April 19th, 2024

Aviko Launches Centric PLM to Replace Legacy System

Europe’s largest producer of potato products partners with Centric Software for market-specific product data and regulatory requirements

CAMPBELL, Calif., April 22, 2024 – Aviko, Europe’s largest producer of potato products, went live with Centric Software’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution to support growth and manage product specifications. Centric Software® provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source and sell food & beverage and consumer products to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Founded in 1962, Aviko has expanded to become one of the top five worldwide producers of chilled, frozen and dried potato products. Aviko operates in more than 110 countries and produces 25% of all french fries in Europe. Aviko is backed by Dutch parent company Royal Cosun and is on a growth trajectory.

Aviko’s plans include strengthening their leadership position in Europe and expanding market share all around the world. Extending their product portfolio with value-added potato products is also part of the mix and they needed a robust PLM solution to achieve those goals.

Aviko’s legacy PLM was reaching its end of life and upgrading the system would have been costly and time-consuming. The PLM was heavily customized, functionality was limited and Aviko needed a solution that supports their growth and development.

“We needed a modern solution to support our growth plans, manage product specification processes and enhance customer service in multiple markets and regions,” says Maaike Renssen-Alberts, Project Manager at Aviko. “We specifically looked for a solution to automate manual work and to meet the demands of operating in 110 markets.”

After an extensive vendor evaluation process, Aviko chose Centric PLM™ to improve management of technical product data throughout the lifecycle and support the product packaging development process.

Centric PLM is now used by several teams at Aviko including quality, regulatory, packaging, commercial operations, innovation and procurement.

With the new PLM system, Aviko is streamlining all product related data. This makes it easier and quicker to access, update and share information about ingredients, additives, semi-finished products, packaging materials and products across the company’s departments and production plants.

Centric PLM also plays an important role in end-to-end packaging development, as the system holds all relevant labeling information for specific regions and channels to ensure quick generation of compliant labeling briefs. With PLM’s single data source, cross-functional teams will have full visibility of project progress, bolstering efficiency and internal collaboration on packaging and labeling briefs, artwork proofing and managing and sourcing packaging items.

“With Centric PLM’s ‘single source of truth,’ we can streamline notifications and changes in formulation, recipes and regulations across markets to ensure regulatory compliance and launch new product variations more quickly. We can also store supplier data, claims, certificates and contracts in one place,” explains Renssen-Alberts. “Aviko has entered a new and improved era of software user experience — PLM’s modern, easy-to-use and intuitive interface is making life easier for all of our teams.”

“We are thrilled that Aviko has chosen Centric Software as a digital transformation partner,” says Chris Groves, CEO of Centric Software. “We are delighted to be partnering with such an iconic and innovative company on their journey of growth across multiple markets.”

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Aviko (corporate.aviko.com)

Aviko was founded by 32 potato growers in 1962 and has since grown to become a global player. In 2002 Aviko became part of Royal Cosun, a modern, future-oriented cooperative with over 8,400 growers. As Europe’s largest producer of potato products in out-of-home and one of the top five global market leaders, Aviko connects people, cultures and tastes by bringing joy to tables all over the world. With a portfolio of more than 100 distinctive potato products, Aviko operates in more than 110 countries. Aviko’s 2,500 colleagues are driven by the large potential of our products and the impact they have on quality, service, innovation and sustainability in our chain: ‘from farm to fork’.

Centric Software® (https://www.centricsoftware.com/)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software provides the market-leading AI-enabled Product Lifecycle Management platform for food & beverage manufacturers, grocery and multi-category retailers. As experts in all fast-moving consumer goods, Centric Software delivers best-of-breed solutions to design, develop, source, buy, make, package, assort and sell products. Centric solutions optimize the product portfolio, harmonize product offers and streamline product development by speeding time to market and innovation while enhancing quality control and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Centric PLM™ features integrated industry best practices and innovative, AI-enabled capabilities tailored specifically for food and beverage manufacturers, retailers and service providers. Seamlessly manage the overall product lifecycle, from initial concept and formula development to packaging, quality, supplier collaboration, nutritional labeling, production, SKU rationalization and beyond. Results include up to a 50% improvement in productivity and a 60% decrease in time to market.
Centric Visual Boards™ are a visually oriented top-down/bottom-up product portfolio optimization tool. Real-time data and imagery from multiple business systems are brought into a singular accessible workspace, creating a new, visual way of working for all teams to ensure robust, well-balanced global/regional product offers, dramatically decreasing assortment development cycle time.

Centric Software maintains a 100% go-live rate and has received awards for excellence from Just Food, Just Drinks, Business Awards UK, Frost & Sullivan and many other regional accolades. Centric Software is proud to provide the best solutions, backed by the best team and to partner with the best customers.