Ahold Selects Agribuys as its Technology Partner for Centralized Perishable Procurement
Agribuys
Lisa Osborne
(310) 899-3370
LOsborne@youngcompany.com
Laurence Sotsky
(310) 944-9655
laurence.sotsky@agribuys.com
Ahold USA
Barry Scher
(703) 961-6200
Agribuys to enable perishable procurement at all
Ahold USA operating companies
TORRANCE, CALIF, (April 17, 2002) - Agribuys announced today that Ahold
(NYSE: AHO) has named the company as its technology partner for perishable
e-procurement. This significant long-term relationship will result in
Agribuys providing both its supply chain software and marketplace services
to all six of Ahold`s operating companies for the procurement of all
perishable categories.
John Mason, senior vice president of perishables for Ahold USA, expressed
his satisfaction with the new alliance and said, "Ahold is rapidly moving
towards its goal of developing the most effective procurement organization
in the industry. I am delighted to announce that this partnership with
Agribuys will allow us to significantly streamline the operations of our
newly centralized Perishables Procurement Organization (PPO)." The
Boston-based PPO will manage procurement for all of Ahold`s U.S.-based
operating companies representing sales of more than $30 billion USD.
Agribuys was chosen after an exhaustive evaluation of many different
vendors and technologies. The Ahold announcement is another boost for this
established developer of end-to-end procurement solutions for the food
industry.
Agribuys CEO and President Vijay Yajnik, who announced the five-year
contract at a jubilant employee conference said, "This is a major
milestone in the growth of Agribuys. The selection of Agribuys by a
retailer of Ahold`s scale and reputation is a confirmation of the
sophistication, reliability and ROI of our technology. We look forward to
a long and productive relationship with this distinguished retailer."
Ahold will have an option to renew this contract for an additional five
years.
Laurence Sotsky, vice president of worldwide sales for Agribuys added,
"This contract will result in our technology processing more than $13
billion in purchases in produce, meat, poultry, seafood, bakery, deli and
floral items each year. This makes us the only software company in the
world to penetrate all perishable categories. It is truly the turning
point that the industry has been waiting for. We are thrilled to be
partnered with Ahold USA." The Agribuys staff will work with the majority
of Ahold`s suppliers to make this project a reality, extending tremendous
benefits to them as well.
Peter Jueptner, CCO of the World Wide Retail Exchange (WWRE) described the
announcement as a satisfying result of the WWRE`s continuing efforts to
bring advances in processes, technology and standards to the global retail
and CPG community. Jueptner commented, "We are very happy to see that
Ahold, a founding member of the WWRE, has chosen Agribuys as its
perishables procurement partner. Agribuys` selection last year as a
preferred vendor for WWRE members is validated by this development." The
WWRE recently launched a program called the Agribuys Supplier Access
Program (ASAP) that enables members to get hands-on experience with the
Agribuys system by conducting live procurement in a limited number of
perishable category areas.
Agribuys` technology is a state-of-the-art hosted collaborative commerce
solution. It enables end-to-end transactions between a retail grocer`s
back-end accounting and warehousing systems and the corresponding systems
at its suppliers and transportation carriers. This software supports
demand aggregation, price discovery, RFQs and negotiation as well as
invoice reconciliation and transportation management. The system, which is
hosted by IBM, is designed to be highly secure with multiple redundancies
for disaster recovery.
About Agribuys
Agribuys is the leading supply chain integrator for the global food
industry. Agribuys offers Internet-based solutions for demand planning and
management, procurement, logistics, receiving and payment. These solutions
improve the way organizations carry out transactions, use real-time
information to make decisions, and build relationships with their supply
chain partners. The Agribuys Online Marketplace provides a global hub that
is optimized for trading perishable foods. Based in California, with
offices in Australia, Asia, Canada, and Europe, Agribuys is rapidly
expanding to further broaden its global procurement platform. The company
is backed by Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE). Its strategic partners
include the WorldWide Retail Exchange (WWRE), the premier Internet-based
business-to-business (B2B) exchange for retailers and their suppliers. The
WWRE currently has 61 members including AEON Co., Ltd (Japan, TSE: 8267),
Ahold (NYSE: AHO), Albertson`s (NYSE: ABS), Auchan (France), Casino
(France, Parisbourse: 12558), Coop Italia (Italy), Coop Schweiz
(Switzerland), Dansk Supermarked (Denmark), Delhaize Group (Belgium, BSE:
DEL), Dairy Farm International (Hong Kong), El Corte Ingles (Spain), Giant
Eagle (U.S.), H.E. Butt Grocery Company (U.S.), Hy-Vee Inc. (U.S.), Marks
& Spencer (U.K., LSE: MKS), Meijer, Inc. (U.S.), Publix Super Markets
(U.S.), REWE (Germany), Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), Safeway plc (U.K., LSE:
SFW.L), Seibu Department Stores Ltd. (Japan), SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE: SVU),
Target Corporation (U.S., NYSE: TGT), Tesco (U.K., LSE: TSC.OL), Wakefern
Food Co. (U.S.), Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. (U.S.), Winn-Dixie Stores,
Inc. (U.S., NYSE: WIN), Woolworths (Australia, ASX: WOW) with combined
sales of U.S. $855 billion. For more information, visit the company`s
website at www.agribuys.com or call 877.499.3052.
About Ahold USA
Ahold USA, headquartered in Chantilly, VA oversees 1600 stores in the
United States. The operating companies are BI-LO LLC, headquartered in
Mauldin, SC; Bruno`s Supermarkets, Inc., with headquarters in Birmingham,
AL; Giant Food Stores LLC, based in Carlisle, PA; Giant Food Inc., based
in Landover, MD; The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company headquartered in
Boston, MA and Tops Markets LLC, with headquarters in Buffalo, NY.
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