Are Labels a Supply Chain Story Now?
by Nidhi Agrawal
October 15, 2026 | 02 min read
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India’s evolving food labelling rules are a reminder that compliance does not end with packaging. It extends to every warehouse, distributor and retail outlet.
September 28, 2026
The Supreme Court reserved its order on front-of-pack warning labels.
October 6, 2026
The Delhi High Court paused the “energy drink” label order for PepsiCo and Monster, after a similar reprieve for Reliance.
These two court cases have turned packaging into an operations question. Whichever way the rulings go, someone has to change labels, move stock and brief thousands of retailers. That makes this a distribution challenge as much as a compliance one. Somewhat like revisiting a micro version of last year’s GST reset story perhaps.
Where things stand
Warning labels: FSSAI has proposed a red hexagonal label for products high in two or more of fat, sugar or salt, with declarations such as “HIGH SUGAR” or “HIGHLY SWEETENED BEVERAGE”.
Timelines: The proposal reportedly allows about four months to finalise draft rules, then 365 days of voluntary compliance.
Energy drinks: FSSAI’s June directive told makers of high-caffeine drinks to stop calling them “energy drinks”. Reliance and PepsiCo say hundreds of millions of products were taken off the market and that state authorities seized stock. The Delhi High Court has now paused the order providing a breather for the companies after a months-long dispute that disrupted operations.
What the courts and industry are saying
The bench has been blunt about timing. Justice J B Pardiwala asked FSSAI: “Why voluntary compliance for a year? Why do you need so much time?” In the energy drink matter, the Delhi High Court asked why the regulator had not given companies enough time, and said it was “never too late” to correct the mistake.
Industry has argued from the other side. Mili Bhattacharya, a senior Coca-Cola India executive, called the idea that a symbol would inform consumers “very simplistic.” Reliance’s beverages arm told the court the moves “are causing substantial disruption” to its operations.
Our view: a shorter window is the safer thing to plan for. If the Court trims the year, the work that remains falls on distributors and sales teams.
We have been there before
When GST 2.0 arrived, every tax rate, price and SKU record had to change in every system, on one day, across the whole channel. For a time being, two versions of the same SKU sitting in the market at once: in the distributor’s godown, the wholesaler’s stock and the kirana shelf.
At Bizom, we were prepared not just to manage the disruption but also showed how long-term thinking in product and process creates stability when it is needed most.
We handled the GST 2.0 transition for 750+ brands, 3L+ distributors and 3.5L+ SKUs, with zero downtime. In our customers’ words:
- “We were able to update GST rates and pricing of our products well in time in Bizom DMS and SFA… our consumers were able to purchase their favorite products on day one with the updated pricings.”
- “What could have been a high-risk change became a simple switchover… On the day itself, operations ran as if it were business as usual.”
Labels are a different change, but the pattern is the same: a fixed date, a long tail of SKUs and distributors, and no room to pause billing. Last time it was GST reset. Today, it’s label. Tomorrow it could be something else. Whatever comes next, we know, we will be proactive, because customer obsession is how we work.
If you would like to know how we prepare for changes like this, or want deeper insights into your category, just let us know. We’ll be happy to get in touch.
RIO
Nidhi Agrawal
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Nidhi is a seasoned marketing professional with a knack for translating complex business problems into relatable and easy-to-understand solutions. She works closely with leadership and senior management to bring their outlook into her write-ups.
