The Portman Group industry watchdog today published the findings of an independent audit by management consultancy PIPC that found high levels of compliance with the code of practice.
PIPC collected a random sample of 485 drinks before assessing their packaging against the code. PIPC expressed concerns over the packaging of 32 brands.
Producers of these drinks will have four months to make design changes to address PIPC's concerns.
If they don't, the Portman Group's independent complaints panel, whose decisions can result in the removal of a drink from sale, will decide if their packaging does in fact breach the code.
Compliance by brand owners was high, although almost one-in-four alcoholic RTDs fell foul of the code, compared with 5% of spirits and 8% of beers and ciders.
All the wines sampled in the research passed the code of practice test with flying colours.
David Poley, Portman Group Chief Executive, said: “This independent audit has confirmed that most alcohol packaging is manifestly compliant with the code. It has, though, raised concerns about a number of drinks, including some well-known brands.
“Our code advisory service will give confidential advice to these drinks' producers who may alter their packaging or opt for an independent complaints panel decision,” he said. The identity of the 485 products examined by PIPC, their views on individual products' compliance, remedial action taken by companies and the decisions of the independent complaints panel will be published later this year.
Compliance – by product sector
The following proportions of the product sectors sampled were judged compliant by the evaluation Team:
• 95% of sampled spirits • 91.3% of sampled beers • 92.68% of sampled ciders • 77.14% of sampled RTDs • 100% of sampled wines
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