Diageo announces new labelling standards
It’s the first drinks company on the Irish market to bring this labelling to consumers, with Smithwick’s the first brand to display the new labels.
These provide consumers with full alcohol content and nutritional information including calories content, grams of alcohol per serve and warnings on drink-driving and consuming alcohol during pregnancy.
The labelling forms part of the new Diageo Consumer Information Standards being rolled out on all its products.
Diageo developed its DCIS based on in-depth research of over 1,500 consumers around the world to ensure label designs reflected the way consumers want to receive – and can understand – information on alcohol content.
Diageo has made a global commitment to provide locally-accurate additional consumer information on its labels in all the markets in which it operates, making it the first global alcohol company to offer such information. Global Diageo brands like Johnnie Walker are also set to display the new label by the end of 2016.
Diageo Ireland said it hopes to see the new labelling standards across the Guinness range in early 2017.
“Diageo Ireland is implementing this new labelling standard to provide consumers with clear information about what’s in their glass,” said Oliver Loomes, Country Director, Diageo Ireland, “This information comes as part of our commitment to providing the best possible information for consumers, empowering them to make informed choices about what they drink. We want to provide consumers with the tools to make positive choices and this initiative is part of that ongoing process”.
Andrew Doyle, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said, “I’m particularly pleased that Smithwicks, a brand rooted in Irish heritage, will become one of the first beer brands in the world to provide this information on its cans and bottles”.
Bord Bia’s Chief Executive Aidan Cotter added, “As a flagship member of Origin Green, this latest demonstration of its commitment to responsible communication goes beyond current legal requirements and illustrates the company’s determination to deliver on its social responsibility commitments”.