London, 03 September 2018 - GS1 UK today announces that itsu [grocery], the popular Asian-inspired food brand, becomes one of the first smaller suppliers to commercially adopt productDNA.

This development follows itsu’s earlier involvement in helping shape the productDNA service to cater for the thousands of small food and beverage suppliers in the UK. This aligns with the year one launch offer, rewarding suppliers who join the service:

• Qualified small businesses who sign up by 31 December 2018, get a free three-year subscription to the service
• Suppliers who sign up before 31 October 2018, will receive 10 free physical checks (worth approximately £50 each)

productDNA provides small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) with a new product information management (PIM) solution that includes a unique data model defined by leading UK retailers, designed to improve the process of launching new products to market.

Addressing the industry-wide issue of poor and inconsistent product data, productDNA also includes an independent physical product verification check to ensure that the information provided by the brand is wholly accurate, making it quicker and easier for retailers to launch add these products to their businesses.

productDNA is the result of the retail industry coming together to agree a common language for products created “for the industry, by the industry.”

Key benefits of the new productDNA service for the UK grocery sector include:

• A common data model for all retailers using a set of industry agreed product attributes
• A simpler, faster product catalogue shared between suppliers and retailers
• Third party verification to improve the quality of product data, underpinned by GS1 standards

Olivia Hudson, Account Executive at itsu [grocery], said: “We are thrilled to be the first SME adopting productDNA. As we look to penetrate new categories in the upcoming months and years, productDNA will allow us to efficiently launch new products while ensuring the consistency of our product data.

"We hope that the benefit we have drawn from the platform will inspire other SMEs to join the project in view of harmonising the new line form process across the industry.”

Gary Lynch, CEO GS1 UK, added: “When co-developing productDNA with our wide range of industry members, it was always a priority to ensure that the service was designed to address the operational and commercial needs of smaller suppliers.

"We’re grateful for the valuable input that itsu [grocery] has contributed in helping shape productDNA, and we’re excited now to offer this promotion to encourage many more SMEs to join them and improve their ability to manage product data with leading retailers.”

For further information and to register interest www.gs1uk.org/productdna.

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Notes to editors

For further information or requests for interviews, please contact Tim Haidar: 020 7092 3584 / Tim.Haidar@gs1uk.org.

About GS1 UK

GS1 UK is a community of over 36,000 members working in retail, foodservice, healthcare and more. GS1 UK is one of 112 independent, not-for-profit GS1 organisations operating across 150 countries worldwide.

GS1 UK helps everyone involved in making, moving and trading goods to automate and standardise their supply chain processes using the common language of GS1 global standards.

www.gs1uk.org