Demand forecasting and fresh-food ordering for Gulf grocery chains, built around Ramadan and Eid peaks
Gulf grocery chains see demand swing hard around Ramadan, Eid, school holidays and payday, and the Islamic holidays move about 11 days earlier each year on the Gregorian calendar. Forecasting tools built for Western calendars miss these shifts, so stores run out of dates, laban and lamb before Iftar and then write off fresh produce afterwards. Fresh waste of 6–9% of sales is common, and much of it was flown in.
Dunecast forecasts demand per item, store and day using the Hijri calendar, prayer times, weather, promotions and local events, then turns forecasts into suggested orders that respect supplier lead times and shelf life. Buyers approve orders on one screen, and store managers get markdown suggestions for items close to expiry. It connects to the retailer's point-of-sale and ERP systems through nightly files or APIs.
Grocery chains, hypermarkets and convenience operators across the GCC, a grocery market of roughly US$100B a year where a few dozen chains account for most sales.
Annual subscription per store (US$4K–US$9K depending on format and SKU count), with a waste-reduction bonus in the first year for chains above 50 stores.
Khalid Al-MansooriCEO and co-founder
Lina SalehCTO and co-founder
Karthik IyerVP Data Science
Mariam FaroukVP Customer SuccessWe run the chilled delivery fleet for one of the chains on Dunecast. Since its Ramadan readiness view went live, orders reach us weeks ahead instead of the night before, so we can plan trucks and drivers for the Iftar peaks. Weather-adjusted shelf life for berries also cut our rejected deliveries. Bulk overrides by buyers still arrive late and break our loading plans.
Once live, the Ramadan forecasts were the best we have had and fresh waste fell sharply. Getting there took four months, mostly because our point-of-sale data only comes through nightly files, and Dunecast cannot react to anything within the day. For our convenience stores, where demand changes by the hour, that is a real gap.
Reply from Khalid Al-Mansoori, CEO
Intraday forecasting is the first item this round funds, and a streaming connector is in pilot with two chains now.
ARR per store and waste reduction are both reported per chain, which makes diligence straightforward. Starting with fresh food, where waste is visible on the P&L, was a good choice. Expanding into ambient categories will bring more competition and smaller savings per store.
Few vendors in the Gulf combine forecasting with the order and markdown workflow the way Dunecast does. Its 640 stores are concentrated in the UAE, and Saudi chains have larger store counts and longer procurement cycles. How the Riyadh team performs over the next 18 months will shape the Series C story.
Coming soon. Testimonials are invited by the founder and shown separately from open reviews.
Coming soon. Follow Dunecast to hear about product and funding updates when this launches.
