MEXICO – Mexico’s National Association of Supermarkets and Department Stores (ANTAD), which represents 35,000 stores in that country, announced that the fruits and vegetables sold in Mexico’s supermarkets will now feature a four-digit PLU code.

The PLU has been used globally since 1998 and allows shops, suppliers and consumers to identify the type, size and variety of each product as well as if it comes from organic or conventional crops.

ANTAD does note, however, that 13 types of products will be excluded from this system: corn, beans, potatoes, peas, artichokes, endive, cabbage, garlic, chestnuts, lychees, mushrooms, radicchio and rhubarb.

La Jornada reports that Mexico’s implementation of the PLU is planned for three stages. The first began in September, but only applied to 26 products: apples, pears, papaya, beets, cilantro, parsley, grapefruit, nectarines, grapes, plums, peaches, apricots, mangoes, melons, asparagus, arugula, avocado, Swiss chard, kale, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, leeks, kohlrabi, bunches of edible plants (greens) and fruit (berries including blackberry and raspberry).

ANTAD says that the code is currently operating in some stores with others in the process of completing the first stage.

The second stage is scheduled to add 125 different products by March 2015. According to La Jornada, these new products will include oranges, lemons, nuts, seeds and even plants like mint leaves and ferns. The third stage will include labeling to “an optional product group,” according to ANTAD.

To help implement this new code, ANTAD signed an agreement with the Mexican representative of GSI, a regulatory agency for business standards that has 2 million associates in 150 countries, as well as the Produce Marketing Association (PMA).

All three organizations have listings of worldwide products that are labeled with PLU that are divided by scientific name, variety, product name and size of the crop. It can be viewed on their websites: www.pma.com, www.antad.net and www.gs1mexico.org.

This code should directly benefit trade by ensuring selling price per product and quick identification for inventory management.