CPGComing Soon
Demand Planner
Replace spreadsheet forecasting with AI-powered demand planning. Predict what to produce, when to reorder, and how much safety stock to carry so you stop wasting inventory or missing sales.
What is Demand Planner?
Demand Planner replaces spreadsheet-based forecasting with AI-powered demand planning that uses your actual sales and POS signals. It predicts what to produce, when to reorder, and how much safety stock to carry — so you stop wasting money on overproduction or losing sales to stockouts. It factors in co-packer lead times, promotional lifts, and seasonal patterns automatically, instead of relying on you to remember that Whole Foods always spikes in Q4. Built for CPG operator founders who know their 'forecast' is really just last month's number plus a gut adjustment, and who've been burned by either overproducing or underproducing. Currently in development; request beta access to get notified when it launches.
Key Features
Who it's for
- CPG operator founders still forecasting demand in a spreadsheet with gut adjustments
- Food and beverage brands balancing shelf-life constraints against production lead times
- Small brands scaling into new retailers who need to nail fill rates from day one
- Teams managing multiple SKUs who can't keep the demand picture straight across all of them
Example workflows
Build next month's demand forecast
- 1Open Demand Planner and review the AI-generated forecast by SKU for the next 8–12 weeks.
- 2Adjust for any upcoming promotions, new retailer launches, or known supply constraints.
- 3Review safety stock recommendations and accept or override them.
- 4Approve the forecast and generate production orders for your co-packer.
Diagnose a stockout
- 1Pull up the SKU that stocked out and review the forecast vs. actual demand.
- 2Identify whether the miss was a forecast error, a supply delay, or an unexpected demand spike.
- 3Adjust the safety stock level for that SKU to prevent recurrence.
- 4Check related SKUs for similar risk and proactively reorder if needed.
What you can ask
"What should our next production run look like based on current velocity?"
"Which SKUs are at risk of stocking out in the next 30 days?"
"How would a 20% lift from a Whole Foods promotion affect our forecast?"
"Show me forecast accuracy for last quarter by SKU"
"When should I place my next reorder with our co-packer?"
Frequently asked questions
When does Demand Planner launch?
Currently in development. Request beta access at starch.site and we will notify you when it is available. We are building this based on real operator founder feedback — if you have specific needs, tell us during the beta signup.
Where does the demand signal come from?
Sales velocity from your order data, POS data from retailers if you have it, and historical patterns from your own production history. The more data sources you connect, the more accurate the forecast. But it works with just your own sales history to start.
Does it account for promotions?
Yes. You can input upcoming promotions (retailer features, price drops, seasonal pushes) and Demand Planner models the expected lift based on your historical promo data. This is critical for CPG — a Whole Foods endcap can 10x your velocity for a week.
How far ahead can it forecast?
Typically 12–16 weeks, which aligns with most co-packer lead times. For seasonal products, it can look further ahead using prior-year patterns. Starch shows the confidence interval for each period so you know where the forecast is reliable and where it's speculative.
Can it generate production orders for my co-packer?
Yes. Once you approve the forecast, Demand Planner generates a production order with quantities, target dates, and spec references that you send directly to your co-packer or feed into Co-Packer Manager.
What if my forecast is wrong?
Starch tracks forecast accuracy over time (predicted vs. actual) so you can see where you're consistently over- or under-calling. The model adjusts based on actuals, so accuracy improves the longer you use it.
Does it handle new product launches?
For new products without sales history, you can set a manual baseline forecast or use an analogous SKU as a proxy. Demand Planner switches to actual signals once real data starts flowing.
Be the first to use Demand Planner
Demand Planner is in development. Join the waitlist and we'll notify you when it launches.
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