Imperfect Foods Upgrades Distribution Network to Accommodate Growth

To support its rapid and ongoing growth, online grocer Imperfect Foods has selected Manhattan Associates Inc.’s warehouse management system (WMS) to help modernize its distribution operations.

Founded in 2015 with a mission to eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone, Imperfect Foods achieved triple-digit growth in 2020 over the prior year, and exited 2020 with a revenue run rate in excess of $500 million. In January, it received a commitment to fund $95 million in a Series D growth investment. The company also recently formed an exclusive partnership with Padma Lakshmi, a food expert, television host, producer and author, on its “Behind the Box” video campaign. The video entails Lakshmi exploring the retailer’s process, explaining how it works directly with farmers and producers to reduce food waste by bringing “ugly” and surplus groceries to consumers across the country.

With all of this momentum, the company has now reached a point where it needed a WMS capable of improving inventory visibility, decreasing operational costs, and providing real-time metrics and reporting. Imperfect Foods selected Manhattan Active Warehouse Management to help unify every aspect of distribution. Further, since it was born in the cloud, Manhattan Active WM will automatically scale to match the business.

“Imperfect Foods has experienced incredible growth since first opening our doors six years ago,” said Tyrell Childs, VP of operations at San Francisco-based  Imperfect Foods. “When we made the decision to begin our search for a WMS, we knew we would need the best solution on the market with the limitless ability to grow rapidly with us, which is what led us to Manhattan’s WMS.”

Implementation is set to complete in Q4 2021 at Imperfect Foods' pilot distribution center in San Antonio, with its remaining five DCs to immediately follow.

“We are proud to partner with such an innovative and environmentally friendly organization,” said Bob Howell, SVP, Americas at Atlanta-based Manhattan Associates. “Having recently announced its pledge to become a net-zero carbon operation by 2030, Imperfect Foods will benefit from the many advanced features that improve supply chain sustainability found in Manhattan Active WM. We look forward to helping Imperfect Foods take this important initiative and its overall business success to the next level.”

Imperfect Foods eliminates food waste by working directly with farmers and producers to rescue and redistribute goods across multiple grocery categories, including produce, shelf-stable items, dairy, meat, seafood and its collection of private label offerings. The e-grocer delivers these goods directly to doorsteps through a customizable subscription service. To date, the company has saved 139 million pounds of food from going to waste.