A container for a foodstuff or beverage preparation machine, the container for containing beverage or foodstuff preparation material and comprising a code encoding preparation information, the code comprising: a data sequence having a plurality of marker locations, whereby said marker locations either comprise or do not comprise a marker as a variable to at least partially encode the preparation information therein, with adjacent marker locations separated by a distance of Δx; at least one locator marker to enable location of the data sequence of the code, the locator marker having a read distance X2, which is distinct from a read distance X1 of the data markers to enable a locator marker to be identified.