Avery Dennison has announced the launch of its AD IdentiFresh™ inlay series, advancing the use of RFID technology in fresh food categories including bakery, meat, deli and produce. The proprietary set of inlays is part of Avery Dennison’s Optica™ Food Solutions, where real-time inventory visibility is transforming fresh management to help food retailers and suppliers improve operational efficiency, enhance freshness, and reduce waste.

The launch of the AD IdentiFresh™ inlay series marks a breakthrough in RFID technology, following the news of Avery Dennison’s collaborations in the food sector with Walmart and Kroger. Avery Dennison’s proprietary antenna design and inlay construction overcome key operational challenges in the food retail environment, improving read performance on densely stacked items, particularly within high-moisture cold environments like meat cases.

The AD IdentiFresh™ series leverages Impinj’s M800 series endpoint integrated circuits (ICs) and, when combined with the latest Gen2X enhancement, further improves readability and speed. The compact inlay form factor is designed to fit easily within existing label formats, enabling seamless integration with current workflows and labeling equipment, minimizing operational disruption. The AD IdentiFresh™ inlay series enables both in-store and supplier tagging of fresh food items, offering flexibility and high-volume scalability.

Mathieu De Backer, VP, Intelligent Labels Innovation at Avery Dennison, says: “This breakthrough innovation that combines deep material science expertise with optimized RF inlay design unlocks significant value within the food retail industry, enabling reliable use of RFID technology to digitize and automate fresh management from production to point of sale. Through continued collaboration with partners like Impinj, we're bringing to bear leading-edge solutions that empower clients operating within a challenging food retail environment.”  

George Dyche, VP of endpoint IC product at Impinj, adds: “Everyone wins when food is sold before expiring on store shelves. Impinj remains committed to improving RFID performance and accelerating RFID adoption, and we are proud that Avery Dennison selected M800 series ICs to deliver this industry-leading solution. The Gen2X enhancement recently announced will offer even further improvements in read performance to help retailers manage their inventory with greater accuracy and speed to save labor costs and reduce waste.”

Research shines a light on the food waste opportunity

The growing uptake of robust RFID tagging solutions comes at a time when there is heightened focus on improving visibility and reducing waste across the industry.

New research commissioned by Avery Dennison highlights how decision makers are consistently challenged at various points throughout the food supply chain, most specifically across perishables. When 3,500 global food retailers and supply chain leaders were asked to identify the three most difficult categories for waste, 50% pointed to meat, 45% cited produce, and 28% mentioned baked goods.

Over half (51%) said that inventory management and overstocking contribute significantly to food waste within their operations. The Making the Invisible Visible: Unlocking the Hidden Value of Food Waste to Drive Growth and Profitability report also includes independent modeling warning that the economic cost of food waste across the global supply chain is forecast to reach $540 billion by 2026, up from $526 billion last year.