The Fresh Code Will Indicate when Your Vegetables and Fruits Are Fresh

A group of designers are trying to shake up the supermarket industry with a new product. Known as the Fresh Code it is a product that will be able to solve the age old question if a fruit or vegetable is actually fresh. Sisi Yuan, Yiwu Qiu, Lei Zhao, Qiulei Huang, Lijun Zhang & Weihang Shu are the masterminds behind this product. As a former supermarket employee I can say with confidence that this could change the way supermarkets offer these products and the way we shop.

The concept behind the Fresh Code is quite basic. These designers were tired of purchasing fruit and vegetables that would go bad in a day or two. They wanted to create a way for consumers to have a better understanding of what is good to bring home and what is not good to bring home. You might argue that this can be done by simply looking at the product. It is true that this works to an extent but a lot of products are covered in so many chemicals that you simply can't tell when they are bad or good.

What we have here is a creatively designed barcode that acts intelligent. The barcode acts intelligent through the use of a graph. This graph indicates the freshness level of the product. Just as you would assume, whenever the product decreases in freshness the barcode will recede. This process will continue until the Fresh Code's graph reaches "0". When a product reaches this level it should no longer be displayed and thrown out.

Naturally the freshest products will have the longer barcodes. Imagine being able to walk into a grocery store and know that you ended up purchasing one of the better products instead of just taking a shot in the dark. I have several years of being a produce manager under my belt and I can tell you it is just as hard for us to know what is fresh and what is not. Yet we pretend to know what we are talking about and you end up going home with a good or bad product. The Fresh Code would drastically change things for the better.

The Fresh Code will have a long uphill battle before it actually becomes a reality. It is a well known fact that the supermarket is an industry that does not like to take on change that will cost them more money. They were upset when they were forced to designate where their fruit and vegetables came from. It took nearly ten years for that to become a reality and it is a forgone conclusion that the industry will fight this as well. However it appears it could be a part of future because it is something we need and want.