[MONDAY MINUTE] CPG Industry Can Thank Ohio For This Grocery Shopping Technology That Changed Everything 50 Years Ago

What historical significance does Ohio’s 55th-largest city hold within the CPG industry? The small town of Troy was the location where the first UPC was scanned at checkout. But the Final Jeopardy level question surrounds which product was the first to be scanned 50 years ago? Legend has it that Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum was selected because nobody had been sure that a bar code could be printed on something that small. But the theorical conceptualization of this grocery technology might be credited to another Ohio company. In a 1966 document, Kroger stated “just dreaming a little, but could an optical scanner read the price and total the sale…thus creating more productive service.” Beyond speeding up checkouts, UPC’s greatest value might be that it has provided hard, statistical evidence for what sells…thus transforming market research. FOLLOW ME ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LINKEDIN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TWITTER⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FACEBOOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠