Morrisons First Retailer to Sign Responsible Can Packaging Deal

31 Jul 2014 --- Morrisons is the first UK retailer to sign the Responsible Can Packaging Pledge, meaning it will not produce or sell any carbonated product with more than four units of alcohol in a single-serve can.

The Responsible Can Packaging Pledge forms part of the Department of Health’s Responsibility Deal, which aims to engage manufacturers and retailers to remove one billion units of alcohol sold annually from the market.

To sign up to the Responsible Can Packaging Pledge, Morrisons conducted a review of the alcohol content and container sizes of all alcohol products in its portfolio. It had already banned the sale of products with an excess of four units in a single serve can, months before the Responsible Can Packaging Deal’s December 2014 deadline.

Martyn Jones, Group Corporate Services Director said: “We wanted to set the retail standard for responsible single-serve can packaging. We have been monitoring our range for some time and have already removed all single serve cans with more than four units from stores. Having already taken this bold step, we felt confident in signing up to the new Responsible Can Packaging Pledge almost immediately.

“We hope that signing up to the pledge will help support the government in reducing the incidence of alcohol related abuse in the UK. We now need other retailers to join us to make this as effective as possible.”

Morrisons’ alcohol policy aims to ensure that customers have the information they need to drink responsibly. The retailer places emphasis on combining alcohol with food and ensures that clear information is displayed on labels. Morrisons also provides a good choice of low alcohol options and does not stock products which could unduly appeal to people under the age of 18. The company also has an industry leading performance on under-age sale audits from their audit partners, Serve Legal.