Tobacco

TruAge Hires Jacksons Food Stores Veteran

Abernathy to be manager of retail and systems engagement for age-verification company
TruAge
Photograph courtesy of NACS

ALEXANDRIA, Va. —TruAge has hired Patrick Abernathy as its manager of retail and systems engagement.

Abernathy has more than 20 years of industry experience, most recently as director of IT for Jacksons Food Stores, a Meridian, Idaho-based convenience-store chain of about 240 stores. Previously he worked in the same role for Sapp Bros. Travel Centers.

TruAge also recently announced Kyle McKeen as the company’s CEO.

Alexandria, Va.-based NACS, the global trade association that represents the convenience and fuel retailing industry, and Conexxus, its standards-setting partner, developed TruAge. It is a universally accepted age-verification system that makes verifying an adult customer’s age when purchasing age-restricted products such as tobacco and alcohol, more accurate.

TruAge is free to retailers, consumers and point-of-sale (POS) providers, and its creators have placed relevant intellectual property in the public domain, which they say removes significant barriers to adoption. Several sponsors, including Altria Group Distribution Co., Reynolds American Inc., Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors Beverage Co., support TruAge.

TruAge launched in limited tests in late 2021. It will expand more pilot tests to California, Texas and Virginia before its national rollout, planned for later this year.

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