The next big battleground in consumer goods may not be pricing, advertising or even product innovation. It may be information.
In the US, beverage giants Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Keurig Dr Pepper and Red Bull are rolling out QR codes on packaging that allow consumers to access detailed information about ingredients with a simple scan.
At first glance, it looks like a minor packaging update. In reality, it reflects a much larger shift in how brands communicate with increasingly health-conscious consumers. For India, where QR codes have already transformed digital payments, the move raises an important question: could product transparency be the next frontier?
Labels Meet Digital Era
For decades, food labels have operated under a simple constraint. There is only so much information that can fit on a bottle, can or packet.
Ingredient lists are often squeezed into tiny spaces. Nutritional information is limited by packaging real estate. Consumers looking for more context usually have to search online themselves.
The US beverage industry’s latest initiative attempts to bridge that gap. By scanning a QR code, consumers can access information about ingredients, their purpose and safety assessments. The initiative is linked to GoodToKnowFacts.org, a platform that contains information on more than 140 beverage ingredients.
The move comes at a time when consumers are paying closer attention to what goes into the products they consume. According to survey data cited in reports on the initiative, six in ten consumers consider ingredients when choosing beverages.
Reports shows that roughly one-quarter of Americans use nutrition apps, while 63% of those users trust information from those apps as much as information provided directly by brands.
The message is clear: transparency is no longer optional. Consumers increasingly expect it.
Trust Is The Prize
The significance of QR-enabled packaging goes beyond ingredient disclosure.
Brands today operate in an environment where conversations about sugar, sweeteners, preservatives and ultra-processed foods unfold daily on social media. Information travels faster than ever, but so does misinformation.
For FMCG companies, QR codes offer a way to speak directly to consumers rather than relying solely on retailers, media reports or third-party platforms to shape perceptions.
That does not mean every consumer will agree with a company’s ingredient choices. But greater transparency allows brands to explain rather than simply disclose.
In many ways, the initiative is less about technology and more about trust.
India’s QR Advantage
If QR-enabled transparency becomes a larger global trend, India enters the conversation with a unique advantage.
Unlike many countries where consumers still need to be educated about QR codes, Indians interact with them daily through digital payments.
According to RBI data reported by Business Standard, UPI processed 185.8 billion transactions in FY25, up 41.7% from 131.1 billion transactions in FY24. UPI also accounted for 83.4% of the country’s payments ecosystem volume in FY25.
Those numbers highlight an important reality. Scanning a QR code has become second nature for millions of Indians.
That familiarity could lower the barrier for FMCG companies seeking to use QR codes for product information, ingredient disclosures, sustainability data or supply chain traceability.
The challenge would not be getting consumers to scan. It would be giving them a compelling reason to do so.
Regulatory Signals Emerging
India may not have an industry-wide beverage initiative comparable to the one being rolled out in the US, but regulators have already begun exploring how QR codes can improve consumer access to information.
In October 2023, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) advised food businesses to use QR codes on labels to improve accessibility for visually impaired consumers. The guidance encouraged companies to provide details such as ingredient lists, nutritional information, allergen declarations, manufacturing dates and expiry dates through QR-enabled systems.
While the initiative was framed around accessibility, its implications extend much further.
Digital labels can provide significantly more information than physical packaging. They can also be updated more easily, making them a potentially powerful tool for consumer education and compliance.
That does not mean India is on the verge of a mandatory QR-code labeling regime. But it does suggest that regulators are increasingly comfortable with the idea of digital information layers sitting alongside traditional labels.
Packaging Becomes Media
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the QR code movement is what it means for packaging itself.
Traditionally, packaging served three purposes: protection, branding and compliance. Digital technology is adding a fourth function: engagement.
A QR code can direct consumers to ingredient explanations, sustainability commitments, recycling information, loyalty programmes, recipes or sourcing stories. Every scan creates a direct interaction between brand and consumer.
For FMCG companies, that matters because packaging is often the one marketing asset every customer encounters. Unlike an advertisement that can be skipped or ignored, the product pack is already in the consumer’s hand.
In effect, packaging is evolving from a static surface into a dynamic communication platform.
Future Of FMCG Labels
The US beverage industry’s QR code initiative should not be viewed as a story about barcodes. It is a story about the future of information.
Consumers increasingly want to know what products contain, where ingredients come from and why certain formulations exist. Traditional labels struggle to answer those questions comprehensively. Digital labels can.
India is not yet following the same path as the US beverage sector. But the ingredients for such a shift are already visible: widespread QR adoption, growing health awareness, rising demand for transparency and early regulatory support for digital information systems.
Whether FMCG companies embrace that opportunity remains to be seen.
What is becoming increasingly clear, however, is that the next evolution of packaging may not be about what appears on the label. It may be about what appears after the scan.
