The world’s biggest beer maker will begin changes this year with the aim of providing the information on at least 80% of its European beer volumes by the end of 2017.
Both nutrition and full ingredient information will be available both per 100ml and portion sizes, including ‘the Big 7’: energy values, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, proteins and salt. This information is already available online across AB InBev’s entire beer portfolio via www.tapintoyourbeer.com.
A recent survey conducted by IPSOS Mori for AB InBev revealed that UK consumers have limited knowledge of calorie levels in beer with less than one in five claiming to be aware of them.
However, over a third of the survey’s respondents (36%) said they paid close attention to their daily calorie consumption, rising to almost half (48%) among 18 to 29-year-olds – the largest percentage among millennials anywhere in 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.
Anna Tolley, AB InBev legal and corporate affairs director UK, said: “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 to make well informed choices and enjoy our products responsibly.
“With customers paying closer attention to their calorie intake and being more mindful of nutritional information, we hope tools like tapintoyourbeer and product packaging will be increasingly useful for the on-trade – especially bar staff – giving them information at their fingertips to answer customer questions on ingredients and nutritional value.”
The brand’s pledge aims to support this growing trend, while falling in line with wider commitments made by members of Brewers of Europe (BoE) to provide full information on ingredients, energy and nutritional values per 100ml either on the label or online.
Hot on the heels of the Local Government Association’s call for calorie labelling on alcoholic drinks to combat obesity, the news will leave some beer drinkers cold and others on the fence.
One thing for certain is the labelling issue won’t go away any time soon.