A supermarket chain is tagging its grocery items, including sausages, steak, and beef, with GPS trackers in a bid to stamp out shoplifting.
Co-op sausages, which cost less than £4, are being locked away in plastic security boxes which are labelled as fitted with a GPS tracker. Other meat products, including Angus beef and sirloin steak, are also stored in the boxes and protected by the same security device.
The chain said the crime-prevention tactic was not new and had, along with other measures, helped contribute to a reduction in crime.
A spokesperson for Co-op said: “We know the tide of criminality can be turned. Local shops are an anchor in communities, and we continue to invest significantly in wide-ranging safety and security measures including the latest CCTV, body-worn cameras, fortified kiosks, security cases and covert and non-covert guarding.
“This, along with forging successful partnerships with local policing and the increase in police attendance, has contributed to a drop in retail crime levels at Co-op of more than 20 per cent last year – a trend we are seeing continue into 2026.”
An image of the sausages, shared by media personality Duncan Barkes, shows the GPS tracker attached to Co-op Irresistible Cumberland Sausages 400g, which were selling for £3.90 at a store in Sussex.
In a post on X, Mr Barkes, who hosts a podcast about sausages called Prick With A Fork, wrote: “Britain has fallen.”
Co-op British sirloin steaks, which cost £7, and Angus beef roasting joints, which cost £20.90, were also locked in the GPS-tagged boxes at a store in Old Street in central London.
Earlier this year, The Independent reported that bars of Dairy Milk and Lindt were kept in plastic security boxes at several supermarkets across the country after chocolate became a “high-value target” in thefts.
Tesco also locks some of its meat, like salmon, in security boxes to prevent theft.
The British Retail Consortium reported there were 5.5 million detected incidents of shop theft last year.
The GPS tags, which are attached to the box, track the whereabouts of the product if it has been stolen, revealing the location of the thief. The tags can only be removed from the product when it has been purchased.
Co-op said it was one of the several ways it had attempted to deter shoplifters.
Overall retail crime at Co-op is down by 21 per cent, anti-social behaviour and abuse is down 36 per cent, and physical assaults are down 31 per cent, the chain said.
The Independent has asked other major supermarkets if they are using GPS tracker boxes. Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S did not respond to the request.
Waitrose would not disclose whether it used GPS trackers, saying it was “commercially sensitive”.
A spokesperson for the supermarket said: “We’re investing in a number of measures to tackle shoplifting, including security tags, lockable cabinets and smart shelf technology for high value items.”
Convictions and sentences for shoplifting in England and Wales have climbed to their highest level for nearly a decade, with 48,849 convictions at criminal courts last year for a principal offence of shoplifting, up 19 per cent from 41,014 in 2024.
Last year, there were 509,566 shoplifting offences, down by one per cent from 2024, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
With the rate of food price rises currently at 3 per cent, the Treasury is reportedly urging supermarkets to limit food price rises.
