The international PLU (Price Look Up) system is governed by voluntary cooperation of participating countries that are represented by national or regional representatives on the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS) Board of Directors.

PLU codes have been used by supermarkets since 1990 to make check-out and inventory control easier, faster, and more accurate. Fresh fruit and vegetable PLU codes are used to identify bulk produce (and related items such as nuts and herbs). For example, they tell the supermarket cashier whether an apple is a conventionally grown Fuji apple which may sell for $1.29 per pound/kg versus an organically grown Fuji apple which may sell for $2.29 per pound/kg. In some instances they also differentiate by size (e.g. small, medium, large).

In 2001 the national users of PLUs for produce met and formed a group to administer PLUs at a global level. That group, now the IFPS, continues to address harmonization of the international PLUs and also is a forum for other standardization efforts affecting the produce sector.

For PLU: http://www.plucodes.com/

For information on the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS), please visit the IFPS web site.