Replenium Inc., a Seattle-based software company, has filed a lawsuit against Albertson’s, accusing the grocery giant of misappropriating trade secrets and breaching contracts related to a high-profile collaboration on a grocery auto-replenishment platform.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Monday, alleges that Albertson’s systematically stole Replenium’s confidential information to build a competing system.
Replenium specializes in auto-replenishment technology for grocery retailers, enabling customers to automatically replenish their grocery purchases.
In October 2020, the company entered into a contract with Albertson’s to launch the Replenium Platform, which was hailed as an industry-first solution for full-basket auto-replenishment.
According to the complaint, Albertson’s initially expressed enthusiasm for the platform, describing it as “industry revolutionizing” and promising a nationwide rollout.
However, the lawsuit alleges that Albertson’s repeatedly delayed the launch while continuing to request and receive Replenium’s trade secrets and confidential information.
Over three years, Replenium claims it invested millions of dollars in the project, only for Albertson’s to abruptly terminate the agreement in October 2023 and launch its own competing platform.
Replenium’s lawsuit accuses Albertson’s of bad faith, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment and seeks damages for the significant financial losses.
The company also alleges Albertson’s used its market power to induce Replenium to continue supporting the project under false pretenses, while secretly developing a replacement system.
When reached by email, Albertson’s declined to comment on the suit.
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