Price Look-up Code

Price Look-up Code

Price look-up codes, commonly called PLU codes, PLU numbers, PLUs, produce codes, or produce labels, are identification numbers affixed to produce in grocery stores and supermarkets to make check-out and inventory control easier, faster, and more accurate. The code may be a four-digit number, currently in the 3000–4999 range, identifying the type of bulk produce, including the variety, or a five-digit number.

A fifth digit "may be adopted for use on non-conventionally grown product", such as organic (prefixed by a '9') or genetically modified (prefixed by an '8'). The idea that such prefixes can be reliably used by consumers to tell whether a product is genetically modified or not has been called an urban legend by Jeffrey M. Smith writing on The Huffington Post. However, the July 2012 Produce PLU Codes User's Guide prepared by the International Federation for Produce Standards specifies that three catagories have been established for the fifth (leading) digit qualifier. A '9' identifies organic produce, an '8' indicates genetically modified produce, and a '0' or no fifth digit indicates non-qualified produce.

The codes have been in use since 1990, and there are over 1400 PLU codes assigned as of 2012. Use of PLU codes eliminates the need for grocery store checkers to identify each variety of produce visually. This advantage is especially important with the growth of the organic produce market; organic and conventional oranges, for example, may look the same but have very different prices.

The system is administered by the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS), a global coalition of fruit and vegetable associations, formed in 2001, "as equal partners to pursue the task of introducing a global standard for the use of international Price Look-Up (PLU) numbers". The group's work is coordinated by the Produce Marketing Association.