Label Insight Offers Solution to Help Grocery Brands Participate in SmartLabel Initiative

Label Insight, a cloud-based product data engine, has launched SmartSPEC, a solution that helps grocery brands generate and maintain the product data required to participate in SmartLabel, a transparency initiative led by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI).

The goal of SmartLabel is to provide consumers with easy, instant access to detailed information about the grocery products they buy. Brands participating in SmartLabel are required to create a landing page for each product that features 52 required attributes, such as nutrients and allergens, and up to 197 voluntary attributes like "no GMO" and "no artificial preservatives." Consumers can access these pages by scanning QR codes on product packaging, visiting www.smartlabel.org or searching a brand's website.

Label Insight's SmartSPEC solution utilizes the company's proprietary technology to analyze food products for each of the required SmartLabel attributes and nearly all of the voluntary attributes, as well as provide data hosting and landing page creation services. The fully automated process shortens the time needed to implement SmartLabel, taking brands as little as a few days to complete.

"Consumers are demanding more transparency from the brands they use and consume," says Label Insight CEO and co-founder Anton Xavier. "Brands participating in SmartLabel have the opportunity to establish themselves as leaders in transparency and build consumer trust and loyalty. But many brands are unsure of where and how to start. Label Insight solves this challenge with an end-to-end solution that spans data generation and maintenance to landing page creation.

SmartSPEC draws on Label Insight's 15 years of product data attribution experience and the knowledge of its dietetics, food science, nutrition and technology experts. According to Label Insight officials, brands that license SmartSPEC will benefit from:

Fast and easy product submission. Brands can generate data for mandatory and voluntary attributes by simply dragging and dropping packaging images in the SmartSpec platform.

Automated attribute mapping. Label Insight's database of 15,000 attributes and 250,000 ingredient definitions enables automated mapping of all 52 required attributes and more than 90 percent of voluntary attributes in accordance with GS1 standards.

Built-in product verification. SmartSPEC allows brands to review and update their product data, ensuring consumers view accurate, quality information. 

QR code and landing page management. SmartSPEC generates and maintains QR codes and provides the URL for each landing page. The platform also builds and maintains landing pages according to SmartLabel specifications and with 99.9% uptime. 

"Label Insight is a proponent of SmartLabel because we believe transparency is the best way to help consumers make better buying decisions," says Xavier. "We're leaders in food data with more than 300,000 products currently live on our platform. All of them are ready for SmartLabel participation once the data is verified by a brand. By making the process as quick and simple as possible, we anticipate 100,000 products will participate in SmartLabel by the end of 2016."