Digimarc and Picadeli join forces to combat food fraud and retail shrink

Digimarc Corporation, a digital watermarking technology producer, and salad company Picadeli are partnering to address the growing challenges of retail shrink and food fraud in the fresh and prepared foods market.

The collaboration integrates Digimarc’s digital watermarks into Picadeli’s branded packaging, enabling retailers to implement secure, automated product verification and ensure pricing accuracy at self-checkout.

Riley McCormack, Digimarc’s CEO, tells Packaging Insights: “Our partnership showcases how technology can safeguard retailer profitability while improving consumer experiences.”

“As self-service and fresh food options continue to grow, so do the complexities in maintaining security and operational efficiency. We’re excited to join forces with Picadeli to deliver innovative solutions that directly address these pain points.”

Enhancing accuracy and efficiency

The partnership aims to help retailers as price look-up fraud (PLU) is becoming increasingly prevalent, particularly in categories such as produce, deli counters and salad bars. 

Riley McCormack, CEO of Digimarc.Recent studies indicate that retail shrink rates for businesses with self-checkout lanes have risen to over double the industry average.

“Digimarc’s imperceptible digital watermarks are tamper-resistant and embedded throughout the Picadeli branded packaging. The solution automatically overrides mismatched codes during checkout,” highlights McCormack.

“This partnership is a milestone for the fresh and prepared food sector, integrating advanced technology to tackle fraud, enhance efficiency and support the growth of innovative food concepts.”

Changing retail

Digimarc’s technology embeds invisible digital watermarks throughout the packaging, integrating with weight-based and variable product codes. The system triggers automatic system overrides when mismatched codes are detected. 

Unlike traditional barcodes, which can be manipulated or obscured, Digimarc’s technology is resistant to tampering and ensures product information remains intact throughout the checkout process.

“Beyond combating PLU fraud, Digimarc can improve retail operations and prevent retail loss. Unfortunately, these two retail KPIs are often at odds: most solutions for improving operations risk increased shrink, and most solutions for decreasing shrink risk efficient operations. Digimarc solutions are built to be accretive to both,” says McCormack.

“Leading retailers win by relentlessly focusing on improving operations and decreasing shrink. This allows for a better customer experience, lower prices, more engaged associates and liberated margins that can be reinvested in growth.”