QUINCY, Mass. — Retail Business Services, the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, named start-up Evergreens Farms winner of its supply chain innovation pitch competition. Evergreens and four other start-ups participated in the Supply Chain Seed start-up immersion program hosted by Retail Business Services and Venture Café. Over 10 weeks, start-ups worked with mentors to increase their retail industry IQ and built critical relationships with Ahold Delhaize USA companies. The program culminated in a pitch competition, where Evergreens emerged as the start-up with the most viable technology, according to a panel of retail and venture capital experts.
“New ideas and innovations are important to the supply chain industry now more than ever in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic,” said Chris Lewis, EVP of Supply Chain at Retail Business Services, who provided the keynote address at the pitch event. “We were inspired by each of these companies that presented compelling technologies for the future of supply chain, and we congratulate Evergreens Farms on this recognition.”
Evergreens Farms, led by Ahmad Zameli, pitched a solution to provide vertical farming technology to produce anywhere, regardless of climate and deliver consistently high-quality product year-round.
“The supply chain seed program was incredibly helpful in accelerating our business forward in our path to commercialization,” said Zameli. “The relationships we have forged with the different Ahold Delhaize USA companies and the conversations we had helped us refine our targeting and deployment strategy, as well as forge key relationships with leaders in the industry. The progress we made over the past 10 weeks fast-tracked our path to bringing safe, fresh, locally produced fruits and vegetables to the New England grocery market and beyond!”
“We thoroughly enjoyed working with the start-ups this year,” added Dan Covert, director of Supply Chain Innovation for Retail Business Services. “We’re looking forward to continuing the program next year and exploring more innovative ideas for the supply chain we support and the grocery retail brands it serves.”
The other finalists in the Supply Chain Seed Program were:
- End2End Solutions, led by Robert Steward, which provides a set of Internet of Things solutions and services designed to improve supply chain visibility by addressing quality, compliance, security, logistics and performance management.
- GoWheels!, led by William Bateman, is developing a radically redesigned wheel with a replaceable tire for carts used in distribution and transportation centers.
- NanoThings, led by Tim Williams, is focusing on a cold-chain traceability solution by utilizing Internet of Things technology from source to store.
- Produce Pics, led by Sridhar Iyer, is providing a computer vision-based application for reducing food waste in supply chain.
About Retail Business Services
Retail Business Services, LLC, is the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, currently providing services to five East Coast grocery brands, including Food Lion, The GIANT Company, Giant Food, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. Retail Business Services leverages the scale of the local brands to drive synergies and provides industry-leading expertise, insights and analytics to local brands to support their strategies with services including Information Technology, Merchandising, Marketing & Sourcing Services, Private Brand Products, Pharmacy Services, Not for Resale, Store Services, Financial Services, Legal Services, Communications, Supply Chain and People Systems and Services. For more information, visit www.retailbusinessservices.com.
