Kit Kat breaks into digital domain

Global food giant Nestlé has announced a global plan to place quick response (QR) codes on all its packaging to give consumers information about the nutritional profile and environmental and social impacts of its products.

The move comes soon after fast food giant McDonald's also announced it was going to use QR codes on packaging in its restaurants around the world.

Consumers in the United Kingdom will be the first to benefit from Nestlé's global initiative, with purchasers of multi-packs of the company's two-finger Kit Kat chocolate bars in the UK and Ireland being able to use the codes to find out more about the product by scanning the packaging with a smartphone.

Nestlé plans to roll out the QR codes across its product portfolio in both emerging and developed markets to help people make more informed choices about what to purchase or consume.

“We hope that consumers, wherever they are in the world, will use these QR codes to learn more about our products,” Nestlé’s head of strategic business units, marketing and sales, Patrice Bula, said.

“We have a wealth of information about the nutritional value and the environmental and social impacts of what we produce, and it makes sense to share that with consumers.”

Seven years ago, Nestlé became the first company to introduce a “nutritional compass” on its packaging, designed to be an informative guide to help consumers choose between products.

The majority of the QR codes will appear on packs on a space within the Nestlé nutritional compass, which is already present on 97 per cent of the company's products worldwide.