Brand Specific UPC for Produce

FROM GENERIC U.P.C. TO BRAND OWNER-SPECIFIC U.P.C.
As fresh foods companies and grocery retailers enhance their efforts to capture the benefits of implementing supply chain standards, the produce industry has an opportunity to leverage processes packaged goods manufacturers have utilized for many years.

WHY TRANSITION FROM THE GENERIC U.P.C. TO A BRAND 
OWNER U.P.C. FOR PRODUCE? 
The produce sector in the United States and Canada has gradually made a transition away from the use of generic Universal Product Codes (U.P.C.s), which begin with 033383 for packaged produce, to the use of brand owner-specific Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs). The use of standard GTINs allows for the globally unique identification of fresh produce by capturing the brand owner and product
identification while also providing a number of benefits.

BENEFITS OF BRAND OWNER IDENTIFICATION
The use of brand owner-specific GTINs on retail selling units enable trading partners to tie product information to brand owners, providing the ability to address a variety of business process needs and capabilities across the supply chain.

KEY BENEFITS
• Improving category management
• Increasing inventory accuracy
• Streamlining business processes
• Enhancing traceability
• Increasing efficiency
• Enhancing the food safety system
• Facilitating effective product recalls

MOVING TO BRAND OWNER-SPECIFIC U.P.C.BARCODES FOR PACKAGED PRODUCE
When packaged produce items are identified with brand owner-specific U.P.C.s, point-of-sale systems
scan and process multiple brand owner-specific GTINs for the same commodity, instead of a single
generic U.P.C. for that commodity—enabling differentiation between different brands of product
in the same category. As a result, retailers are able to determine sell-through and shrink data
by brand.