o9: Modernising Hormel Food's Global Supply Chain

Global supply chains have been working to remake their strategies and boost efficiency over the last few years.

o9 solutions, as a result, has been adopted by leading companies around the world as they aim to develop agile and adaptive supply chains.

Hormel Foods Corporation is the latest company to adopt the AI-powered digital platform in order to increase efficiency and planning capabilities.

Meeting ongoing pressures

Supply chains around the world have been adapting to ongoing pressures, both internal and external. The internal pressure for business resilience, cost savings and efficiency is occurring alongside regulatory pressures and geopolitical tensions which are fundamentally changing how supply chains operate. 

As a result, many businesses are finding the benefit of digital tools and platforms like o9. o9 Solutions is a leading AI-powered platform which helps companies develop agile, autonomous and adaptive supply chains, allowing for better decision-making.

This is particularly vital when businesses are facing rising volatility and uncertainty.

o9's solutions help improve forecasting accuracy, aid with matching demand and supply, as well as encourages collaboration across a multi-tier supply chain. In doing this, it improves resilience, transparency and cost savings. Its technological innovations bring together collaboration, generative AI, real-time learning and inventory management.

Hormel Foods is one of the latest companies investing in o9 solutions in order to develop greater planning across its global supply chain. The company has adopted o9's integrated Demand and Supply Planning capabilities, with the aim of enacting better operational efficiency.

“Hormel Foods operates at a level where planning precision directly impacts performance,” explains Chakri Gottemukkala, Co-founder and CEO of o9.

“By going live with the o9 Digital Brain platform, Hormel has replaced disconnected tools with a unified enterprise model that links demand signals to supply, inventory, and deployment decisions. This foundation enables stronger operational rigor, faster cross-functional alignment, and the agility required in a market defined by volatility and change.” 

Complex supply chains

Hormel Foods operates a significantly complex supply chain network within the food industry, managing thousands of supply items and producing thousands of products. Its global portfolio includes SPAM, SKIPPY, APPLEGATE and PLANTERS.

Its foodstuff includes refrigerated foods, deli meats, plant-based offerings and shelf-stable items. 

As a result, complexities such as perishability, seasonal demand spikes, capacity constraints and multi-tier distribution flows consistently introduce risk and further steps throughout its supply chain planning. In order to better manage its value chain, Hormel has invested in o9, leveraging AI and machine learning forecasting to better understand demand.

“Every day, we balance moving thousands of products across multiple channels and storage environments,” says Will Bonifant, Chief Supply Chain Officer, at Hormel Foods. 

“By connecting demand, supply, and inventory decisions in one streamlined platform, we are shifting from reactive problem-solving to more proactive, data-driven planning. We believe this will strengthen our ability to operate consistently, serve customers more reliably, and ultimately, drive additional growth across our brand portfolio.” 

Growing capabilities

Hormel's adoption of o9's platform enables expanding touchless forecasting capabilities, which improves forecast accuracy for seasonal demands and reduces manual overrides. o9's platform introduces system-recommended inventory transfers and optimised truckload grouping based on weight, volume and stackability constraints. This allows for better efficiency and more coordinated planning throughout the network.

Through this, planners can ensure better, more informed trade-offs through each part of the network, ahead of time. By gaining deeper insights into demand and inventory, there is better alignment across the various segments throughout the supply chain. If a planner has an accurate forecast when they are developing the schedule, they can ensure greater synchronisation.

In a collaboration with Accenture, the o9 platform was delivered across Hormel's network in a phased process. Through five go-lives across March and December 2025, the software has helped span more than 70 sites across dry and refrigerated networks.

“We are partnering with Hormel Foods on the company’s strategic, growth-oriented pivot from a supply-led value chain to a demand-driven value chain,” adds Adheer Bahulkar, Global Supply Chain Lead for Consumer Industries and client account lead for Hormel Foods at Accenture.

“As part of this reinvention, we are building a strong data foundation for Hormel and helping our client use AI, data and analytics to power its planning process and solution. All this is underpinned by strong change management to help Hormel’s supply chain planners pave the way for sustained growth.” 

The development is aiming to ensure greater efficiency for Hormel Foods, allowing for end-to-end transformation across its supply chain operations.