o9 Goes Live at Hormel Foods to Modernize Planning Across the Company’s Global Supply Chain Network

DALLAS, March. 25, 2026 - o9, a leading software company that is powering enterprise planning and decisioning models across 30-plus industry verticals with its groundbreaking, AI-powered Digital Brain platform, today announced the successful go-live of integrated Demand and Supply Planning capabilities at Hormel Foods Corporation. The integration of the AI-powered digital platform is the latest investment by Hormel Foods, a Fortune 500 global branded food company, to strengthen operational efficiency and enterprise-wide planning discipline across its global supply chain.

The o9 program was delivered in collaboration with Accenture through five phased go-lives between March and December 2025, spanning more than 70 sites across dry and refrigerated networks.

Hormel Foods operates one of the most complex supply chain networks in the global food industry. The company manages thousands of distinct supply items to produce thousands of unique products, reaching consumers worldwide. Its portfolio includes iconic brands such as SPAM®, SKIPPY®, JENNIE-O®, APPLEGATE®, HORMEL® NATURAL CHOICE®, WHOLLY®, and PLANTERS® spanning refrigerated foods, shelf-stable grocery products, deli meats, ethnic cuisines, and plant-based offerings. Perishability, seasonal demand spikes, capacity constraints, and multi-tier distribution flows introduce structural complexity across every planning horizon.

With o9, Hormel Foods is leveraging AI and machine learning driven forecasting to model key demand drivers while expanding touchless forecasting capabilities that reduce manual overrides and improve forecast accuracy for seasonal demand. The platform also enables system-recommended inventory transfers and optimized truckload grouping based on weight, volume, and stackability constraints, strengthening coordination across the supply network. By translating demand signals into synchronized supply, inventory, and deployment decisions, planners can evaluate trade-offs earlier in the planning cycle, improving visibility and alignment across Retail, Foodservice, and International segments.

"Every day, we balance moving thousands of products across multiple channels and storage environments," said 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."

"Hormel Foods operates at a level where planning precision directly impacts performance," said 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."

"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," said 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."

To learn more, please visito9solutions.com.