Sometimes they are pretty; mostly they are just pretty annoying. So why have Price Look Up stickers, commonly known as PLUs, become a fixture in produce departments? It is almost impossible to bite into an apple or pear without sinking your teeth into one of these plastic-coated bits of paper.

            The PLU numbering system was developed by the American Produce Marketing Association and the affiliated Produce Electronic Identification Board about 10 years ago. It was devised to make it easier for cashiers to properly identify bulk produce purchases and code them into the sales system. These are items that are not sold pre-packaged or bundled with an elastic band and tagged, like asparagus or green onions. Since then, many countries, including Canada, most of Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and South Africa have implemented this system.

In the “old” days when we had a choice between Macintosh or Red Delicious apples, this wasn’t necessary, but now with the influx of a continually growing variety of apples, pears and exotic fruits, it has become difficult for cashiers to correctly identify our purchases. Is it an Ugli fruit or grapefruit; is it an organic or conventionally grown Macintosh? This allows the retailer to keep accurate inventory control, to get the correct price for expensive produce, and to keep a record of what sells. The Price Marketing Association also uses these sales records to keep stats on what fruits and vegetables we are eating.

            PLUs consist of four digits. A conventionally grown Macintosh apple is #4153, everywhere. A Fuji is #4129, an Empire #4125, and a Braeburn #4101. This number applies only to the small grade; there is a different number for the larger grade. A large Macintosh is #4154. Organic produce uses the same four digits prefixed with the number “9”.  An organic small Macintosh would be #94153. Although I have never actually seen one of these, a genetically modified Macintosh would be #89453. Attaching the prefix “8” to any PLU sounds like retail suicide to me!

            Labels can also offer the consumer additional information about the product, including place of origin, distributor’s name and sometimes a website, even cooking instructions.

            One produce manager I spoke with told me that he now rarely receives bulk produce without PLUs. While it is a plus because it allows for accurate inventory control and accuracy at the till, he says that there are times when cashiers should be able to recognize different fruits, but now they don’t learn them. Also, the system for grading fruit by size is not universally standardized, and this can result in small fruit being coded as large or the reverse. This leads to improper pricing and inventory control.

            I was curious about produce coming from local farms, such as from Gabriola’s Berry Point Farm. He told me that it was not expected for small operations to use labels. The large producers of organic produce were the last to start using the PLU system, but now most do, likely due to demand from retailers.

            As for the labels themselves, much thought has gone into how to satisfy both consumer and retailer. The retailer doesn’t want labels that fall off in transit and the consumer doesn’t want ones difficult to remove. The adhesive used is food-grade, and many labels now have a glue-free pull-tab. The label itself has to be made of some type of plastic coated material so that it can withstand moisture and handling. Unfortunately, this makes it about as compostable as the rubber band on a bunch of radishes.

            So, what do you do with your PLU? Do you roll it between your thumb and forefinger into a ball and flick it? Do you stick it under the coffee table or inside the cover of the pocket book you are reading? Or do you remove it and stick it on another piece of fruit for the next unlucky person who reaches for an apple?

            When we were kids, long before PLUs, there was one fruit, the Chiquita banana, that had stickers. We had a strange family ritual of sticking our banana labels on the fan hood over the stove. I guess I just thought everyone did it. Little did I know that we were years ahead of our time. There are now entire websites dedicated to collecting and identifying the over 1000 PLUs. One site, The World of Fruit Labels, provides 196 pages of labels to download. It boasts, “Fruit label collecting must surely rank as one of the healthiest hobbies, just as long as you actually eat the fruit,” proving that there is a hobby for everyone!