Iceland Foods has introduced new ‘steak dispensers’ to protect high-value cuts and other fresh meat products from theft.
The retailer has added the solution, developed with Harrison Retail, to 15 Iceland and Food Warehouse stores over the past year in a bid to cut shrinkage.
Designed to fit on to Iceland’s chiller shelves, the “upright” theft-deterring dispenser holds Iceland’s 12oz and 16oz steak ranges. While it is not theft-proof, it uses a “controlled retrieval” flap so only one packet can be removed at a time.
This not only slows down potential thieves, stopping them from ‘sweeping’ stock from shelves in one go, but also acts as a visual deterrent. Shrinkage on steak lines has decreased by 44% since making the change, Iceland claims.
Previously, the retailer resorted to stocking steaks and other high-value meat products like lamb legs in individual lock boxes, which a shopper had to ask a store assistant to unlock.
Iceland also claims the new unit makes shelves more appealing, boosting sales, and has also improved on-shelf availability without disrupting the journey of regular shoppers.
The rectangle dispenser holds eight steaks for each stock-keeping unit, improving on-shelf availability by as much as four times. Sales of the included lines have increased by 129% on average across participating stores as a result. Meanwhile, food waste has reduced by 8.5%.
“Working with Harrison Group has been an exceptional experience,” said Andy Edwards, head of loss prevention & corporate audit, Iceland Foods. “We developed a chilled, retail-ready security unit specifically designed to support the sale of fresh steaks.”
Iceland has been stepping up security to protect its stores and staff amid a retail crime wave that has reached record levels. There were 20 million individual incidents of theft last year – around 55,000 per day – according to the BRC’s latest annual crime survey. The cost to retailers was £2.2bn.
Iceland executive chairman Richard Walker has been among the retail bosses to criticise the police response. He has also railed against “stupid” privacy laws that prevent local stores sharing information about know thieves and has said that Iceland would “happily” roll facial recognition tech into stores if it meant better protection for store staff. Iceland does not currently have facial recognition in stores.
Fresh steaks are among the items most frequently targeted by thieves at the discounter’s stores due to their higher value, causing the retailer “major losses”, Iceland said.
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