In 2025, NorgesGruppen operated 2,082 grocery stores in Norway and recorded around 8.5 million customer visits each week. Across a network of that scale, fresh-food availability has to be balanced against a constant risk: ordering too much creates waste, while ordering too little creates empty shelves and lost sales.

The group had been analysing and forecasting food waste for years. Yet the traditional retail barcode could identify the product without telling store systems which expiry dates were still on the shelf. Staff therefore spent time checking products manually, and the inventory picture could not account for shoppers selecting a newer date from the back of the shelf or products being placed out of sequence.

Making the expiry date machine-readable changes the role of the barcode. Instead of simply identifying a product at checkout, the code becomes an input to daily store decisions. NorgesGruppen’s alert logic can distinguish products that expire today or tomorrow, products with only a small share of shelf life remaining, and products that are forecast to remain unsold before expiry.

The store can then act while the food still has value: improve shelf placement, apply a markdown, correct an order or prioritise a batch for sale. Althought not implementet yet, the same batch and date data can also support targeted recalls and controls that prevent an expired or recalled item from being sold.

«Optimising product flow is the most effective way to reduce food waste in stores. Stores need to have the right quantity of products at the right time — in other words, just the right amount of food on the shelves at all times. GS1 2D codes support this by providing stores with accurate visibility of inventory levels and product expiry dates.»

Kenneth Skauge · Sustainability Manager, MENY

In 2023, NorgesGruppen began rolling out GS1 DataMatrix on its private label products. The first grocery product with a 2D barcode readable at checkout was a Folkets minced-meat product, introduced in February. By May, MENY reported approximately 30 meat products carrying the new code, with around 50 private label products expected during that month.

During the transition, the conventional linear barcode and the 2D barcode can appear together. This allows suppliers and stores to move at a practical pace while ensuring that checkout systems continue to work across the network.

Expiry-date management was the immediate business case, but the same standards-based data can support additional capabilities. Batch/lot information can make recalls more targeted. Better date visibility can improve forecasting and automate more of the markdown process. NorgesGruppen is planning to migrate to QR Codes powered by GS1 and GS1 Digital Link in the near future. That will utilize new possibilities for consumers connecting to product, storage, sustainability and usage information.

The lesson from NorgesGruppen is straightforward: begin with a high-value operational problem, prove the effect on a controlled range, and design the technology and collaboration model for scale from the start.