Expired food should never reach the customer.
Quick-commerce warehouses are facing increasing scrutiny over food safety, with inspections and licence suspensions in several states. This has drawn attention to how food is stored, identified, managed and moved through warehouses and dark stores.
So, the question is…
The answer may not lie at just one point. It could begin with how products are received, identified and tracked, and continue through inventory rotation, picking, dispatch and traceability.
Consider what happens as food moves through these stages:
| Stage | What can go wrong? | What needs to be controlled? |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Are the batch number and expiry date captured correctly? What happens if information is recorded manually? | Batch and expiry information |
| Storage | Can the business identify where a product is stored, which batch it belongs to and how much is available? | Product, batch and location |
| Stock rotation | When multiple batches have different expiry dates, does the system know which one should move first? | Expiry-based stock rotation |
| Picking | Does the picker select the right batch? Is there a system to guide and verify the selection? | Batch selection and verification |
| Dispatch | Is the correct batch being dispatched? Can the movement be recorded so the batch can be traced? | Dispatch accuracy and traceability |
| When a batch needs to be traced | Can the business quickly identify where a batch is, how much remains in stock and where it has gone? | Batch-level traceability |
If any of these steps still rely on memory, paper or ad hoc Excel sheets, expiry risk can creep in. And it’s not just an operational gap. It can also become a food safety compliance issue.
When several batches of the same product are sitting in inventory, one question becomes important:
Which stock should move first?
FEFO (First Expiry, First Out) is the practice of dispatching stock with the earliest expiry date first, regardless of which batch arrived at the warehouse first.
FIFO (First In, First Out), by contrast, moves stock in the order it arrived.
For perishable, expiry-dated food products, FEFO is more appropriate because it considers remaining shelf life, whereas FIFO does not.
By prioritising food stock with the earliest expiry date, FEFO helps:
FEFO is a principle. Making it work consistently is a process.
It’s easy to tell a warehouse team to “Follow FEFO.”
But how does the system know which stock should move first, and how does that information reach the person picking the order?
For FEFO to work as an operational process, expiry information must be captured at receipt, linked to the relevant inventory, and surfaced to the picker at the point of picking.
If several of these steps depend entirely on manual intervention, the opportunity for error increases at each handoff:
Capture → Identify → Locate → Prioritise → Pick → Verify → Dispatch
At Raj Barcode Systems, barcode-based identification works alongside the Warehouse Management System to support FEFO across the warehouse, from receiving through dispatch. Where automated transactions are required, RFID-based identification can complement barcode workflows for activities such as cold-room inward, dispatch verification, Search & Find and stocktaking.
The following example shows how this works.
Imagine a batch of packaged food arriving at the warehouse. What happens from that point until it is dispatched?
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Record the receipt | The GRN (Goods Receipt Note) is entered in the ERP; the relevant GRN data flows into our Warehouse Management System |
| Identify the product | Line items, pack sizes and quantities are selected; labels are printed in a predefined format and applied to the received packs |
| Identify the pallet | Each pallet gets a unique barcode label, mapped to the product barcodes it carries; RFID tags can be added where automated identification is required. |
Result: The product entering the warehouse has a digital identity that can be tracked through the next stages.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Identify the location | Barcodes are assigned to warehouse rack or floor locations |
| Scan and validate | The location barcode and pallet/material barcode are scanned together. At RFID-enabled points, tagged stock can be captured automatically. The system flags any mismatch. |
| Map the stock | Material and location are mapped in the WMS; warehouse occupancy updates automatically |
Result: The system knows what the material is and where it has been put away, giving users visibility into stock availability by location.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Prioritise the stock | Our Warehouse Management System generates a FIFO/FEFO-based pick list. For food, this means the earliest-expiry stock first |
| Guide the picker | The pick list shows item details, required quantity and bin location on the handheld device (HHT) |
| Scan and pick | The picker follows the location, scans it, and picks the required material |
| Update the stock | Warehouse stock updates once picking is complete. At RFID-enabled dispatch points, readers can verify tagged stock against the intended order before the material is cleared for transfer or shipment. |
Result: Stock isn’t simply picked from wherever it happens to be sitting. The system guides the picker toward the batch that needs to move and supports verification before it leaves the warehouse.
Dispatch rules can also be configured based on the type of order. Modern trade, general trade and quick-commerce orders can have different dispatch policies, which can be configured within the Warehouse Management System.
Raj Barcode’s identification and tracking solutions also extend to production, packing and labelling. Within the warehouse, barcode and RFID solutions support product and batch identification and tracking from receipt through to dispatch.
Dealing with perishable products is hard. Knowing what’s in stock is only part of the challenge. Batches, storage locations, stock movement and dispatch all need to be managed.
In one implementation for a leading ice-cream manufacturer (read the full food industry case study), Raj Barcode addressed inventory and dispatch challenges across multiple SKUs, batches and sales orders through:
The result: minimised ageing stock, reduced dispatch errors and improved traceability across SKUs and batches.
That’s what effective food inventory management needs to deliver: visibility into not just what’s in stock, but its batch, location and movement. Combine that visibility with expiry-based prioritisation, and FEFO can work as intended.
The case study above uses barcode-based identification, while Raj Barcode also implements RFID-based solutions for relevant warehouse applications where automated identification is required.
Talk to us about your warehouse setup, and we’ll show you how our Warehouse Management System can make FEFO work more consistently, from receiving through to dispatch.
FIFO (First In, First Out) moves stock based on arrival date. FEFO (First Expiry, First Out) moves stock based on its expiry date.
For example, imagine two batches of the same product:
Under FIFO, Batch A would move first because it arrived first. Under FEFO, Batch B would move first because it expires sooner.
Yes. FSSAI’s Labelling and Display Regulations require batch/lot identification and date-marking (manufacture/packaging and expiry/use-by) for most pre-packaged foods, with specified exemptions. This regulatory requirement underlines the importance of accurate batch and expiry tracking in warehouses.
Source: FSSAI Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020
FEFO can be managed manually, but maintaining it consistently becomes challenging as the number of products, batches and locations increases. Barcode and RFID-based systems can help make relevant stock information available to warehouse teams, while a Warehouse Management System can support FIFO/FEFO-based picking.
FEFO depends on the ability to identify the product, batch and relevant inventory information throughout the warehouse process. Barcode labels provide that identity, allowing products and batches to be scanned, tracked and linked to inventory records.
Raj Barcode Systems also manufactures barcode labels in-house, enabling businesses to create labels suited to their product, packaging and identification requirements. Combined with barcode scanning and the WMS, these labels become part of the identification and tracking process that supports FIFO/FEFO-based picking.
At the dispatch dock, barcode scanners can verify that the intended material and quantity are being loaded. If there is a discrepancy, the system can stop the conveyor line and trigger an audible alert.
Yes. A traditional barcode is a one-dimensional (1D) code, while a QR code is a two-dimensional (2D) barcode that can carry more data. Both can be used to identify products and batches, depending on the application and client requirements.
The move toward 2D barcodes is also reflected in GS1 Sunrise 2027, which aims to support wider adoption of 2D barcodes carrying information such as product, batch and expiry details. For food warehouses, having expiry information in a machine-readable format can support expiry-based stock rotation such as FEFO.
Raj Barcode Systems helps manufacturers, distributors and warehouse operators improve inventory accuracy, batch traceability and material movement through barcode, RFID and warehouse management solutions. Its Warehouse Management System supports FIFO/FEFO-based picking, location tracking and dispatch verification across the warehouse.
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