Consumers can use their smartphones to scan the quick response codes to trace the product’s history.
As Tyson Foods seeks to make its way into the Chinese market, it is simultaneously using QR codes in order to help to address food safety issues, which are a major problem within the country.
The quick response codes are being added to the chicken products it’s selling, so consumers can scan them.
In this way, shoppers will be able to use their smartphones in order to scan the QR codes on the chicken products and learn about their history. Consumers can find out about the origin of the chicken products and find out when it entered the store. Every one of the fresh chicken products in the Tyson stores will now be labeled with the QRcodes so shoppers can use their smartphones to be confident that they are buying only fresh and safe food.
These QR codes are meant to help consumers make informed decisions in this exceptionally large marketplace.
Consumers in China buy more beef and chicken than any other market in the world. Fresh chicken meat is a very common purchase on grocery lists in that country. It therefore represents an exceptionally important category for food processor companies such as Tyson, Pilgrims Pride Corp.
China is widely recognized for the strict food safety and purity standards, so Tyson has addressed the issue of needing to stand out from the rest by putting the control in the hands of the consumer. They are not only making efforts to ensure their products always meet or exceed highest food safety standards, but they are willing to prove it by letting shoppers check for themselves with quick response codes that reveal the details of the past of the products.
Beyond the QR codes, Tyson has chosen not to purchase its products from independent farmers. Instead, it is building its own farms throughout China in order to know for certain that its own standards are being met and to be sure that it can stand behind every step of the production, storage and shipment of the product.