Rainforest Distribution has selected Manhattan Associates’ cloud-based supply chain planning software as it overhauls forecasting, replenishment and broader planning across its food and beverage distribution network.

It will deploy Manhattan Active Supply Chain Planning to unify supply chain functions and reshape how it plans demand and inventory. Rainforest operates distribution centres across the eastern United States, offering refrigerated, frozen and ambient fulfilment.

Supply chain planning tools sit upstream of warehouse and transport systems. They support demand planning, inventory positioning, replenishment and capacity planning. Distributors have increased investment in these systems in response to more volatile demand, tighter retailer service requirements and ongoing labour constraints in logistics operations.

Rainforest plans to replace a set of legacy tools with a single platform. It expects a more consistent view of demand and inventory across teams and sites, as well as faster responses to shifts in customer demand.

Manhattan Active Supply Chain Planning sits within Manhattan Associates’ portfolio of supply chain and commerce software. Manhattan positions it as a unified planning system that connects planning and execution around a shared set of data and assumptions.

Unified planning

Rainforest is focusing on modernising demand planning, forecasting and replenishment processes. The system will run on a cloud-native platform. Manhattan’s product uses a microservices architecture that breaks software functions into discrete components, which can simplify updates and scaling compared with older monolithic applications.

Rainforest expects the change to deliver real-time visibility across its network and help it balance service levels, cost and capacity on an ongoing basis. In distribution, these trade-offs affect product availability, delivery performance and operating costs.

The company operates in a segment where temperature-controlled handling adds complexity and cost. Forecast errors in refrigerated and frozen categories can lead to waste, service penalties or inventory shortages. Distributors also face constraints on warehouse space, transport capacity and labour scheduling during seasonal peaks.

The planning overhaul comes as Rainforest continues to expand its footprint and customer base. It describes itself as a platform for emerging and high-growth brands seeking a route from regional launches to wider distribution. It also supplies national chains, regional grocers and independent retailers.

CEO Alexander Ridings linked the investment to the company’s growth and operational complexity.

“As our business continues to scale, the complexity of our supply chain has increased exponentially,” said Alexander Ridings, CEO, Rainforest Distribution. “We needed a modern planning solution that could keep pace with that growth, give our teams a single, trusted view of demand and inventory, and help us serve customers with greater reliability. Manhattan Active Supply Chain Planning gives us the unified, intelligent platform we were looking for to align our planners, our operations, and our strategic growth ambitions.”

Execution alignment

Manhattan Associates says the product aligns planning and execution functions, reflecting a broader industry push to reduce hand-offs between planning teams and operational systems. In many organisations, planning outputs still move through spreadsheets and manual workflows before reaching warehouse management and transport systems.

Manhattan’s planning software is part of the Manhattan Active platform, which it describes as cloud-native. The design is intended to respond to shifts in demand, labour, orders and capacity-variables that can change quickly for food and beverage distributors serving grocery customers with short lead times.

Stewart Gantt, executive vice president of Global Services at Manhattan Associates, said the vendor will work with Rainforest on the change programme.

“Rainforest Distribution operates in an environment where agility, accuracy, and responsiveness are critical,” said Stewart Gantt, executive vice president of Global Services, Manhattan Associates. “We are excited to partner with them on this transformation to help them unlock new levels of efficiency and build a more resilient, data-driven supply chain.”

Manhattan Associates provides supply chain and omnichannel commerce software used by retailers, manufacturers and logistics operators for warehouse management, transportation management and order fulfilment. Rainforest’s selection adds to Manhattan’s presence in food and beverage distribution, where planning and execution systems must accommodate shelf-life considerations, traceability requirements and store-level service constraints.

Rainforest says the rollout will support continued growth across its distribution network as it expands brand coverage and retailer relationships in the eastern United States.