MENTOR, Ohio (News release) -- Walmart and Avery Dennison announced a new innovation to advance the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in fresh categories previously not possible. Addressing food waste and ensuring freshness are more important than ever for consumers, producers and retailers. This first-to-market solution is set to transform inventory processes and enhance both associate and customer experiences across fresh departments -- particularly bakery, meat and deli.

Looking to help develop a solution to a longstanding industry challenge of using RFID technology in high-moisture, cold environments, like meat cases, Walmart teamed with Avery Dennison to create and test a first-of-its-kind sensor technology that brings RFID-enabled labels to the meat department. By using Avery Dennison's RFID solutions in meat, along with bakery and the deli department, Walmart associates can track inventory faster and more accurately -- making sure products stay stocked and ready when customers want them. With digital use-by dates right at their fingertips, associates can also rotate products more efficiently and make smarter markdown decisions, helping cut down on unsold food.

"We believe technology should make things easier for both our associates and our customers," said Christyn Keef, VP of Front End Transformation for Walmart U.S. "By cutting down on manual work, we're giving our associates more time to focus on what really matters -- helping our customers."

Julie Vargas, VP and GM of Avery Dennison Identification Solutions, comments: "Supporting Walmart with first-to-market RFID innovation across multiple fresh food categories underscores our mutual commitment to people and the planet. By giving each item its own digital identity, associates instantly know the freshness of the foods they are handling, enabling better inventory management and resulting in less waste. This is a landmark moment for the industry, and chimes with our own personal milestone as Avery Dennison celebrates 90 years of helping to solve some of the world's most complex challenges."

The collaboration also ties nicely with Walmart's broader sustainability goals, including its aim to cut global operational food loss and waste intensity in half by 2030. By introducing automated item-level identification, Walmart and Avery Dennison are transforming how fresh food is managed -- making operations smarter, faster and more sustainable.

Building on this important milestone for the grocery retail industry, Avery Dennison remains committed to enabling a more connected food supply chain through its Optica™ solutions portfolio, making visibility and transparency from source to store possible.