CO-OP has installed new GPS trackers on steaks in an attempt to find thieves stealing meat from the shops.
The security devices have been put on steak in rural stores as meat thefts soar.
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Packets of beef at some of its branches are now being tagged using global positioning systems (GPS) which use satellites to keep an eye on an item.
Big supermarkets have even set up a working group to find out where all the pinched cuts are going.
GPS trackers could allow them to see exactly where the meat travels after it is taken from the stores.
Some have claimed it is sold on to restaurants and smaller shops who even give thieves a shopping list.
One Co-Op store manager in London said items taken from his store were being offered for sale to customers in the pub next door.
He added: “It’s ridiculous. They are selling cheap steaks and roast dinners because he’s got them all for free.”
And Inspector Oliver Vale, of Nottinghamshire police, told the podcast Retail Crime Uncovered: “We’re quite confident to say that convenience stores or smaller independents are actually giving [the thieves] a shopping list.”
Shopper George Arrowsmith is the latest shopper to notice the tracking devices in his local branch.
He said on X: “Funny how supermarkets in rural Buckinghamshire put security tags on the beef now. That wasn’t necessary when I was a kid.
“I wonder what changed…”
Shoplifting in numbers – how thieves are crippling Britain
Startling crime figures lay bare the anarchic crime wave blighting the nation’s high streets
Police recorded 339,206 shoplifting incidents in the 12 months to March, yet the British Retail Consortium estimates the total number of retail thefts to be close to eight million.
Just 48,218 shoplifting cases recorded by the police, a derisory 14 per cent, resulted in a charge
.And 183,450 investigations — 54 per cent — were closed without a suspect being identified.
The BRC say retail theft rose by 26 per cent in England and Wales last year
Last year, 516,971 shoplifting offences were logged by police forces -up 20 per cent from 429,873 in 2023.
The figure is the highest since current police records began 22 years ago in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Many offences also go unrecorded, meaning the issue could be far, far worse.
Some stores have adapted, putting security tags on individual items, removing the most-stolen items and putting them behind counters and even putting dummy products on display.
A spokesperson for the Co-Op said: “Security tags on higher value products are used as part of a wide range of preventative measure to deter shop theft.
“Shop theft can all too often be a trigger for anti-social behaviour and abuse, Co-op’s own crime levels index below that of the sector, and Co-op is committed to investing to create safer, stronger and more resilient communities.”
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