Mesterbakeren Improves Fresh Bread Forecasting with RELEX

Norwegian bakery company deploys AI-driven demand planning to achieve improved forecast accuracy and ensure better product availability

Mesterbakeren, one of Norway's leading fresh bread producers, has successfully implemented demand planning and promotions forecasting capabilities from RELEX Solutions. The new capabilities improve forecast accuracy, reduce food waste, and ensure better product availability across the retail stores it supplies. Grocery chains and suppliers in Norway have signed an industry agreement to halve food waste by 2030. As a bread supplier, Mesterbakeren's forecasting accuracy plays directly into that national target.

Mesterbakeren operates nine bakeries and is the main fresh bread suppliers for direct-store-delivery to 690 REMA 1000 stores, and accounts for 20-25% of all fresh bread sold annually in the Norwegian retail market. Fresh bread is one of the most forecasting-intensive categories in grocery as loaves bake overnight, deliver each morning, and sell the same day. With order proposals being shared four days before the selling date, even small forecasting misses quickly result in empty shelves or unsold stock.

This prompted Mesterbakeren to strengthen forecasting for their business. Mesterbakeren selected RELEX to cover demand planning and sensing, promotions forecasting, and exception-based planning across roughly 20-30 SKUs per store. RELEX stood out for its continued investment in innovation and customer support, a modern interface with visible parameter settings and performance monitoring, and a customer base that includes REMA 1000.

Within a year of going live, Mesterbakeren reported the following results:

• Improved forecast accuracy and product availability across all 690 REMA 1000 stores supplied
• Planners shifted to exception-based working, reducing manual forecast intervention and freeing capacity for higher-value analysis
• Smooth adoption across the business, supported by early super-user involvement and structured user training ahead of launch

"The model is showing good results, and we are now adapting our workflow around it," said Terje Jensløkken, Head of Sales Planning and Analysis, Mesterbakeren. "It was a well-executed project with RELEX committing significant resources to deliver. We learned that having internal project resources with the right expertise, capacity, and motivation matters enormously, and that involving super users early was crucial. It meant we had strong internal ambassadors and the expertise in place to train other users before the launch."

"Mesterbakeren came to this project with clear goals and the internal expertise, and their successes show what is possible when the right technology is paired with real internal commitment," said Tiina Kanninen, SVP Global Customer Success at RELEX Solutions. "Improving forecast accuracy in fresh bread has a direct impact on availability, and we are proud to be part of that effort alongside their team."