Annoying stickers got you down? (con't)

They're there essentially to help grocers manage inventories.

For example, it’s a lot easier for a cashier to key in the PLU’s four-digit number than have to memorize what a Royal Gala apple looks like.

The PLU contains the apple's product identification.

When the cashier keys it in the price is also given.

But the PLU also tells store management how many Royal Gala apples have been sold, making it easier for inventory control.

Previously it was a lot harder for management to estimate how much of an item they sold.

It was like “how many cases did we buy, what do we have left in the store? Gee, I think we need to order more,” said Art Smith, CEO of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.

The stickers have been around for a couple of decades.

They're mandated by retailers, nor farm producers.

The producers or those distributing the fruit and vegetables have to put the stickers on the food, usually by machines in what would otherwise be a heavily labour-intensive job.

Most PLUs have a four digit number.

The numbers designate the fruit type – for instance an apple; the variety of apple – say, a Granny Smith; and where the apple was produced.

Therefore the PLU 4138 designates a Granny Smith apple grown in eastern or central North America.

ALL PLU codes are in the 3000-4999 range.

A fifth number, such as 9, is added at the beginning to designate if the fruit is organic.

An 8 designates if it the fruit has been genetically modified.

Some PLUs now come with bar codes to provide more detailed information.

Not every piece of fruit has a PLU sticker.

“It’s pretty hard to put a PLU on a strawberry, right”? Smith says.

Sometimes it depends on the “stickability” of a particular product such as a lettuce leaf or the “fuzz factor” on peaches, he said.

Or the fact some fruit is too small, like cherries, to be bought individually.

In that case PLU stickers might be applied to the basket.

Smith said he hasn’t heard of consumers being annoyed by having to peel off stickers.

“I don’t know that there is any resistance to it,” he said.

More likely there “was more resistance at the farm level” because producers have to apply the stickers and don’t get compensated.

In other words, if they want their produce on grocery shelves it’s the cost of doing business.

Smith agrees, however, that “sometimes they’re hard to get off.”

WindsorOntarioNews.com