From Our Print Edition

Tool provides daily out-of-stock views to key retailer marketing areas, and gives insights on competitor stock positions.  

Ajinomoto Foods North America has added IRI’s Daily Out-Of-Stock (OOS) Benchmarking tool to manage retailer expectations where Ajinomoto was experiencing low in-stock conditions. 

The tool provides manufacturers and retailers with daily OOS views down to key retailer marketing areas and county levels. Updates show the stock positions of both Ajinomoto Foods and competitors for key retailers and provides in-stock percentage history, including pre-COVID-19 periods, which allows for promotion forecasting and reporting.

‘Since adding this tool, we’ve been able to see competitive issues and help ensure that our inventory is on the shelf where demand will spike and is needed most.’
— Matthew Troyka, Ajinomoto

“To combat market and economic challenges that have resulted from COVID-19, it is essential for brands to remain hyper-focused on out-of-stock and supply numbers to avoid short-term margin loss and longer-term sales erosion,” said Robert Sanders, exec vp and practice leader for Health Care, Home and Mid-Market for IRI, the Chicago-based market research firm. “Using our benchmarking tool to monitor in-stock percentages, Ajinomoto Foods is better prepared to plan product allocation to retailers, anticipate competitive threats and identify risk of delistment.”

“IRI’s Daily Out-Of-Stock Benchmarking tool provides us the outlook necessary to understand how our inventory position compares to the category and address any out-of-stock issues as necessary,” said Matthew Troyka, marketing director, Ajinomoto Foods North America. “Since adding this tool, we’ve also been able to see competitive issues and help ensure that our inventory is on the shelf where demand will spike and is needed most.” Since 2003, Ajinomoto has partnered with IRI for consumer panel data and market measurement. 

IRI data shows that the frozen convenience foods category continues to experience movement, with 19% of the top product launches of 2021 being frozen meals. Ajinomoto Foods sales are currently outpacing the frozen snacks category