You may have seen Kiwi celebrities on the telly encouraging consumers to take a closer look at what is in their beers – courtesy of a new initiative from the Brewers Association of New Zealand. Executive director Dylan Firth says around 250 million bottles and cans have been involved so far.
The ground-breaking ad campaign that aims to bust myths and share facts about beer to help educate Kiwi consumers about what they are drinking is fronted by beloved Kiwi actors Robbie Magasiva and Antonia Prebble, world champion rower Eric Murray and Wellington-based soul singer/songwriter Hollie Smith. The campaign highlights the introduction of nutrition information panels on many of the Brewers’ Association members’ beers. The nutrition information panels carry information on sugar, calories, dietary fibre, protein and carbohydrate content. The ad campaign is part of a major initiative called ‘Beer the Beautiful Truth’, which launched last year. The initiative has seen Brewers Association members Lion and DB Breweries add nutrition information panels to the back of approximately 250 million bottles and cans to date. All products will continue to carry standard drinks labelling. It has been a great summer for beer thanks to unseasonably warm weather, and people may be happy to know that most of the beer they are drinking is actually 99% sugar free and preservative free.Research has shown that there are a number of misperceptions about what is in beer, particularly around sugar content and preservatives. This campaign is about providing people with nutritional information so they can make informed decisions about what they drink. We know that New Zealanders consume an average of 37 teaspoons of added sugar every day (six times the recommended amount). With this in mind, we think it is important that consumers who are choosing to have a beer are armed with the information they need to make informed choices. The beautiful truth is – beer is not what people might think. As part of the campaign, all the nutritional information included on participating beers will also be available on the website beerthebeautifultruth.co.nz
