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Tennent’s first to include calorie info
Tennent’s Lager is to become the first alcoholic product in the UK and Ireland to display calorie information on its packaging.
Tom McCusker, managing director of C&C Gleeson
From March this year, shoppers will be able to see the calorific content on cans and bottles of Tennent’s lager.
Tom McCusker, managing director of C&C Gleeson explained: “There is increasing interest amongst consumers around the nutritional content of the food and drink that they consume. We feel that it is a natural next step to include calorie information on our cans and bottles to sit alongside the responsible drinking messaging and number of alcohol units already displayed.
“Calorie content is an easily understandable way to help people make better choices about what and how much they consume. They can see this information on the foods they eat, we therefore believe that the packaging of our beer and cider brands should carry these details too.”
With changes to Tennent’s packaging coming into effect in March, C&C Gleeson will become the first producer in the UK and Ireland to physically implement changes, but are not the first to announce plans for calorie labelling. Last month AB InBev UK pledged to include full nutritional and calorie information on 80% of its beer packaging by the end of 2017.
Moves by companies to include such information follow calls by Members of the European Parliament last year to introduce compulsory calorie labelling on alcoholic drinks. MEPs voted in April last year in favour a new law that would compel all drinks producers to include the calorie content of products on labels.
Outside of Europe, Diageo confirmed plans to introduce calorie labelling on all of its products worldwide – the first alcohol company to make such a pledge – in March of last year. While no time frame was given, the producer said it would be providing full nutritional information through its responsible drinking website DRINKiQ.com, and on pack “as soon as practicable.”
Meanwhile in December last year Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) became the first major wine producer to commit to including calorie information on all of its products. TWE said calorie information on its wines sold in Europe would be introduced following the 2016 vintage, with other regions including the Americas, Asia, and Australia & New Zealand to follow.
Tennent’s is part of C&C Gleeson, which is part of the C&C Group plc, which manufactures brands including Bulmers Cider and Magner’s Cider. The C&C Group has said it will be rolling out nutritional information across its portfolio over the next 12 months.