diff --git a/backend/src/routes/dashboard.ts b/backend/src/routes/dashboard.ts
index 7fe39434..5171ffe6 100755
--- a/backend/src/routes/dashboard.ts
+++ b/backend/src/routes/dashboard.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ import { pool } from '../db/pool';
 const router = Router();
 router.use(authMiddleware);
 
+// In-memory cache for activity endpoint (1 minute TTL)
+let activityCache: { data: any; expiresAt: number } | null = null;
+
 // Get dashboard stats - uses consolidated dutchie-az DB
 // OPTIMIZED: Combined 4 sequential queries into 1 using CTEs
 router.get('/stats', async (req, res) => {
@@ -88,26 +91,30 @@ router.get('/stats', async (req, res) => {
 });
 
 // Get recent activity - from consolidated dutchie-az DB
-// OPTIMIZED: Use pre-computed counts and indexed queries
+// OPTIMIZED: Uses denormalized product_count column + 1 minute cache
 router.get('/activity', async (req, res) => {
   try {
-    const { limit = 10 } = req.query; // Reduced default limit
-    const limitNum = Math.min(parseInt(limit as string) || 10, 20); // Cap at 20
+    // Check cache first (1 minute TTL)
+    if (activityCache && activityCache.expiresAt > Date.now()) {
+      return res.json(activityCache.data);
+    }
 
-    // Recent crawls - use subquery for product count (faster than JOIN+GROUP BY)
-    // Uses index on last_crawl_at
+    const { limit = 10 } = req.query;
+    const limitNum = Math.min(parseInt(limit as string) || 10, 20);
+
+    // Recent crawls - use denormalized product_count column (no correlated subquery!)
     const scrapesResult = await pool.query(`
       SELECT
         d.name,
         d.last_crawl_at as last_scraped_at,
-        (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM store_products sp WHERE sp.dispensary_id = d.id) as product_count
+        COALESCE(d.product_count, 0) as product_count
       FROM dispensaries d
       WHERE d.last_crawl_at IS NOT NULL
       ORDER BY d.last_crawl_at DESC
       LIMIT $1
     `, [limitNum]);
 
-    // Recent products - uses index on created_at
+    // Recent products - uses index on created_at (idx_store_products_created_at)
     const productsResult = await pool.query(`
       SELECT
         p.name_raw as name,
@@ -123,10 +130,15 @@ router.get('/activity', async (req, res) => {
       LIMIT $1
     `, [limitNum]);
 
-    res.json({
+    const data = {
       recent_scrapes: scrapesResult.rows,
       recent_products: productsResult.rows
-    });
+    };
+
+    // Cache for 1 minute
+    activityCache = { data, expiresAt: Date.now() + 60 * 1000 };
+
+    res.json(data);
   } catch (error) {
     console.error('Error fetching dashboard activity:', error);
     res.status(500).json({ error: 'Failed to fetch dashboard activity' });