Skip navigation

NEWS WATCH

The Joint Industry Coupon Committee, led by the Grocery Manufacturers of America and in conjunction with the Food Marketing Institute, both based in Washington, is recommending a voluntary, industry-standard extended UPC code to make coupon practices more efficient. The code would allow manufacturers to collect data on expiration dates and target coupons to specific customers. It also would help retailers

The Joint Industry Coupon Committee, led by the Grocery Manufacturers of America and in conjunction with the Food Marketing Institute, both based in Washington, is recommending a voluntary, industry-standard extended UPC code to make coupon practices more efficient. The code would allow manufacturers to collect data on expiration dates and target coupons to specific customers. It also would help retailers boost front-end efficiencies because cashiers would no longer have to manually key-in information. The UCC/EAN-128 code, as it is called, would be printed next to a coupon's standard UPC code. The committee, which issues voluntary guidelines for the industry, suggests all coupons bear the code by January.

ents, the "cocktails" were thrown at vehicles but failed to ignite. Police said two similar attacks on vehicles of other Westfair managers were reported a week ago. Westfair, which operates the Real Canadian Superstore chain, has been locked in a labor dispute with about 200 workers since April. A Westfair spokesman declined to comment on the incidents, but Don Murray, strike coordinator for the United Steelworkers, rejected any suggestion that the union was involved in the attacks.