Plastic tray theft updates from ABA

Bakers launch TrayTheft.org to help the industry stop the theft of reusable plastic trays

Lessons Learned from Stopping Organized Tray Theft

Baking industry companies spend more than $10 million annually in plastic tray replacement costs due to the theft.
Left unchecked, the tray replacement costs associated with these crimes can lead to decreased capital investment and more expensive products for the consumer. It is estimated that companies in the industry lose 30 percent of its reusable plastic trays and spend well over $10 million annually in replacement costs.
The loss of reusable plastic trays will result in many negative consequences and inefficiencies for the baking company. For example, raw materials will be wasted or disposed of; hourly labor will sit idle, the company consumes electricity, alternate one-way packaging will have to be procured, orders may be missed to customers. The cost of replacing any reusable plastic tray combined with the residual impact on everyday operations is high. Ultimately, this loss of reusable plastic trays will result in substantial lost revenue for the baking company.
ABA has produced impactful success on the state level in our pursuit to fight the harmful effects of tray loss through policymaking. In 2013, ABA successfully passed a law in Maryland and Texas in 2019.
In attempting to prevent this costly problem, one of the most significant barriers to progress is awareness of the issue. ABA recommends using our ABA Tray Theft Prevention Communication Toolkit to help you and your team quickly educate your employees and customers on this problem and how to solve it efficiently.
Legislators: Reusable Plastic Tray Theft (790.43 KB) | 790.43 KB |
Supervisors: What to know about tray theft (325.24 KB) | 325.24 KB |
Drivers: How to report tray theft (161.4 KB) | 161.4 KB |
Tray theft informational posters (936.31 KB) | 936.31 KB |
Template Letter to Retail Company/food service establishment on Tray Theft (21.61 KB) | 21.61 KB |
ABA created a virtual Members-only group on LinkedIn so Members can bring their collective minds together in search of solutions for a number of issues - including plastic tray theft. Please consider using this forum as a way to connect easily and quickly with others throughout the supply chain – to enable practical and timely actions to help solve very real issues we are all facing. Ask questions and get advice. Share instances of things that have worked well, and maybe ones that haven’t.
This group is Members only, no press. If you are an employee of an ABA Member in good standing, please request to join the group to get the conversation started.