Empowering responsible drinking with digital solutions
Today’s consumers want instant access to information about the products they are purchasing. Building an authentic relationship with them relies on providing this information in a relevant and transparent way. To meet their expectations, every bottle produced by a Pernod Ricard brand will soon feature an innovative eLabel to help consumers make informed and responsible choices.
A long history of encouraging responsible drinking
Our digital label solution will better inform consumers about all the alcoholic products in our portfolio, ranging from product content to health information and guidance on responsible drinking. The eLabel was tested as a pilot in FY22 on Strategic International Brands such as Absolut, Jameson and Ricard in Europe. It will be rolled out globally across all brands by 2024.
This pioneering initiative builds on our long-standing commitment to promoting both product transparency and responsible drinking. In 2006, Pernod Ricard was the first company in the sector to add the icon advising pregnant women not to drink alcohol to its labels in European countries, later extending this measure worldwide. In 2014, the Group created Wise Drinking, the first free global app providing real-time checks on the amount of alcohol consumed and tailored to each country’s legislation. And in 2021, together with the rest of the industry, Pernod Ricard announced the addition of two further pictograms on its packaging to prevent underage drinking and drunk driving.
Enabling an educated choice
Together with the U-label platform, an online tool launched by European wine and spirits industry associations to share ingredients and nutritional information with consumers, the new eLabel takes our commitments to responsible conviviality a step further. Consumers can simply scan the QR code on a bottle’s label to be taken directly to a geo-localised online platform that gives a full list of ingredients, nutrition facts, and the ABV. It also includes information about alcohol-related health risks and specific drinking guidelines issued by the country’s authorities, such as the definition of a standard unit and how much of the product corresponds to this measurement. All content is relevant to the local market and displayed in the local language with an English translation always available.
Pernod Ricard has always believed that it has a role to play in helping people enjoy alcohol responsibly. But evolving consumer needs and behaviours, legal frameworks, the diversity of mandatory information, multiple language requirements and space constraints have made it increasingly challenging to keep consumers informed through conventional labelling. Whereas a physical label is only able to provide minimal information, a digital solution is comprehensive, easy to read and can be updated instantaneously. Our eLabel tool is the latest to empower our customers to make informed choices and practice responsible conviviality.