On December 31, 2025, two significant stories in the world of food and public health converged—one highlighting cutting-edge technology to optimize grocery store operations, and the other shining a harsh light on troubling lapses in restaurant food safety. Together, they paint a vivid picture of the challenges and opportunities facing those who feed communities, from the store shelf to the restaurant table.
RELEX Solutions, a leader in retail and supply chain planning, announced its acquisition of Ida, a Paris-based SaaS company specializing in artificial intelligence-driven fresh replenishment and store ordering optimization. The deal marks a strategic leap for RELEX, integrating Ida’s AI-native platform into its own, and promising to transform how grocers manage everything from fruit and vegetables to prepared foods across France and Western Europe. According to Perishable News, Ida’s technology is already trusted by major grocers such as Auchan, Coopérative U, Naturalia, and Biocoop.
Fresh categories—think produce, bakery, meat, seafood, and deli—are notorious for their complexity. They’re perishable, volatile, and often sold in loose, variable-weight formats. Grocers have long struggled to balance supply and demand, minimize waste, and maximize availability. But with Ida’s platform, these challenges are being met with daily AI-powered forecasts and trading recommendations, guiding store teams on exactly how much to order and even providing in-store production plans. The result? Less waste, fuller shelves, and more efficient use of labor.
Mikko Kärkkäinen, Group CEO and Co-Founder of RELEX Solutions, captured the stakes succinctly: “Fresh products have always been the hardest category to get right, where waste, availability, and margin meet daily reality. By integrating Ida’s advanced fresh replenishment capabilities, we’re helping grocers act faster and smarter across every category. We warmly welcome the Ida team to RELEX.”
This acquisition is not just about new software bells and whistles. It brings a suite of new AI-based capabilities to RELEX’s unified platform: enhanced AI forecasting and ordering for perishable and loose items, automated recommendations for store associates and managers, AI-assisted production planning for tricky categories like meat and bakery, improved distribution center and supplier forecasting for better upstream visibility, and centralized dashboards for headquarters to monitor performance in real time. All these features are designed to bridge the gap between store operations and retail planning, creating what RELEX now calls its Fresh Store Ordering and In-store Production Planning environments.
Mateo Beacco, CEO and Co-Founder of Ida, expressed enthusiasm for the future: “Joining RELEX is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine how the world manages fresh food. Together, we are creating the global standard for fresh optimization, reducing waste at scale, boosting availability, and empowering every store team with AI that delivers measurable impact from day one.”
To further share their vision, RELEX announced a webinar scheduled for February 11, 2026, titled ‘Fresh Results for Profitable Store Operations,’ inviting industry professionals to learn more about the practical impacts of their unified platform.
While technology races ahead in the grocery sector, another side of the food world is grappling with more fundamental issues. On the same day as the RELEX-Ida announcement, Chef Andrew Chambers published a heartfelt column addressing an alarming trend in local restaurant health inspection scores in Fayette and Coweta Counties, Georgia. Chambers, a respected local chef and columnist, didn’t mince words about what he sees as a growing crisis.
According to Chambers, the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) conducts thorough inspections of restaurants and foodservice businesses at least twice per year. These inspections are not just about a kitchen’s appearance; they are rigorous assessments of whether an establishment is likely to contaminate food or spread foodborne illness. Inspection scores are public information, posted at the entrance of every food establishment, and are meant to keep diners safe.
But recent reports have shown a worrying decline in standards. As Chambers pointed out, “As of the most recent inspection reports, the Department of Public Health lists 23 food businesses in Fayette and Coweta Counties with scores between 40 and 79 on their latest inspections.” He considers these scores “never events”—borrowing a term from healthcare to describe outcomes that should simply never occur. “A restaurant or foodservice business should never—I repeat, never—earn a score lower than 80,” Chambers wrote. In his own kitchens, he expects nothing less than an 85.
What’s especially troubling is that several popular local restaurants—including Viet’s Cuisine in Peachtree City, Kobe Steak in Peachtree City, Peach Cobbler Factory, and Tokyo Hibachi & Sushi of Fayetteville—received scores below 40. Tokyo Hibachi & Sushi scored a shocking 33. Chambers did not hold back: “Scores this low are grossly negligent at best. They reflect a complete disregard for the basic fundamentals of commercial food safety and sanitation. They also show disregard for the health of customers.”
For Chambers, the issue is not just about the businesses, but about consumer responsibility as well. He urges diners to check the DPH score before eating anywhere. “It’s the first thing I do when I walk into a restaurant. If it looks good, acknowledge it with a compliment to management—and keep eating there. That compliment will consciously and subconsciously remind the staff to continue doing whatever it takes to maintain a strong score. And if the DPH score doesn’t look good—meaning it’s below 80—you should also walk in your responsibility to express your disapproval and stop purchasing food from that establishment.”
He also had a message for foodservice workers: “Safety and sanitation are not ‘extra,’ and they’re not just management’s job. They are the bare minimum, and they should be taken seriously every single shift—not just when you think an inspector might be coming. Every plate you touch is going into somebody’s body. Take pride in doing it right.”
The juxtaposition of these two stories is striking. On one hand, there’s a technological revolution—AI-driven platforms promising to reduce waste, optimize availability, and empower store teams with data-driven insights. On the other, a call for a return to basics—personal responsibility, diligence, and a culture of safety in every kitchen, no matter how humble. While grocers are investing in centralized dashboards and next-generation forecasting, some restaurants are struggling with the fundamentals of food safety, putting public health at risk.
As 2026 begins, both stories serve as a reminder that feeding communities is a complex business. Whether it’s the precision of AI algorithms or the vigilance of a chef checking a posted score, the goal remains the same: ensuring every meal is safe, satisfying, and worthy of trust.
