Fresh Ideas Taps Altierre’s IoT System to Expand Capabilities in New Venues

Fresh Ideas, the food service management company that serves universities, schools and businesses in the Midwest, is expanding the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology to three locations following a six-month pilot of the program.

The IoT platform, from Altierre, is empowering Fresh Ideas to convert manual processes to automated updates of meal menus, detailed ingredient descriptions, food allergy warnings, vegan and vegetarian highlights, and other key factors.

“It is not just electronic shelf label signage,” said Bob Love, chief technology officer of Fresh Ideas. “Everyone has that. What is unique about Altierre is the wireless functionality, the ability to place signage in high or low temperature areas, and the level of informational detail we can provide for our customers.

“We chose Altierre because of the unique way they help us showcase our food,” Love continued. “Our chefs can pre-schedule detailed signage 20 days ahead of time. They can also change an item and the signage instantly. No one else in the marketplace is doing this.”

Fresh Ideas conducted a pilot at Drury University using Altierre’s IoT system to update close to 50 signs for every meal. This month, the company is rolling out the system to two additional universities and one large business.

The positive impact on the environment and overall sustainability is also important. Fresh Ideas partners with organizations that value green efforts.

There are also labor benefits, as associates can now focus more time on customer-facing activities versus changing signage.

“What we needed was a solution easy enough for a non-technical person to use,” Love said.

Said Rob Crane, SVP, Global Sales, Altierre: “Our system makes it easy to schedule and update signage anywhere, anytime. Altierre’s IoT technology is the only solution that operates seamlessly regardless of temperature, humidity, line-of-sight issues and other frequencies or channels in use. Those issues hinder other companies.”

One of the most crucial benefits of the system is enhanced accuracy and precision in listing all ingredients, especially allergens, which are a growing problem for all food service companies and restaurants.

“Years ago you could get away with simply naming a menu item. Customers expect more in this day and age. Now you need to spell out nutritional information and highlight all allergens. We have to be extremely careful,” said Love.  “Some of our customers carry Epipens. That is how sensitive people are to allergens. Altierre’s product has helped us ensure that we flag and highlight any menu item that might pose issues.”

Altierre’s technology is capable of enabling future IoT capabilities that Love envisions rolling out, including tracking how many people pass by an item without trying it, leveraging dynamic pricing to offer targeted promotions on special categories or by time of day, and replacing older signage with larger screens tied in to Altierre’s technology platform.

“We are pleased with the results from our pilot program at Drury University and excited to utilize this technology in three other locations with Altierre as our IoT partner,” said Love.



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