From 1 January 2023, wines and spirits sold in Italy are obliged to inform consumers about the product’s packaging. Mandatory information will include packaging materials, recyclability, and nutritional information, including a list of ingredients. As a novelty, consumers will be able to access digital information via a single QR code on the packaging.
The QR code stems from a partnership between European e-label platform for wines and spirits U-Label, and Italy-based Giunko, an IT startup for circular economy and waste sorting, specialized in the development of cloud-based solutions.
Ulrich Adam, director general of SpiritsEUROPE, an organization that represents the EU spirits sector, including 11 leading multinational companies and which is a partner in U-Label, said: “EU digital labelling rules for wines and the Italian legislation on digital packaging information show that e-labels work and are here to stay.
“We call on the European Commission to allow and regulate digital labels for all food and drink products in the upcoming proposal for a regulation on food information to consumers.
“In addition, we call on EU member states to follow the Italian example and allow for the use of digital labelling solutions to provide product-specific packaging and recycling information to consumers.”
In June this year, Jameson Irish whiskey owner Pernod Ricard revealed its digital-label system, designed to improve the company’s transparency on product content and health information.
