Over the past 10 years, consumers have become familiar with the Be treatwise® logo that has increasingly been featured on confectionery packaging. It has been updated, so a revised style of Be treatwise® logo is appearing on local retailers’ shelves right across Australia. See the revised and original graphics below.
Be treatwise® is an acknowledged information initiative for consumers, which may be complemented with the Health Star Rating (HSR) System.
As an alternative to the HSR System, the confectionery industry may choose to use the food industry’s voluntary Daily Intake Guide.
Be treatwise® is part of the industry’s commitment to inform consumers on the role of confectionery, to be mindful of the energy content in the treats they choose for themselves and their family.
Be treatwise® is a voluntary and proactive commitment from the Australian confectionery industry to help address concerns about nutrition awareness and impact of over consumption on people’s health and wellbeing. The confectionery industry is confident Be treatwise® helps to influence consumer behaviour and consumption of products.
The Ai Group and the Confectionery Trust believe that self-regulation and taking responsible steps through participating in programs such as this, with the Health Star Rating (HSR) System or the Daily Intake Guide, will benefit the consumer.
Confectionery is a recognised treat and by working with a wide range of stakeholders the industry will encourage innovation and respond to community needs.
Industry recognises that it needs to be engaged in encouraging healthy lifestyles and healthy diets in Australia and ensuring consumers are aware of the role of different foods and beverages.
The Ai Group and the Confectionery Trust encourages the confectionery industry to support Be treatwise®.
The HSR system was developed through a collaborative process involving governments, industry, public health organisations and consumer groups; and has been endorsed by the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation. An initial review of the progress of implementation was schedule at two years with a full review at five years.
The HSR System is designed to educate consumers about the nutritional value of food they consume, while Be treatwise® helps to explain the place that confectionery has, as a treat food, that can be enjoyed as a part of a balanced diet and active lifestyle.
The HSR System may be used in addition to and complements Be treatwise®. Alternatively, the voluntary food industry Daily Intake Guide (DIG) may be used alongside Be treatwise® and/or with the HSR System.
The number of stars a product receives is determined by a calculator that scores the overall nutritional profile. The calculator was developed in consultation with Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and other technical and nutrition experts and takes into account the energy, saturated fat, sugars, sodium, protein, dietary fibre, fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content of a food.
To date over 4000 products from over 90 companies displaying the HSR are available in stores in Australia, and this number is growing every week.
It was agreed during the development of the HSR System that the confectionery industry has the option to use the full range of the HSR System hierarchy, or use the energy icon alone, co-existing with the industry’s voluntary responsible consumption message – Be treatwise®.
Full details on the HSR System are available here. User guides for all three of the above systems (Be treatwise®, HSR System and Daily Intake Guide) are available as reference tools for industry:
Be treatwise® helps to explain the place that confectionery has, as a treat food, which can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet and active lifestyle.
The Be treatwise® logo on the front of confectionery packs encourages people to ‘Enjoy a balanced diet’ and to be mindful of the energy content in the product they consume.
Be treatwise® complements the mandatory nutrition information panel (NIP) on the back of confectionery packages. NIPs on all types of food packaging are comprehensive and give information on serving size as well as additional nutrition information, and in some cases, optional percentage daily intakes (%DIs).
Independent research indicates that Be treatwise® has become an effective way of reminding consumers of confectionery’s role as a treat food. In partnership with the rest of the food industry, the confectionery industry is committed to ensuring that consumers have as much information as possible to assist them in their purchase decisions.
The Be treatwise® trade mark is available for licensing to interested participants in the Australian confectionery industry on application to the owner’s trustee, Confectionery BTW Pty Ltd. The terms of use are set out in the application.
In New Zealand the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council (NZFGC) is the Be treatwise® trade mark owner.
Note: The Confectionery Trust owns two other trade marks on behalf of the confectionery industry in Australia. These are Halloween® and Trick or Treat® which are also included on the Be treatwise® application form and in the licence agreement. Application for these trade marks may be made in the same manner.
It’s as simple as applying for and using the Be treatwise® trade mark (which is FREE after an application has been received, subject to completion of an agreement with the licensor).
Class 30: Non-medicated confectionery, chocolate, chocolate confectionery, sugar confectionery, frozen confectionery, chilled confectionery and desserts, ice creams, cakes, biscuits and wafers, food drinks and chewing gum.
On downloading the application form and licence agreement, please read them carefully in conjunction with the notes below and the Be treatwise® Style Guide. Applicants must sign both documents and submit them either by email or post to the address below.
Technical & Regulatory Manager
Confectionery Sector
The Australian Industry Group
Level 2, 441 St Kilda Road
Melbourne Victoria 3004
Australia
Email: confectionery@aigroup.com.au
The return of the licence, duly signed by the Licensor, or its legal representative, together with the Be treatwise® logo, will be the applicant’s record of the licence and the terms of its use. (The Be treatwise® logo is available in EPS, JPEG and PDF format in monochrome or colour versions.)
Sub-licences
Licensees may also sub-license the licensed mark(s) to their related parties, their packagers, or contract manufacturers, confectionery retailers or suppliers. Every sub-licence must be notified to the trustee on this website using the notice form. The terms of the sub-licence must not exclude any of the conditions of use or terms of the head licence. The licensee remains responsible for the sub-licensee’s acts or omissions and liable to the Confectionery BTW Pty Ltd.
Cessation of use
If the licensee or any of its sub-licensees cease to use the license or breach any of the terms of use such that you must ensure all use ceases, then you must notify the owner using the notice form. This includes if you transfer or assign the business that uses the marks or the business becomes insolvent.
Additional support for Ai Group members
As an Ai Group member and licensee of Be treatwise® (and user of the Health Star Rating (HSR) System) additional support materials are available here.
Features of this Ai Group member area include:
We look forward to welcoming you to the Be treatwise® team!
ALDI Australia
Coles Group
Double D Products Australia Pty Ltd
Darrell Lea Confectionery Co Pty Ltd
Ferrero Australia Pty Ltd
Fyna Foods Australia Pty Ltd
Haribo Australia Pty Ltd
Lindt & Sprungli (Australia)
Mars Wrigley Confectionery Australia
Mondelez Australia
Nestlé Australia Ltd
Robern Menz (Mfg) Pty Ltd
The Australian Industry Group
In addition, the confectionery industry offers a wide variety of choice for all tastes and confectionery occasions – including chocolate, sugar and gum confectionery – in varying sizes and suitable for individual consumption, sharing or gifting.
The industry also continues to invest in scientific research, innovation and product development to bring to market new and reformulated products with a range of or improved nutritional profiles, portion guidance and portion control – including products with oral health benefits, ie sugarfree gum, no added trans fats, reduced saturated fat, sugar and energy content, single portion packs, one portion one serve, resealable packs and products with reduced portion sizes.
In conjunction with the industry’s commitment to clear consumer nutrition information, as a non-regulatory intervention, the industry removed front of pack ‘fat free’ claims on sugar confectionery (where fat was not typically part of the formulation) to provide better consumer guidance.
Many of the larger confectionery companies also support physical activity initiatives involving education in the community by funding programs that assist families, educators and health professionals. At the heart of these initiatives is encouraging people to exercise more and adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Confectionery, as a treat, will always be a category of food consumers enjoy and our aim is to help consumers enjoy sweet treats responsibly with the right portion in mind.
Be treatwise® is a registered trademark in Australia owned by the Confectionery Trust, a special purpose trust established in 2012 by The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) to maintain the trademark and the website on behalf of the Australian confectionery industry and consumers.
Ai Group is a peak industry association in Australia which, along with its affiliates, represents the interests of more than 60,000 businesses in an expanding range of sectors including: manufacturing; engineering; construction; automotive; food; transport; information technology; telecommunications; call centres; labour hire; printing; defence; mining equipment and supplies; airlines; as well as confectionery and other industries.
Ai Group is a membership organisation whose members operate small, medium and large businesses. It plays a major role in helping Australian industry focus on building competitive and sustainable industries through global integration, skills development, productive and flexible workplace relations, infrastructure development and innovation.
We invite you to consider the benefits of Ai Group membership
If you are interested in further information about the confectionery industry or participating in consultative processes for regulations or governance of the industry, contact the administrator of the marks, who can also ensure that you are provided with further details about becoming an Ai Group member.
For further information on membership contact the Ai Group Confectionery Sector Member Relations Executive. See details on our Contacts page.
