On 1 December 2021, the U-label platform which was presented to Brussels’ media at the end of September 2021, will be accessible to all spirits and wine producers wanting to take a subscription to provide online information about their products. U-LABEL is a consumer-friendly e-label platform that will enable consumers across Europe to access - via QR codes - information about the wine and spirits products they purchase, in their own language. U-LABEL, completely funded by private means, is an innovative consumer interface platform made possible by a unique collaboration between CEEV and spiritsEUROPE.
The platform responds to consumers’ demands for more information about the products they purchase in an effective, efficient and convenient way: by simply scanning the QR-code applied on label, consumers receive information on e.g. the nutrients, ingredients and sustainability of the products they consume.
Empowering consumers to make well informed, sustainable food choices across product categoeries, including alcoholic beverages, is one of the key objectives of the European Commission. At the U-label launch event, Claire Bury, the Deputy Director General in DG SANTE at the European Commission invited us all to work together towards a new and harmonised frame for the labelling of all alcoholic beverages.
The platform allows any wine or spirit company, small or large, to give EU consumers relevant, standardised and detailed product information – such as list of ingredients, nutrition information, responsible drinking guidelines and information about sustainability.
Today’s consumers expect more transparency on the products they consume, and digital labelling can respond to this demand by boosting the information that companies share with their consumers, without changing the appearance of the packaging. Information can be updated without label changes – thus, with no waste of time or resources.
On 23 November 2021 - for the first time ever in the food sector - the Common Agricultural Policy legal framework will authorise wines to communicate mandatory information through e-labels. The U-LABEL platform will offer all wine and spirits companies an affordable turnkey solution to embark on this digital journey.
spiritsEUROPE already committed to providing energy information on label and ingredient information online in its 2019 Memorandum of Understanding on Consumer Information; and spirits producers are meeting the targets set. Following the vote yesterday in the European Parliament, we call on the EU institutions to adopt similar approach for digital consumer information on spirit drinks. If - as already mentioned by DG SANTE - the objective is to create an aligned, harmonised labelling approach for ALL alcoholic beverages, yesterday's approach on wine would seem to be the approach to follow. Key is to compliment on-pack information, not to substitute information.
