Beer, wine and spirits to carry on-pack age restrictions as new drive targets underage drinking

29 Jan 2020 --- Symbols or written age restrictions will be added to labels on alcoholic beverages produced by members of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), in a bid to tackle underage drinking. The initiative – which also applies to alcohol-free extensions of alcohol brands – is one of five clear and direct actions announced by IARD as part of a new drive to accelerate efforts to reduce underage drinking globally.

These symbols will send a clear message that these products are not for minors, stresses the alliance, and form part of an on-going campaign to make underage drinking socially unacceptable. This is underway now, where legally permissible, with compliance across all markets by 2024, notes the IARD.

Members of the alliance include some of the biggest names in alcohol including ABInBev, Asahi, Bacardi, Carlsberg Group, Diageo, Heininken, Pernod Ricard and Kirin.

Recognizing the growing importance of digital communications, IARD members are committed to taking further action to prevent minors from seeing or interacting with alcoholic beverage brands online – building on a partnership with digital platforms announced last year. The IARD members also invited online retailers and others to work with them to develop global standards for the online sale and delivery of alcohol.

The alliance also urges parents not to share alcohol with children as they call on all parts of society to come together to eliminate underage drinking.

“Our actions mark another step toward our goal of eliminating underage drinking,” says Albert Baladi, President and CEO of Beam Suntory and IARD CEO Chair. “Minors should not drink alcohol and we proactively support strict enforcement of legal purchase and drinking age regulation. Although underage drinking has fallen in many parts of the world, this trend is not universal. We want to accelerate progress and work with others to eliminate underage drinking in every community through a whole-of-society approach,” he notes. 

“We call on other producers to join us. We call on retailers to work with us to do more to prevent minors from buying alcohol in stores and online. And we call on parents and other adults to support us by not buying alcohol for – or sharing alcohol with – children and minors, even if they do this with good intentions. Together, we must ensure everyone reinforces the message that underage drinking is socially unacceptable,” Baladi notes. 

Although underage drinking is somewhat an issue globally, alcohol reduction has become a key platform in the “balancing act” trend that the food and beverage industry has been addressing for several years. Generally, consumers are looking for ways to eat and drink more healthily and “light,” yet still enjoy what they love. A recent Innova Market Insights survey (US, UK, France, Germany, China and Brazil) revealed that one in four consumers have cut down on their alcohol consumption in recent years. Offering solutions that are lower in alcohol but still full of flavor and experience was on-trend throughout 2019 and is expected to extend into 2020.

Edited by Elizabeth Green