LAS VEGAS — Ahold Delhaize USA’s retail media arm, AD Retail Media, revealed the launch of Edge, a proprietary advertising technology platform designed specifically by grocers, for grocery retail. The news broke at Groceryshop 2025 in Las Vegas, marking a significant shift in how consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and fresh produce marketers will engage with shoppers across physical and digital grocery channels.
Edge, a new proprietary advertising technology platform, is slated to go live in January 2026. Powering on-site display, sponsored search and in-store digital screens, Edge is custom-built for the grocery sector. The platform creates new opportunities for consumer-packaged goods (CPG) partners to reach the more than 26 million customers who interact with Ahold Delhaize USA brands each week with a transparent, intuitive and measurable way to unlock faster speed-to-market and optimize ad performance across physical and digital channels.
Unlike other grocers that rely on third-party providers, Ahold Delhaize USA developed Edge entirely in-house, an industry first among major U.S. grocers, according to Bobby Watts, senior vice president of ad retail media, digital merchandising and marketing for Ahold Delhaize USA.
“Edge isn’t just a platform; it’s the ‘One Stop Ad Shop’ that gives our partners a smarter, easier way to grow their businesses while strengthening the bond between shoppers and the brands they love,” Watts says. “With real-time insights guiding strategic decisions, Edge empowers brands to navigate the most effective path forward. It’s powerful because it’s built by grocers, for grocery — bringing together customer loyalty, past purchase trends and e-commerce connectivity in a way that is a true reflection of what’s possible when deep industry expertise meets innovative technology.”
A Produce Industry Game-Changer
For the produce industry, Edge represents a timely opportunity to reach shoppers in the most frequented departments of the grocery store. Watts explains how the system will directly support fresh categories:
“So whether it’s in produce, any fresh department or even center store, it’ll power our sponsored search products as well as our on-site display and in-store digital screens,” Watts says. “We do have some digital screens in our produce departments in-store as well, and it’ll power those … whether it’s someone like the avocado board or somebody like that, this will be the ad server that powers the advertising.”
The move is especially relevant as produce brands, from commodity boards to major growers, seek more effective ways to connect with consumers at point of purchase, both online and in-store, Watts says.
Why Now?
Retail media has exploded in grocery over the past three years, but most networks rely on third-party ad tech companies and pay revenue shares. Watts says Ahold Delhaize USA saw an opportunity to build something more tailored to grocery.
“For years, retailers like us partnered with global tech players … but those platforms had to serve multiple industries like automotive and electronics,” Watts says. “We asked ourselves: Are we really getting the best relevancy for grocery? By building Edge ourselves, we control the road map, we optimize for grocery and we capitalize on the richness of grocery data.”
“Over the past several years, we have built an industry-leading retail media team and capabilities,” says Keith Nicks, chief commercial and digital officer for Ahold Delhaize USA in a press release. “Through this pioneering technology, which was developed in collaboration by in-house tech teams and leverages a proven platform used by several of Ahold Delhaize’s European brands, we continue to bolster our retail media offerings and enable CPGs to leverage both the scale and local connections of Ahold Delhaize USA brands and experience additional value through more seamless customer engagement.”
With more than 26 million weekly omnichannel customers, Ahold Delhaize USA expects Edge to give CPGs and produce partners both transparency and efficiency in how they invest in retail media. The platform will expand beyond search and display to include off-site display, fuel media and more unified customer engagement opportunities.
Ultimately, Watts framed Edge as part of a bigger reorganization at Ahold Delhaize USA. “It goes beyond the technology,” he says. “We believe in customer engagement reimagined. That means aligning our teams — digital merchandising, digital marketing, category management — so that we’re not just working in silos. At the end of the day, the customer just knows we’re communicating to them in-store or on our app. Edge enables that seamless experience.”
In addition to management of on-site advertising and in-store digital screens, Edge enables seamless monitoring across both on-site and off-site advertising for participating CPG brands. By viewing both display and sponsored ad purchases in the same place, CPGs can easily understand and adjust their investments, make data-driven decisions and maximize return while adapting dynamically to how shoppers engage across each touchpoint.
More information about the new platform will be shared this fall, ahead of the anticipated January 2026 launch. With full ownership of the platform and road map, Ahold Delhaize USA will continue to develop the platform over time to further enhance the customer and partner experience.
With today’s announcement, Ahold Delhaize USA positions itself as a pioneer in grocery-specific ad technology, setting the stage for how fresh categories like produce will engage shoppers in 2026 and beyond.
