The black and white squares resembling a tiny maze can be found on everything from airline tickets to billboards, but businesses are also using these digital barcodes to connect customers with the origins of what they eat and drink.

QR codes, or Quick Response codes, have been around since 1994 in Japan where they were developed by a Toyota subsidiary to track inventory. But the technology has only recently made headway in North America.

The codes can be used for everything from entering contests, receiving coupons, ordering food and linking to a website.

A Vancouver company, Ethical Bean Coffee, saw business boost by nearly 40 per cent since adorning their packages with the digital codes about a year ago.

"You can find out all about the co-ops, all about the farmers, their personal stories. You can find out who in our facility roasted the coffee as well as the cupping scores," company president Llloyd Bernhard told CTV News on Sunday.

Smartphone users can simply scan the code and be instantly updated with any information available displayed on their handheld device.

Even fisheries are adopting the technology.

One fishery in British Columbia uses the codes to let consumers know who caught their dinner by linking to a website.

By scanning the package of fish directly, the code takes customers to a page on their website that reveals where the fish came from and some personal information about the fisherman.

Marketing experts say that as the technology becomes more affordable consumers will see more QR codes used on everyday products.

"Technology has moved ahead, in your hand," Michael Grant, from Allegra Marketing, said. "If you now have a smartphone with all that power that allows you to look at the videos and it's just getting smarter and smarter and more powerful all the time."

With files from CTV's Sarah Galashan