A new milestone in the digital transformation of the fresh food retail industry

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has partnered with Avery Dennison, a global leader in materials science and digital identification solutions, to introduce the first-ever RFID technology for fresh food categories. This groundbreaking solution enhances inventory accuracy, optimizes supply chain efficiency, reduces food waste, and supports Walmart’s sustainability goals for 2030.

A breakthrough in RFID technology for fresh categories

On October 22, 2025, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Avery Dennison (NYSE: AVY) announced a revolutionary advancement the application of RFID technology in fresh product categories such as meat, bakery, and deli.

For years, implementing RFID in cold and humid environments typical of meat cases, refrigerated warehouses, or fresh food sections has posed major challenges across the industry. Thanks to Avery Dennison’s next-generation RFID sensor technology, Walmart can now apply RFID tags directly onto fresh food items, enabling precise, real-time product tracking and visibility.

This innovation allows Walmart employees to:

• Manage inventory faster and more accurately

• Monitor product expiration dates and freshness

• Easily rotate stock and make smarter markdown decisions before products expire

As a result, products are always displayed at the right time, meeting demand while maintaining peak freshness for customers.

Reducing food waste – Enhancing the shopping experience

Fresh foods have short shelf lives and can spoil quickly if not properly managed. Previously, manual inventory checks were time-consuming and error-prone, often leading to significant waste. With RFID technology, every fresh item now carries a unique digital identity, allowing staff to instantly access detailed product information from arrival date and display location to expiration date with just a quick scan.

This innovation helps Walmart significantly reduce unsold inventory while maintaining the highest freshness standards for consumers.

Christyn Keef, Vice President of Front-End Transformation at Walmart U.S., shared:

“We believe technology should make everything easier for both associates and customers. Automation reduces manual work, allowing our associates to focus on what truly matters: providing better customer care.”

Through RFID, Walmart not only streamlines operations but also improves responsiveness to real-time demand, ensuring customers always find the freshest products on the shelves.

Avery Dennison – 90 years of innovation for people and the planet

For Avery Dennison, this partnership marks a significant milestone in its 90-year journey of advancing identification technology worldwide. From traditional labeling to RFID, the company continues to innovate to bridge the physical and digital worlds for businesses everywhere.

Julie Vargas, Vice President and General Manager of Avery Dennison’s Identification Solutions Division, stated:

“Partnering with Walmart on this pioneering RFID initiative reflects our shared commitment to people and the planet. When every item has a digital identity, associates can quickly understand product conditions, manage more efficiently, and reduce food waste. This is a historic milestone for the entire industry.”

Avery Dennison’s RFID technology enables fast, reliable data reading and writing under any environmental conditions, opening new possibilities across industries from retail to logistics, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing.

RFID – Driving Walmart’s sustainability goals

This initiative is part of Walmart’s broader global sustainability strategy, which aims to cut food waste intensity by 50% by 2030.

RFID plays a vital role in this effort by enabling item-level automation identifying and tracking each individual product through smart labeling. With RFID, Walmart can:

• Monitor the entire supply chain from producers to stores

• Detect potential storage or temperature issues early

• Make faster, data-driven distribution decisions

By leveraging real-time, accurate data, Walmart is evolving into a smarter, greener, and more sustainable retailer.

Connected supply chains – The future of transparent food systems

The collaboration between Walmart and Avery Dennison lays the foundation for a fully connected food supply chain where every product can be traced from its source to the store shelf.

Avery Dennison is expanding its Optica solution, enabling retailers and manufacturers to build an end-to-end data ecosystem spanning farms, factories, logistics hubs, and supermarkets. This approach not only strengthens quality control but also builds consumer trust in food safety and transparency.

With such connectivity, the supply chain becomes more than just a flow of goods it evolves into a data-driven ecosystem, empowering businesses to make faster decisions and minimize waste at every stage.

RFID – The key to the era of “smart food”

The partnership between Walmart and Avery Dennison represents more than just a technological breakthrough it signals a new, sustainable future for the food retail industry. As RFID adoption grows, businesses can:

• Dramatically reduce food waste and operational costs

• Improve inventory accuracy up to 99%

• Respond quickly and precisely to consumer demand

• Ensure quality, traceability, and transparency across the entire supply chain

In this new era, every product becomes more than just an item it becomes a living data point, reflecting its journey from farm to table. RFID technology bridges the physical and digital worlds, driving retail toward a smarter, more sustainable, and more human-centered future.

The Beetech difference

With over 12 years of experience in the AutoID industry, Beetech takes pride in being one of Vietnam’s leading providers of RFID solutions and smart devices.

Our team of experienced engineers accompanies your business through every stage from consultation and implementation to full lifecycle support ensuring your RFID systems operate seamlessly and deliver maximum value.

Let Beetech be your trusted partner on the journey to building intelligent management systems that enhance your competitiveness and drive success in the digital era.

📧 Email: info@beetech.com.vn
🌐 Website: https://beetech.com.vn

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Source: Walmart Inc. & Avery Dennison Corporation. (2025, October 22). Walmart and Avery Dennison collaborate to enhance freshness and increase operational efficiency using RFID. Walmart Corporate.