Giant US retail and hyper-market brand, Walmart, has announced a collaboration with Avery Dennison to advance the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in fresh food categories previously not possible.
Walmart associate scanning products tagged with Avery Dennison RFID enabled labels
Julie Vargas, VP and GM of Avery Dennison Identification Solutions, says: “This is a landmark moment for the industry. Through this innovation, each item essentially has its own digital identity, enabling those handling, selling and buying the fresh products to instantly know its freshness, enabling better inventory management and resulting in less waste.
The use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in high-moisture, cold, fresh food environments, such as meat cases, was previously not possible. But this new, first-to-market solution from Avery Dennison – in collaboration with Walmart - is now set to transform inventory processes and enhance both user and customer experiences across fresh departments; particularly bakery, meat and deli.
The RFID solution essentially enables users to track inventory faster and more accurately, making sure products stay stocked and ready when customers want them. With digital use-by dates right at their fingertips, users can also rotate products more efficiently and make smarter markdown decisions, helping cut down on unsold food.
Vargas adds: “Supporting Walmart with first-to-market RFID innovation across multiple fresh food categories underscores our mutual commitment to people and the planet, and resonates with our own personal milestone as Avery Dennison celebrates 90 years of helping to solve some of the world’s most complex challenges.”
This collaboration also ties nicely with both Avery Dennison and Walmart’s broader sustainability goals, including Walmart’s ambitious aim to cut global operational food loss and waste intensity in half by 2030. Building on this important milestone for the grocery retail industry, Avery Dennison remains committed to enabling a more connected food supply chain through its Optica solutions portfolio, making visibility and transparency from source to store possible.
