertsons, Meijer, and Stater Bros. Markets, expanded its fresh produce management solution suite by adding inventory management and production planning tools.

Albertsons' produce inspection tool is the latest result of its partnership with Google Cloud. Last year, Albertsons became the first retailer to launch a Google Cloud Conversational Commerce agent. Additionally, Albertsons has focused on integrating AI tools to enhance backend operations. In a blog post earlier this year, Anuj Dhanda, the company's Chief Technology and Transformation Officer, wrote that the retailer is using AI to improve demand forecasting, optimize promotions, predict labor needs, and improve employee scheduling.