Kansas City, Kan., & Tampa, Fla.
A smarter way for independent grocers to connect with customers, grow loyalty, and increase basket size has moved from pilot to deployment.
AWG, the nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets, announced today that SmartMeals™, its AI-powered meal planning and shopping assistant powered by Breez AI Corporation, has moved from pilot to wide-scale deployment.
“This is an exciting year for AWG as we celebrate our 100th Anniversary,” said Dan Funk, AWG’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We’re proud to offer to our members a solution that addresses one of the biggest opportunities and risks they are facing — the impact of AI on their relationship with their customers. In partnership with the folks at Breez AI, we created SmartMeals™ to provide independent retailers with a safe, reliable, and highly personalized AI experience that customers can trust and grocers can own. In January, 85 AWG member stores deployed SmartMeals™, with more rollouts coming.”
Independent grocers are facing an urgent challenge as AI begins transforming consumer habits in the grocery industry. Shoppers are adopting AI at an unprecedented rate to inform their purchasing decisions, and independent grocers cannot stay on the sidelines.
In 2024, AWG partnered with Breez AI to create an easy-to-deploy turnkey solution to empower AWG member retailers with a practical, branded way to meet these expectations while strengthening loyalty and driving new revenue opportunities.
“SmartMeals™ protects retailers’ relationships with their customers in this crucial moment where consumers are learning new habits thanks to AI. We’re already seeing very strong results, including a 22% lift in average basket size and a 72% increase in loyalty signups at participating stores — and we’re only at the beginning,” said James Neumann, AWG’s Senior Vice President Sales and Support.
“SmartMeals™ enables our members to compete with national chains and provide consumers a smarter personal shopper assistant that matches or surpasses other AI tools in functionality and user experience,” said Shelly Moore, AWG’s Chief Information Officer. “We now have nearly 100 stores onboarded, with a strong pipeline including some of our largest members.”
Its capabilities go beyond other grocery AI tools by offering:
- Personalized meal planning based on dietary needs, allergies, and health considerations while protecting user privacy
- Budget-smart recommendations tailored to household preferences
- Step-by-step recipes with images for easy cooking guidance
- Custom-branded retailer experiences that build differentiation
- Retail media opportunities through personalized product recommendations
“We are proud to have built SmartMeals™ in partnership with AWG,” said Tal Zlotnitsky, founder and CEO of Breez AI. “SmartMeals™ is a generative AI shopping companion that transforms how people plan, shop, and cook. Built for the modern consumer and integrated directly into grocers’ online platforms, SmartMeals™ helps shoppers go from ’What’s for dinner?’ to checkout in under two minutes, while protecting customer privacy.”
The launch underscores AWG’s commitment to bringing cutting-edge yet practical technological solutions to its member retailers. SmartMeals™ empowers independents to offer a modern, intuitive, and competitive digital experience without the heavy infrastructure investment typically required to develop in-house AI capabilities.
“At AWG, we continue to see SmartMeals™ gain significant traction with consumers,” says Stacy Bowen, AWG’s Vice President of Sales and Solutions. “SmartMeals™ provides the kind of engagement and “stickiness” that strengthens the bond between consumers and our member store locations.”
SmartMeals™ is now available to AWG member stores, with onboarding support, marketing materials, and training resources available to assist retailers in deployment.
ABOUT ASSOCIATED WHOLESALE GROCERS, INC.
Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is the nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets, serving 1,100 member companies and 3,500 locations throughout 33 states from 9 wholesale division support centers. Consolidated sales for AWG in 2024 were $12.1 billion. In addition to its cooperative wholesale operations, the company also operates subsidiary companies that provide certain real estate and supermarket development services, and pharmaceutical products.
ABOUT BREEZ AI CORPORATION
Breez AI exists to help grocers better support their communities by offering shoppers simple, personalized, and intelligent meal planning and shopping solutions. With tools designed to reduce food waste, stretch household budgets, and deliver healthier meal ideas, Breez AI strengthens the connection between local retailers and the families they serve. The platform’s flexible, white-label technology integrates directly into retailer ecosystems to improve convenience and deepen loyalty.
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