Branston an early adopter as Orca Scan and GS1 QR codes arrive in major UK supermarkets

Food brand, Branston, is using the Orca Scan GS1 Digital Link solution to enhance its customers' experience in UK supermarkets.

This is powered by GS1's Digital Link standard.

It works by connecting billions of physical products to the internet and giving each one a unique home page that brands can modify long after the product has left the production line.

Branston is an early adopter of this technology, becoming one of the first brands to have this new barcode on products sold in UK supermarkets, giving their consumers instant access to recipe ideas, ingredients and allergens, sustainability and recycling information with a scan via their smartphone camera, no app required.

The retail industry has set a date to make the transition to accepting 2D barcodes at Point of Sale (PoS) or Point of Care (PoC), referred to as Sunrise 2027.

At this point, the traditional 1D barcode you see on packaging today will be phased out and upgraded to a GS1 Digital Link QR code.

All brands must keep the existing 1D barcode on products until 2027 to allow global computer systems to be updated to support the new GS1 Digital Link QR code.

Cambridge-based software company Orca Scan, in partnership with GS1 UK, has designed the GS1 Digital Link solution to make creating and maintaining GS1 Digital Link QR codes as simple as possible.

It is the first GS1 approved solution to integrate fully with the GS1 resolver ecosystem.