OYSTERS

Oyster thefts prompt use of tickets

By GRANT BRYANT - The Southland Times | 5:00AM - Tuesday, 30 March 2010

JUST THE TICKET: Fresh Choice store floor manager Mark Nickolls
displays the new ticketing system introduced after many thefts
of Bluff oysters. — SUE FEA/The Southland Times.

A Queenstown supermarket has started issuing tickets for Bluff oysters in an effort to combat a wave of shoplifting by backpackers.

Fresh Choice co-owner Tony Wild said the supermarket had annual theft losses of up to $250,000.

Backpackers on low-cost holidays had become increasingly aware of anti-theft measures such as electronic tagging used in product packaging, and were adapting their methods to beat increased store security, he said.

"We've got 36 cameras, use floor walkers and have an EAS system which beeps at the entrance if it detects items that haven't been paid for. But backpackers in particular are eating a lot of food while they're here, then just ditching the packaging."

The supermarket had started issuing tickets for pottles of Bluff oysters about 10 days ago because so many of the expensive $23.99-a-dozen delicacies were eaten in store.

The ticket order was now filled by a checkout operator, which tied up staff and caused customers to wait. The same system was implemented by some Invercargill supermarkets and fish suppliers in 2006.

Mr Wild said the inconvenience caused to honest customers was a concern, but such measures had to be taken, Mr Wild said.

"We caught one guy who had been seen putting eggs into his pockets then discovered he had a kilo of bacon and fillet steak on him as well," he said.

"The same guy then claimed he was having a heart attack, and tried to call an ambulance so he could avoid the police."

But Mr Wild said the loss of consumables eaten in store were minor compared with thefts of high-cost items such as women's beauty products and luxury food items that were targeted by backpackers.

Two people were arrested for shoplifting last week, but the number of people caught for the crime was the "tip of the iceberg" compared with those who got away, Mr Wild said.

Queenstown police Constable Sean Drader said shoplifters arrested at Fresh Choice were more from overseas than from Queenstown or other New Zealand locations.

Wakatipu New World co-owner Mary Thompson said she had not seen any measurable increase in shoplifting recently.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/3525162/Oyster-thefts-prompt-use-of-tickets