Adastra helps Heritage Grocers Group save $500,000 by adopting Microsoft Fabric

Driving growth for Heritage Grocers Group by modernizing its data lake

Heritage Grocers Group, a prominent figure in the retail sector, proudly operates across six states under the banners of Cardenas Markets, El Rancho Supermercado, Tony’s Fresh Market, and Los Altos Ranch Market. Specializing in catering to Hispanic communities, the group experienced rapid growth between 2022 and 2024, expanding its territory through strategic acquisitions. In an industry as dynamic and competitive as retail, meeting the diverse expectations of customers at each new location is paramount. “Understanding the unique purchasing preferences of the Texas customer compared to those of Tony’s in Chicago is crucial,” says Prabash Coswatte, Chief Operating Officer of Heritage Grocers Group. “The quicker we grasp this, the better we can cater to each community’s needs.”

To more efficiently gather, organize, and analyze vast amounts of point-of-sale (POS) data from varied enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems across its numerous outlets, Heritage Grocers Group forged a partnership with Adastra, a renowned global IT consultancy and Microsoft partner. The companies developed a scalable, robust solution aimed at achieving data consistency, ensuring high availability, organizing the large amount of data, and creating a solid foundation for future expansion. By deploying a comprehensive data analytics and AI framework on Microsoft Fabric, Heritage Grocers Group has revolutionized its approach to data unification and analytics, demonstrating what’s possible in retail data management and customer service excellence.

Using AI to streamline data organization during acquisitions

As Heritage Grocers Group expanded, the imperative to streamline and optimize data management became increasingly apparent. Recognizing the transformative potential of AI within the company’s ERP system, Adastra envisioned a future where both historical and upcoming data could fuel AI-driven decisions. “A pivotal aspect of navigating an acquisition is the ability to quickly provide comprehensive operational and sales reporting to gauge business performance,” says Dilraj Sehdev, Senior Vice President of Adastra.

Developing a solution of this magnitude typically extends beyond a year and a half. Yet, amidst fierce market competition, Heritage Grocers Group set an ambitious goal to complete this project in fewer than six months. It embarked on a collaboration with Adastra to establish a state-of-the-art data lake. The companies introduced Lucid Data Hub—a groundbreaking, generative AI–powered data and analytics tool that uses Microsoft technology—to centralize data management and automate data workflows. “To achieve this independently would have required expanding our team to construct the necessary schemas and models for data integration,” says Darla Sebastian, Vice President of Special Projects at Heritage Grocers Group. “With Microsoft Fabric, we were able to significantly expedite our timeline.”

Lucid Data Hub, which harnesses the capabilities of Microsoft Fabric and the Microsoft Azure offering Azure OpenAI Service, organizes data from intricate ERP systems, delivers exhaustive data profiling for analytics, and accelerates the decision-making process. Heritage Grocers Group’s ERP system already ran on Microsoft Dynamics 365, which helps businesses adapt and innovate with intelligent ERP business applications, making the integration of the new solution with the company’s preexisting infrastructure seamless. “Microsoft stands as our preferred partner. Our operations are integrated with Microsoft technologies,” says Coswatte.

Informing critical business decisions with AI-powered insights

Within a mere two months, Heritage Grocers Group, in collaboration with Adastra, successfully implemented the new data lake and integrated data from diverse sources and formats. “Following any acquisition, the immediate demand is for sales data accessibility, so the rapidity of deployment was paramount,” says Coswatte. “The process’s speed and fluidity were astonishing.” 

Adastra then began automating the classification of three years’ worth of historical data. Using the Azure OpenAI Service, Lucid Data Hub now processes 1.3 terabytes of both new and historical POS transaction data, encompassing 3 billion item transactions, to analyze consumer behaviors. Furthermore, by using Microsoft Fabric, Adastra has helped Heritage Grocers Group reduce overhead costs and reallocate staff efforts from data management to business-driving activities. “The power behind our acceleration is Microsoft Fabric. The extensive automation through generative AI has significantly cut capital expenditures,” says Sehdev. Heritage Grocers Group has reported savings of at least $500,000 by employing Lucid Data Hub alongside Microsoft solutions.

With the implementation of a cutting-edge, centralized data solution, Heritage Grocers Group has significantly enhanced its ability to understand and cater to its customers’ needs across various store banners and geographical locations. To drive sustained growth and innovation in the retail industry, the group plans to continue using AI to further refine its data organization and modeling practices.

“Microsoft Fabric stands as a comprehensive solution that significantly reduces our reliance on traditional IT infrastructure,” says Sehdev. “Its robust and forward-looking design ensures that Heritage Grocers Group is well equipped to scale operations not just to meet current demands but also to anticipate and adeptly navigate future challenges and opportunities.”

Discover more about Heritage Grocers Group on LinkedIn.