There are some people in this world that will steal just about anything. I have discovered that food is now on that long list. I was at work this weekend, and while straightening shelves, I found a couple of half eaten giant size candy bars and an open soda hidden behind some other merchandise. We had a situation a couple weeks ago with some teenage girls taking ice cream from the freezer, opening a box of spoons, and going back to the pharmacy waiting area to enjoy their stolen treats. I work for a retail pharmacy with only a couple small food categories, so it made me wonder what is happening in grocery stores. I looked into some online articles, and the amount of Meat Theft is astounding.
The majority of people that steal food are not doing so because they are hungry, or cannot afford to buy what they need to feed their families. Most Meat Theft is perpetrated by people that just do not want to pay for it. In cases where a person simply stuffs a pack of steaks down their pants, many times they had money to buy something, but they wanted the better or more expensive stuff, so they decided to just steal that instead. In other cases people come in and load up a cart full of items and go right out the door with it. Much of this type of theft can be traced to a local restaurant, or they load it up into a truck and go door to door selling it. I have never really considered the possible origin of the product when this one random guy comes through my neighborhood with a giant cooler on the back of his truck selling steaks at ridiculously low prices. While I’ve never purchased anything from him, I am sure some people do since he’s obviously making money. He may be legit, but I am not willing to take the chance. (Besides that “meat from a truck” does not sound like a good idea to me)
One way grocers can put a stop to Meat Theft is to add Checkpoint Labels that are specially designed to stick to cold packages. Whether it be the “one off” guy that stuffs a pack of t-bones down in his jeans, the lady with the giant shoplifter bag full of stolen pork chops, or the brazen thief rolling a cart full of London broil out the front door trying to appear as though he paid at the other register, the specially made Checkpoint Labels will cause the alarm to sound. The labels are not easily removed so tampering with them may cause the plastic wrapping to be torn and damaged. Plus now that the technology has improved, there is not as much danger of a consumer forgetting to remove the tag before microwaving the package if they decide to. Meat Theft is a big problem because it is an unusual target, and because getting out the door undetected is so easy. The packages are flat, so they can be hidden easier. Most grocers do not have dedicated loss prevention people, or the employees are all concentrated at the front of the store, away from the meat cases, usually located in the back. If your store is seeing a trend of Meat Theft, take a look into these Checkpoint Labels.
For more information contact us at Antishoplifting.net or call 1.770.426.0547
There are some people in this world that will steal just about anything. I have discovered that food is now on that long list. I was at work this weekend, and while straightening shelves, I found a couple of half eaten giant size candy bars and an open soda hidden behind some other merchandise. We had a situation a couple weeks ago with some teenage girls taking ice cream from the freezer, opening a box of spoons, and going back to the pharmacy waiting area to enjoy their stolen treats. I work for a retail pharmacy with only a couple small food categories, so it made me wonder what is happening in grocery stores. I looked into some online articles, and the amount of Meat Theft is astounding.
The majority of people that steal food are not doing so because they are hungry, or cannot afford to buy what they need to feed their families. Most Meat Theft is perpetrated by people that just do not want to pay for it. In cases where a person simply stuffs a pack of steaks down their pants, many times they had money to buy something, but they wanted the better or more expensive stuff, so they decided to just steal that instead. In other cases people come in and load up a cart full of items and go right out the door with it. Much of this type of theft can be traced to a local restaurant, or they load it up into a truck and go door to door selling it. I have never really considered the possible origin of the product when this one random guy comes through my neighborhood with a giant cooler on the back of his truck selling steaks at ridiculously low prices. While I’ve never purchased anything from him, I am sure some people do since he’s obviously making money. He may be legit, but I am not willing to take the chance. (Besides that “meat from a truck” does not sound like a good idea to me)
One way grocers can put a stop to Meat Theft is to add Checkpoint Labels that are specially designed to stick to cold packages. Whether it be the “one off” guy that stuffs a pack of t-bones down in his jeans, the lady with the giant shoplifter bag full of stolen pork chops, or the brazen thief rolling a cart full of London broil out the front door trying to appear as though he paid at the other register, the specially made Checkpoint Labels will cause the alarm to sound. The labels are not easily removed so tampering with them may cause the plastic wrapping to be torn and damaged. Plus now that the technology has improved, there is not as much danger of a consumer forgetting to remove the tag before microwaving the package if they decide to. Meat Theft is a big problem because it is an unusual target, and because getting out the door undetected is so easy. The packages are flat, so they can be hidden easier. Most grocers do not have dedicated loss prevention people, or the employees are all concentrated at the front of the store, away from the meat cases, usually located in the back. If your store is seeing a trend of Meat Theft, take a look into these Checkpoint Labels.
For more information contact us at Antishoplifting.net or call 1.770.426.0547
