QR Codes Are Not a Replacement for RFID Tags, Says Cannabis Track and Trace Provider

Florida-based Metrc has launched Retail ID™, a serialised QR code solution for enhancing cannabis supply chain transparency at retail level. Rather than replacing Metrc’s existing RFID tag system on cannabis plants and bulk packaging, the code is intended to complement it.

Retail ID uses product information already captured and stored by Metrc, which provides state-wide, regulatory track and trace programmes to 25 governments across the US. According to Metrc CEO Michael Johnson (speaking to news site Cannabis Business Executive), the solution ‘allows real-time access to item-level product data such as origin, potency, test results, certificate of analysis (COA), and more, through a single scan of the QR code.’ 

He explained that ‘a big gap in the cannabis ecosystem is standardisation of different product types and the ability to follow those products through the supply chain individually. While Metrc follows the product from seed to sale (using the RFID tags) we have not historically extended to the individual retail item in terms of identification and tracking.