Background

The power of digital labelling

Published: 25/10/2022

As part of our #FoodFuture project we’re speaking to experts about how to best achieve more sustainable food systems. We spoke to Pernod Ricard’s Camille de Potter to understand more about the company’s work to inform consumers by new and innovative means.

Pernod Ricard is very proud to have recently joined FoodDrinkEurope earlier this month! We are delighted to collaborate on many common topics, including a shared common ambition: unlock the power of digital labelling to enhance consumers’ information.

Consumers nowadays both want and deserve transparent information about the products they buy and consume, and that information should be easy to access, to read and understand – whether it’s about nutrition facts, health information, geographic origin or the environmental footprint of the product.

Together with the European wine and spirits industry associations’ U-Label platform, Pernod Ricard has recently launched its own eLabel solution. Do you know the nutrition facts of our Jameson Whiskey? Do you know how to measure a standard drink? What are the low-risk drinking guidelines in your country? Our eLabel is the answer. Every bottle from Pernod Ricard’s brands will carry a QR code on its back label that, once scanned, will redirect the consumers to a platform where they will be able to access product information such as the ingredients and nutrition facts, as well as health and relevant responsible drinking information. 

Digital labelling has made that marriage of convenience and transparency a reality, as it empowers European businesses and consumers to play an active role in the green and digital transition. It is a “win-win-win” solution:

  • It empowers consumers to make more informed and sustainable choices, anytime, anywhere, and in their own language thanks to geolocalisation;
  • It upgrades the way organizations do business, through instant access to updated, borderless and tailored product information;
  • It strengthens Internal Market and makes goods available to all European consumers, without borders, with tailored information delivered in their own language.

I truly believe that European policies should strive towards more efficient and innovative solutions to inform European consumers, such as digital labelling. Europe should move up a gear and pave the way to real leadership on digital consumer information to ensure that we are not left behind.

If you want to know more, here is a snap of our recent event on digital labelling, that connected different EU sectors from the food & drink to cosmetics and detergents. We talked about digital labelling that should be embraced in a revision of EU consumer information policy, fully consistent with the EU’s pursuit of its digital transformation and in line with its Green Deal and broader new consumer agenda.