Anne Bruce
Waitrose has become the latest UK supermarket to develop source tagging capabilities as momentum builds behind the technology.
Marks and Spencer, Safeway, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury are also conducting analysis and trials of the radio frequency tags, which are applied at source to track products through the supply chain.
Waitrose is in the early stages of deciding how to use source tags, said senior project manager for retail systems Jason Toogood.
He said: "We are interested in source tags as an antiÂtheft mechanism. Our judgement of what we want to protect with source tags hinges on what interests the bad guys."
Neil Matthews, deputy MD of retail security tagging company Checkpoint Systems, said: "We are working with Waitrose, and Sainsbury. The supermarkets are all very interested in trying to drive source tagging forward. We need to get purchasing departments and manufacturers on board."
Meanwhile, Safeway has just finished a £5.5m Home Office-sponsored trial of RFID tags on Lynx deodorant in partnership with logistics provider Tibbett & Britten and Unilever.
Six-packs of Lynx deodorant were tracked from factory to the shelves of three Safeway stores.
Safeway supply and logistics director Mark Aylwin said: "We are pleased with the results. We would like to tag fresh foods and high value lines. We are watching what competitors like M&S are doing, but the cost of the tag is still a sticking point." M&S is putting source tags on plastic crates of fresh produce. It has an advantage over rivals as it only carries own label, and suppliers are more flexible.
However, source tags are common on the Continent and some major manufacturers including Glenfiddich and United Distillers already routinely source tag high value liquor lines for EU customers.
Matthews said: "Major retailers like Carrefour and Intermarché ¡lready use source tags on products sourced through UK suppliers. UK suppliers perhaps keep it quiet as they don't want to generate too many tagged SKUs."
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Waitrose has become the latest UK supermarket to develop source tagging capabilities as momentum builds behind the technology.
Marks and Spencer, Safeway, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury are also conducting analysis and trials of the radio frequency tags, which are applied at source to track products through the supply chain.
Waitrose is in the early stages of deciding how to use source tags, said senior project manager for retail systems Jason Toogood.
He said: "We are interested in source tags as an antiÂtheft mechanism. Our judgement of what we want to protect with source tags hinges on what interests the bad guys."
Neil Matthews, deputy MD of retail security tagging company Checkpoint Systems, said: "We are working with Waitrose, and Sainsbury. The supermarkets are all very interested in trying to drive source tagging forward. We need to get purchasing departments and manufacturers on board."
Meanwhile, Safeway has just finished a £5.5m Home Office-sponsored trial of RFID tags on Lynx deodorant in partnership with logistics provider Tibbett & Britten and Unilever.
Six-packs of Lynx deodorant were tracked from factory to the shelves of three Safeway stores.
Safeway supply and logistics director Mark Aylwin said: "We are pleased with the results. We would like to tag fresh foods and high value lines. We are watching what competitors like M&S are doing, but the cost of the tag is still a sticking point." M&S is putting source tags on plastic crates of fresh produce. It has an advantage over rivals as it only carries own label, and suppliers are more flexible.
However, source tags are common on the Continent and some major manufacturers including Glenfiddich and United Distillers already routinely source tag high value liquor lines for EU customers.
Matthews said: "Major retailers like Carrefour and Intermarché ¡lready use source tags on products sourced through UK suppliers. UK suppliers perhaps keep it quiet as they don't want to generate too many tagged SKUs."
{{NEWS }}
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