Across Canada, the food service supply chain remains a surprisingly analog affair. Distributors still receive a staggering number of orders by voicemail, text, fax—even handwritten prep sheets taped to fridge doors. Consequently, manual entry errors plague up to 1 in 4 orders, and sales reps waste hours each week cleaning up mistakes instead of growing business.
Vancouver-based Freshline sees a massive opportunity hiding in that chaos. Backed by funding support from CFIN’s Innovation Booster program in late 2024, the startup is building an AI-powered order automation layer designed specifically for food distributors.
Freshline’s platform plugs into the inventory and ERP systems distributors already use. From there, it uses natural language processing and machine learning to parse messy, unstructured orders—voicemails, photos, jumbled texts—and translate them into clean, accurate purchase orders. It cross-references stock levels, catches pricing errors, and syncs directly with tools like SAP, Oracle, or QuickBooks.
The goal? Fewer errors, faster processing, and way less manual grunt work. That all translates into reps spending more time on customers, and less time starting at spreadsheets.
While U.S.-based tools like Choco and Cut+Dry aim to create marketplaces, Freshline stays in the background. Its white-label model means distributors keep their customer relationships and brand front-and-centre—a key differentiator, especially in Canada where regional loyalty often runs deep.
With support from CFIN, Freshline is now rolling out two key upgrades: voice-to-order tools that let sales reps capture changes on the fly, and a rebate engine that automates back-end discounts and bill-backs—a major source of friction for many suppliers. These features are designed for the real-world pace of foodservice, where time is tight and accuracy matters.
Freshline understands how foodservice really works: fast-paced, relationship-driven, and often messy behind the scenes. Its tech fits into that world without disrupting it, helping distributors process orders more accurately, respond to customers faster, and spend less time untangling avoidable problems.