Can calls for food transparency be answered digitally?
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the monthly e-zine, CPGmatters.
With consumers demanding more transparency, the SmartLabel initiative, launched in late 2015 by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), is gaining momentum.
SmartLabels provide information via apps and QR codes on packages that is found on the product’s physical labels, such as nutrition facts and ingredients. The initiative also provides extra information such as third-party certifications for ingredient standards, product advisories and use instructions as well as links to brand information.
With leaders such as Unilever and Mondelez showing the way, 26 companies have begun fielding digital SmartLabels on packages of nearly 190 of their brands as constituted by nearly 5,150 products, according to GMA.
The services of Label Insight, the initiative’s technology provider, offer glimpses of where SmartLabel is evolving. For its clients, Label Insight takes the information contained on the physical package of the product and transforms it into a data set of facts about the SKU that may be 10 times larger. This information includes plain-language definitions of 250,000 CPG ingredients, for instance.
“If you take an ingredient like tartrazine, it doesn’t mean much to the average consumer, and it doesn’t mean much on a package or even a SmartLabel page,” Patrick Moorhead, chief marketing officer of Label Insight, told CPGmatters. “But we’ve built out our definitions for tartrazine that say what it is, what it is made of, what are its purposes in a product, what are some other ways it can be referenced as an ingredient — it’s a yellow coloring agent. And our clients are able to use that information to adapt the way their SmartLabel page gets executed.”
Label Insight also helps clients such as Unilever “matrix” all the information on a package to “uncover implicit things about products” that brands may want to address. For instance, frozen waffles might include high-fructose corn syrup, which implies that the product should provide an allergen and sulfites warning.
SmartLabels aren’t yet being promoted in stores, though Mondelez is partnering with other brand activation to drive awareness during in-store sampling events. GMA predicts more than 80 percent of CPG products will be using SmartLabel by 2021.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you see digital tools such as SmartLabel playing a major role in addressing demands for more transparency for food ingredients? Will many consumers use tools like SmartLabel?
Adrian WeidmannManaging Director, StoreStream Metrics, LLC
Adrian WeidmannManaging Director, StoreStream Metrics, LLC
Dan RafteryPresident, Raftery Resource Network Inc.
Dan RafteryPresident, Raftery Resource Network Inc.
Adrian WeidmannManaging Director, StoreStream Metrics, LLC
Adrian WeidmannManaging Director, StoreStream Metrics, LLC
Dan RafteryPresident, Raftery Resource Network Inc.
Dan RafteryPresident, Raftery Resource Network Inc.
Take Our Instant Poll
Loading ...
Join the Discussion!
14 Comments on "Can calls for food transparency be answered digitally?"
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Founder, CEO & Author, HeadCount Corporation
Yes, digital tools like SmartLabel will play an increasingly important role in food marketing/retailing. Consumers have never been more informed or likely as concerned about food safety as they are today. Providing more information is good for consumers and it’s also good for food retailers and suppliers. However, given that margins for food retailers are already so tight, the challenge will be the cost of acquiring and implementing the technology. All that said, it will happen — one way or another.
President, b2b Solutions, LLC
SmartLabel provides a way to communicate information to the interested consumer without having to have a label that dominates the package or using a font so small that no one can read it. Will people use it? The answer is yes, but my expectation is that the portion of the population that does will be relatively small. However, those who do want this information will find this to be of great value in their purchase decision making.
Managing Director, StoreStream Metrics, LLC
Digital tools like SmartLabel will certainly play a vital role in communication and transparency for food ingredients and sources. Brands should embrace these as opportunities to begin and nurture a direct and ongoing dialog with their customers. There are a number of digital tools that will allow brands to reach their shoppers’ mobile device and publish video brand stories. E.g., here is the farmer and his family from whom we purchase our eggs. The ability to humanize the shopping process provides an emotional link to the retailer and/or the brand. It also extends the sense of community. The broader foodservice industry (fast casual, QSR) should leverage the same strategy.
Strategy Architect – Digital Place-based Media
Profiling the positive elements of a product can balance the downside of product use and contribute significantly to brand alignment. So many media factors are stacking up against product or brand benefits such as marketplace reports, social media and even documentary firms. The ability to present features and benefits in a manner most easily engaged or ingested by consumers is essential to consumer acceptance and conversion. In-store dynamic display, including category and shelf display enables this low-cost, high impact messaging.
Strategy Architect – Digital Place-based Media
Nutritional and source information is becoming a groundswell of consumer interest and focus. The drive to a personal device is no surprise but the greater value is in presentation that requires no interface, that is, when information and promotion (i.e., the use of graphics, text and numbers to present benefits) is displayed at the point of selection. This science has been advanced in digital menu boards in quick serve restaurants where calories are displayed with equal prominence to product price. Information can deter consumer selection so profiling the positives is the critical success factor.
Principal, Your Retail Authority, LLC
One of the great things about this era we live in has been transparency. Information is at our fingertips and smart brands know they must be transparent. So will smart labels play a role? You betcha. As Mark said, it is good for the retailers and it is good for the consumer.
For my 2 cents.
President, Raftery Resource Network Inc.
SmartLabel is a great way for consumers who want to learn more about product ingredients to easily tap into a database dedicated to this purpose. And the all-important package graphics do not need to be compromised much. This should make everyone happy.
Strategy Architect – Digital Place-based Media
Transparency is a double-edged sword and when wielded with technology, marketers had better up their promotional game in most cases. As a consumer, information is more often a reason not to buy and so promotion has to be taken to new levels by brands using transparency tools and complying with regulations. Transparency can be a lethal Kool-Aid for brands and consumer selection.
Global Retail & CPG Sales Strategist, IBM
I think these tools can be extremely useful for consumers. As CPG brands create more awareness in the marketplace of the availability of this information, I believe consumers will embrace this capability.
Principal, The Feedback Group
Honestly, this is a no brainer. While the percentage of customers interested in the information may vary by product or category, consumers are demanding more transparency and information about the food they are eating. This is an easy way to provide it digitally with minimal impact to the product packaging.
Managing Partner Cambridge Retail Advisors
Retail Transformation Thought Leader, Advisor, & Strategist
More and more consumers crave detailed information on the food products they buy and this initiative is a great way to deliver that information. That said, we shouldn’t have the expectation that we’ll soon see waves of shoppers at the grocery store constantly scanning every product code on every item seeking this out. Those that want it will tolerate an app type of interface to get it, but I wouldn’t expect the majority of shoppers to do this. Microsoft and others recently showcased a concept for the supermarket of the future that made great use of advanced digital signage coupled with motion sensors and kinect-like cameras to present shoppers with similar info merely by detecting their interest in the item. This approach is more seamless and has no interface required — a big step forward. How this plays out will be very interesting to see!
Director of Marketing, Wiser Solutions, Inc.
Providing consumers with nutritional information in layman’s terms addresses the need for more transparency for food ingredients. It doesn’t allow them to hide behind technical details and gives the average person a good idea as to what they’re actually consuming, provided they care enough to look it up. I believe a digital tool like SmartLabel provides the additional information demanded by some without inconveniencing those who don’t care.
CEO
Shoppers today are able to access more information 24/7 than ever before in history. Human nature is the same as it always has been — people want more information. This technology simply makes it easier for the shopper to access the information they want versus researching through other environments. Shoppers will appreciate the transparency of the manufacturer, and more importantly, the convenience the manufacturer provides by utilizing this technology. Any time the shopper is aided in convenience, manufacturers and retailers win in shopper loyalty and sales. Shopper expectation of information is inevitable today and going forward, manufacturers that increase the speed and accessibility of information for shoppers for each item will be rewarded.