148 MEAT POLICE

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MARKETS MUST BECOME MEAT POLICE TO STOP THIEVES

Australian supermarket chain Drakes recently started a trial run of putting expensive meats into special plastic containers with GPS locators, in order to reduce losses caused by shoplifting.

Drake said the cases cost $32 each and would need considerable force to destroy or open. The cases come off when you pay for the item, much like clothes with security tags.

The South Australian supermarket has become so exasperated with meat shoplifting that it is currently testing a security system that involves putting cuts of expensive meat into tough, locked, transparent plastic cases fitted with GPS locators so that, if need be, the product can be tracked.

The polycarbonate cases are usually used to prevent theft of high-priced items in electronics stores, but Drakes is the first supermarket in Australia to use them on meat.

Since high-quality meat like Wagyu Beef qualifies as a luxury product, Drakes believes the security measure is justified.

“The containers cost AUD$35 (USD$23), so, every time we get one of these containers, we have to pay $35. But, it is like having security 24/7,” Director John-Paul Drake said. “We are talking about meat that ranges from AUD$50 to $100 (USD$33-66) per kilo, so it is the highest-end meat that we have.”

Drakes claims AUD$12 million (USD$8 million) worth of meat is stolen from its chain of 67 supermarkets in South Australia and Queensland every year, and the company hopes that the new packages and GPS locators will help cut that loss significantly.

Drakes is currently three weeks into a 13-week trial run, and if the meat cases prove successful, it plans to expand their use throughout Australia.

The containers do not look particularly sturdy, but according to John-Paul Drake, they require considerable force to break or force open. It is a lot easier to just pay for the product and have it removed at the checkout.

Although the current cost-of-living crisis sweeping the world has contributed to the increase in shoplifting incidents, Drakes believes that its expensive meat is often targeted by criminals who then sell it for drugs or for cash.

As honest customers, it is pleasing to picture any shoplifters who actually get out of the store with the meat.

First, they try, without much success, to open the meat packages, made from that same impossible-to-open plastic which is used in those irritating blister packs.

Then, when they do finally get them open, they discover, under the Wagyu, the GPS trackers—just as the police arrive to arrest them. Score one for the good guys! Schadenfreude!

SOURCE: odditycentral.com

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