Farro stores were created to open Kiwis’ eyes and mouths to an unbelievably, deliciously, amazing world of food.

As Demand Planner, this role ensures that the right stock is in the right place at the right time. To do this requires research and analysis to predict customer demand across all Farro products and channels, and working with teams across Finance, Marketing, Categories and Operations.

Work included:

Managing the allocation and replenishment of stock to achieve financial targets and availability in a timely manner, ahead of promotions/activations

Building relationships with key suppliers and providing long term sales forecasts
Regular store display merchandise and inventory planning
Demand planning and forecasting for key seasonal period product and activations– e.g Easter, Christmas, in-store events
Establishing key demand influences tracker for the business. Actioning regular updates and communications company wide
Creation of unit planners and forecasting for key manual product and wholesale ordering

Systematically managing the stock flow and product life cycle

First Demand Planner in the company, establishing regular tasks and processes for role and broader Category team
Establishing the Product Life Cycle process for the company
Education and training to broader team members on the above

Ensuring replenishment processes are run and store stock targets are met

Managing new system change over and establishing new process for all company stock ordering, including setting up of suppliers and products for AI auto orderings, and training support office and store teams
Centralising and maintaining all supplier ordering data
Managing and ordering all in-house made ready to eat deli cabinet food items, working with Production Kitchen and store teams

Managing inventory levels to ensure the correct cap levels meet customer demand to optimise profitable sales

Markdowns decreased by 46% from average when started. Wastage decreased by 56% from average when started
Overseeing Dated Stock reporting and follow up actions for the Category Team
Managing key levers on product settings and setting these up for new and exit products
Establishing processes and ongoing management of off-shelf consumable product use

Providing analysis and insights on performance of sales and stock

Key KPI areas tracked weekly and monthly to inform follow up actions with Managers and broader company (i.e Out of Stocks, Weeks of Cover, Markdowns, Wastage)
Providing insights to the category team to support category planning, manage core range, maintain a point of difference and manage exit/end of life of products

Maintaining and reviewing SKUs stored in Central Warehouse

Overseeing Central Warehouse stock levels and logistics and process improvement to support demand and stock levels