MAKE SURE YOU GET THE
MOST OUT OF YOUR FOOD.
In the food and beverage business, identifying
and controlling your competitive edge is the
secret ingredient for success. At James & Wells,
we have an entire team dedicated to the cause.
We can help you own and leverage your innovative
brands and ideas, facilitate business opportunities
and ensure your labelling is compliant.
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Kong
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You’ve spent months working on the
formulation of a new food product
and have launched to market with
an edgy marketing campaign and
packaging that will surely stand out
on the supermarket shelf. Initial sales
are promising, and your social media
following is growing – feedback from
consumers is that they are loving the
product!
It is all going smoothly until... you
receive a ‘cease and desist’ claiming
you have infringed an existing
company’s intellectual property rights
in the product name. The Ministry of
Primary Industries then gets in touch
to point out that the description of
the product doesn’t comply with
the Food Standards Codes and an
allergen warning statement has been
omitted on the label. This leads to an
immediate recall of the product and
a steady stream of angry Facebook
followers who can no longer buy the
product.
These are just a few of the ways
businesses commonly fall foul of
food labelling laws and it is important
to be vigilant to avoid this, as it can
have a huge impact on the success
of the product and the reputation of
the company manufacturing it.
Food labels are one of, if not THE,
most important touch points for
a consumer in terms of providing
information about the product and
functionality. From a sales point
of view, branding is everything. A
lot of businesses overlook the fact
that good branding can be tied
into the formalities of the labelling
requirements under the Food
Standards Codes, and successful
products often do this in a clever
way.
As well as conveying key information
to ensure the health and safety of
the consumer, the product label
provides valuable information to the
growing number of consumers who
prioritise health and wellness. Novel
and sustainable ways of packaging
products can also give your business
a competitive edge, making it
important to protect this intellectual
property going forward.
As regulations continue to develop,
it is essential for manufacturers
to keep well informed of these
changes and update their labelling
accordingly. At James & Wells, has a
dedicated food and beverage team
which can provide this critical advice
early in the product development, as
well as ongoing assistance to help
ensure your product complies with
local laws and regulations.
The Pitfalls of
Food Labelling
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