With more than 1,400 price look-up codes (PLUs) now in use around the world, the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS) has launched a user-friendly app to help users from across the supply chain to source PLUs.
Launch of this app comes at a time when the demand for voluntary codes—used for price identification at retail point of sale for fresh produce items sold individually—is increasing in North America, Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand and more recently, Mexico.
The voluntary PLU system has been used by the fresh produce industry since 1990 for pricing, inventory control and sales data.
“By expanding accessibility to the PLU system, our goal is to expand adoption of this standardized product identification system and the business efficiencies that result from it,” said Ed Treacy, chairman of the IFPS board of directors, and Produce Marketing Association vice-president of supply chain efficiencies. “This app makes it just that much easier for everyone to look up numbers, and the website’s search enhancements go a long way to satisfy the fast-growing adoption of PLUs in Spanish-language countries such as Mexico.”
To aid fresh produce shippers that are increasingly being asked to synchronize their data, the mobile app and enhanced website search engine now also include a link with the GS1 Global Classification Code (GPC). The GPC has been updated recently for fruit and vegetables; the app includes mapping between the PLUs and GPC for companies that use PLUs and the GS1 Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN).
The free app can be downloaded in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. In the Apple store, search for “Fresh PLU”; in the Google Play Store, search for “FreshPLU”.
See www.ifpsglobal.com/PLU or email [email protected] for more information about the use of PLU codes.
