Avery Dennison unlocks invisible value in fresh food

Materials science giant Avery Dennison has officially launched its AD IdentiFresh inlay series, a technological breakthrough designed to digitise the most challenging categories in food retail: fresh produce, meat, and bakery.

The proprietary RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, part of the company’s Optica Food Solutions portfolio, arrives as a direct response to a looming economic crisis. Independent modelling cited by Avery Dennison warns that the global cost of food waste is forecast to hit $540 billion in 2026.

RFID adoption in fresh food has been hampered by physical limitations; liquids and metals interfere with radio waves, making it difficult to read tags on “wet” products like steaks or rotisserie chickens.

The AD IdentiFresh series overcomes these hurdles through:

• Specialised antenna design: optimised for “high-moisture cold environments” and densely stacked items.
• Impinj M800 Series ICs: leveraging the latest Gen2X enhancement to provide industry-leading read speed and accuracy.
• Compact form factor: designed to fit seamlessly into existing label formats and supplier workflows without disrupting current packaging lines.

In a survey of 3,500 global food leaders, Avery Dennison found that 51% identify poor inventory management and overstocking as the primary drivers of waste. The difficulty is most acute in perishables, with 50% of respondents struggling with meat waste and 45% with produce.

By providing real-time visibility from production to the point of sale, AD IdentiFresh allows retailers to trigger automatic markdowns as products approach expiry, ensuring food is sold rather than scrapped.

“This breakthrough innovation… unlocks significant value within the food retail industry,” said Mathieu De Backer, VP of intelligent labels innovation at Avery Dennison. “It enables the reliable use of RFID technology to digitise and automate fresh management.”

The launch builds on Avery Dennison’s high-profile collaborations with retail titans Walmart and Kroger, signalling a shift toward mandatory digital identification in the fresh aisle. As retailers face increasing pressure to improve margins and meet ESG (environmental, social, and governance) targets, the ability to make the “invisible” visible through data is becoming a baseline requirement.

George Dyche, VP at Impinj, added: “Everyone wins when food is sold before expiring on store shelves. The Gen2X enhancement will offer even further improvements in read performance to help retailers save labour costs and reduce waste.”