Checkpoint Systems and Sealed Air Cryovac Present the First Integrated and Automated Anti-Theft Label and Source Tagging System for Direct Contact with Fresh Food Products

Checkpoint Systems (NYSE: CKP), a leading manufacturer and marketer of identification, tracking, security and merchandising solutions to the retail industry and its supply chain, and Sealed Air Cryovac, a leading global manufacturer of a wide range of food and protective packaging materials and systems, announce the launch of an innovative anti-theft tagging solution for food products. The solution targets frequently stolen products such as cheese. In particular, Cryovac is using the system to protect supplies of Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano. "The Global Theft Barometer has highlighted an increased amount of theft of certain food products,” notes Rob van der Merwe, President and CEO of Checkpoint Systems, Inc. "In Italy, for instance, Parmigiano Reggiano has a shrink rate of about 9 percent. The combination of the Checkpoint and Cryovac solution is a good example to combat grocery shrinkage.” Checkpoint’s collaboration with Sealed Air Cryovac in Italy began in early 2007. The companies initiated a label and source tagging program designed to protect food, such as meat and dairy products. Checkpoint’s research and development laboratories produced the first RF-EAS Food-Safe label - the only label to date that has received European authorization and ISEGA certification, for direct contact with dry, moist and fatty food products. The distinctive feature of the label is its conformity with European health and safety legislation to control the direct contact with fresh and dry foodstuffs; the label also meets all FDA guidelines for direct food contact. The label complies with Checkpoint’s standards for deactivation and detection by EAS systems. The Food-Safe label enables the fresh food sector to gain all the benefits of source tagging. These include time savings due to the elimination of manual label applications. Sealed Air Cryovac, known for continuous technological research that has made the company a global leader in packaging, then set up a manufacturing system to integrate Checkpoint’s Food-Safe anti-theft label inside its Cryovac® vacuum shrink bags. The integration makes it difficult to tamper with product packaging and defeat the anti-theft label. The first tests were conducted with Parmigiano Reggiano in Italy for a six-month period to determine the effectiveness of Checkpoint’s label source tagged and integrated into Cryovac® vacuum shrink bags. The first market request to Sealed Air Cryovac was for two million packs for the protection of Parmigiano Reggiano alone. However, the system is expected in the near future to be applied to other types of ‘softer’ cheeses and to packaged cold meats. These products represent a significant percentage of those displayed in supermarkets’ refrigerated food cabinets. They are also significant in terms of both sales and inventory shrinkage. Initial studies have shown that this RF-EAS source tagging program may cut down inventory shrinkage of dairy products from 9 percent to 1 percent. "This integrated solution for the source tagging of food products that we have developed with Cryovac puts Checkpoint on the cutting-edge of source tagging solutions to fulfil requirements of both major retailers and producers of foodstuffs that are difficult to preserve,” notes van der Merwe. "Sealed Air Cryovac is a solutions provider offering value added products and systems to the entire food supply chain. With the RF technology provided by Checkpoint, we are able to help our customers and retailers to further improve their bottom lines by reducing the in-store theft of items such as Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. There are more opportunities with this technology in the fresh food segment,” said Mr. Gerd Wichmann, Marketing Director EMEA, Cryovac Packaging. About Checkpoint Systems Inc. Checkpoint Systems Inc. is a world leading provider of product identification and inventory shrinkage management solutions for the retail sector and related supply chain. Checkpoint services aim at increasing its customers’ sales and at safeguarding their profits. Checkpoint is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and operates in all geographical markets with 3900 employees across the globe. The company specializes in source tagging of consumer goods and in RF EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance), RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and merchandising solutions. www.checkpointeurope.com ABOUT Sealed Air Cryovac Cryovac® and Smartpak® are registered trademarks of Cryovac Inc., a subsidiary of Sealed Air Corporation. Cryovac Packaging and Cryovac Food Solutions are business units of Sealed Air and global leaders in innovative flexible and rigid packaging materials, systems and services for a wide range of food applications. With more than 3,000 employees throughout the region, Sealed Air Cryovac in Europe, the Middle-East and Africa (EMEA) operates manufacturing facilities in France (Arc-en-Barrois and Epernon), Germany (Norderstedt), the UK (St. Neots and Poole), Italy (Passirana di Rho), Spain (Buñol), Russia (Volgograd), Poland (Ozarow), Hungary (Újhartyán), South Africa (Spartan) and Botswana (Lobatse). Also located at the Italian site is the Sealed Air Cryovac EMEA Packaging Technical Center. The EMEA Customer Systems Center is located in Root, Switzerland. Packforum®, Sealed Air Cryovac EMEA’s permanent customer care center, is located at Roissy Charles de Gaulle near Paris, France. Sealed Air is dedicated to permanently improving its environmental performance and strives for safety and environmental excellence, while also ensuring that plastic food packaging is more efficient than ever. The company is actively engaged in source reduction and total material utilisation through recycling or reuse of industrial scrap, otherwise energy recovery through appropriate incineration. The Sealed Air EMEA website can be found on www.sealedair-emea.com.