Albert Heijn experiments with security stickers on meat to prevent theft

Several Albert Heijn supermarkets in the Netherlands have started placing security stickers on expensive products like meat in an attempt to deter people from stealing. 

Albert Heijn adds security stickers to expensive products

Shoppers at 27 Albert Heijn stores would have noticed that the Dutch supermarket has started adding distinctive stickers on meat this summer. According to a spokesperson, this is to try and deter people from stealing expensive foods and products.

"We've noticed that more expensive products like premium cuts of meat and baby food are being stolen more often. And we've tried to come up with a solution," Albert Heijn spokesperson Bart van Dalen told AD. The stickers have a lock with the words “Security protected” written underneath. 

How exactly the stickers work to prevent theft has not been disclosed, but many shoppers have commented that the pattern in the lock on the sticker looks like an RIFD tag, which many stores use to alert security when a person is leaving the store with an item that has not been paid for. "I can't comment on that, but we certainly hope the deterrent effect works," said Van Dalen.

Shoplifting at Dutch supermarkets on the rise

Albert Heijn isn’t the only store experimenting with measures to prevent theft. In recent years, Jumbo has increased security at self-checkout stations and added additional cameras in stores. Shopkeepers in the city centre of Rotterdam have teamed up, agreeing that a ban on someone who has stolen from one store would immediately apply to all stores. 

In a survey conducted by RTL Nieuws, 1 in 14 respondents admitted to deliberately taking an item without paying for it. This was also 97 percent more likely to occur at a supermarket than other stores. 42 percent of people said they stole to save money on groceries, while 40 percent said it was to protest the high prices.

Experts and police have noticed an increase in theft at supermarkets with the introduction of self-checkout counters. For this reason, many supermarkets in the Netherlands have increased the number of random checks performed at these stations.