Consumers want product nutritional labelling

AB InBev has pledged to provide consumers with full ingredient and nutritional information for its beers. The information will be available per 100ml as well as per portion size and will cover energy values, fat, saturated fats, carbohydrates, sugars, proteins and salt (the Big 7).

The changes will begin this year and be in place on at least 80% of European volumes by the end of 2017 with full information on all AB InBev brands already available online via www.tapintoyourbeer.com.

The pledge follows results from a recent survey conducted by IPSOS Mori for AB InBev that revealed UK consumers have limited knowledge of calorie levels in beer, with less than one in five claiming to be aware of them. The survey showed that providing more information on beer would be beneficial for consumers with over a third of respondents saying they pay close attention to their daily calorie consumption (36%), and 35% actively look at the calorie information of their drinks. This figure rises to nearly 50% (48%) among 18-29yr olds – the largest percentage among millennials across Europe.

UK consumers identified packaging (67%), brand websites (54%) and other information available online (43%) as the most essential channels for communicating calorie levels, nutritional information and information about ingredients.

The research informs wider commitments made by AB InBev as part of Brewers of Europe (BoE), the organisation representing the entire European brewing sector, who have pledged to make product nutritional information more readily available to consumers. BoE have committed to providing full information on ingredients, energy and nutritional values per 100ml either on label and/or online.  AB InBev’s pledge goes above and beyond this minimum BoE commitment by providing:

• Full ingredient and energy information on primary packs
• Full ingredient and Big 7 nutrition information on non-returnable secondary packs
• Portion size info as well as the mandatory ‘per 100ml’
• A full list of ingredients, energy and other nutritional information online via Tapintoyourbeer.com

Anna Tolley, legal and crporate affairs director UK, says: “Consumers are getting savvier about their daily calorie consumption and are actively looking at nutritional information. While the EU continues to discuss the best way forward for nutritional labelling in our industry, we want to give consumers the information they need at their fingertips to make well informed choices and enjoy our products responsibly.”

AB InBev will be tracking and reporting on progress through independent audits.

15 January 2016 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor