QR codes are now printed on Nestlé products

Nestle QR codes mobile health

The massive food manufacturer is now adding quick response codes to its packaging.

Nestlé has now joined the growing number of major food manufacturers that have recognized that the space available on product packaging is exceptionally limited, and that by adding scannable QR codes, they will be able to share a nearly limitless amount of information with consumers, including everything from extended nutritional data to promotions.

These quick response codes are being used to allow smartphone owners to scan using free reader apps.

The QR codes that have been added by Nestlé can be used by consumers to learn more about the nutrition contained within the product, as well as to discover additional facts about the lifecycle of that product. This information is instantly and easily accessible through these barcodes. The initiative is being called “Beyond the Label” and it is a growing trend among many different product manufacturers.

The first of the QR codes was added to the highly popular Kit Kat chocolate bar, on its U.K. package.

Nestle QR codesWhen these QRcodes are scanned, they direct the smartphone user to a website that provides more information about the raw materials used to make the Kit Kat bar, as well as the manufacturing process, the product packaging, and even its distribution. For example, while on the package itself, a consumer can see the ingredients list, among which the top two are cocoa and sugar, the barcode reveals a great deal more.

When scanned, the user is brought to a website where he or she can discover that the cocoa and sugar used in the Kit Kat bar are from fair trade certified farms. It also reveals the story from 2012 in which Nestlé provided more than twenty thousand farmers with training for sustainable practices in farming cocoa.

The website accessed through the QR codes goes on to show that the milk in the U.K. version of the Kit Kat product is sourced from the United Kingdom, and that the company has been working closely with the country’s dairy farmers in order to come up with ways in which they can decrease their impact on the environment, providing the example that since 2011, they have managed to achieve a 6 percent reduction in the greenhouse gasses produced by these farms.

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