Mapping Fresh Produce

Information about mapping WIC-allowed fresh produce items for vendors.

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Produce Mapping
Produce Mapping Is Necessary
Who Completes Mapping for a Store?
Mapping Appropriate Foods
Mapping Help
APL and PLUs

Produce Mapping

Produce Mapping is a functionality of your integrated Point of Sale (POS) software that allows you to link a UPC to a PLU listed in the MN WIC Approved Product List (APL). Minnesota WIC requires “full” or “one-to-one” mapping, which means that a fresh produce item with a UPC must be mapped to a PLU for the same kind of item. For example, a bag of oranges with a UPC would be mapped to a PLU for bulk oranges.

For more information about mapping, please review the Produce Mapping module or the Mapping of WIC Allowed Produce Items (PDF).

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Produce Mapping Is Necessary

There are several reasons why it’s necessary to map WIC allowed UPC’d produce to a “like” PLU. First, it’s very difficult for MN WIC to keep track of all the different produce UPCs, so retailers can make sure that all WIC allowed produce can be purchased with a WIC card by mapping the UPCs. Additionally, it can take 2-3 days for any new UPC to be added to the APL, which might be too slow for some seasonal items. Retailers can allow a produce item for sale much faster if they map the UPC. Lastly, some of these UPCs are regional or retailer-generated, and cannot be added to the APL.

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Who Completes Mapping for a Store?

In corporately owned stores, the mapping may be completed at the corporate office. In independent or decentralized stores, mapping is typically completed at store level.

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Mapping Appropriate Foods

All fresh, plain, fruits and vegetables with UPCs must be mapped. This includes items that are cut up by the store or a commissary, but it also includes more commonly available brand name packaged items like a bag of Bolthouse Farms baby carrots. It is not necessary to map varieties of items to a specific PLU. For example, a bag of Honeycrisp apples, just needs to be mapped to a PLU for apples; it’s not necessary to map to the PLU for bulk Honeycrisp apples.

Frozen fruits and vegetables and other types of WIC foods must not be mapped.

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Mapping Help

Your POS provider, such as RDS, North Country, or FTS Solutions is responsible for providing instructions on produce mapping. The MN WIC staff can tell you if an item needs to be mapped, but are not equipped to help with the process.

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APL and PLUs

You can download the APL file. There is a tab that includes the fresh fruit and vegetable PLUs: MN WIC APL (Approved Product Listing) (EXCEL)

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