Not so lovely bubbly... boss forced to ditch ‘skinny’ fizz
AN ENTREPRENEUR behind a range of low-sugar sparkling wines has been banned by Brussels from describing them as ‘skinny’.
Amanda Thomson, 48, from Winchester, has had to spend more than £500,000 changing the labels on her Skinny Prosecco and Skinny Champagne because of European rules.
She was threatened with court action by Hampshire trading standards officers unless she removed the offending word from her bottles. They have now been rebranded Organic Prosecco and Vegan Champagne.
But the former BBC reporter and founder of the winemaking firm Thomson and Scott is furious that her competitors are still describing their bubbly as ‘skinny’ because their local trading standards officers are not so zealous.
She said: ‘It’s heartbreaking to see copycat brands use our idea, while we have to try to win back consumers who might think our product has changed somehow.’ Amanda launched her £50 Skinny Champagne Grand Cru in 2013, and, at just 60 calories a glass, it became popular with celebrities such as Jamie Oliver, Emilia Fox and Joe Wicks.
Three years later, she created £18 Skinny Prosecco, with less than half the sugar of the traditional Italian fizz and containing just 67 calories a glass. She is now campaigning for greater transparency in Europe’s £18billion wine industry and calling on the Government to rethink legislation covering alcoholic drinks.
EU rules say producers cannot display a ‘trademark, brand name or fancy name, which could be construed as a nutrition claim’ on drinks which are more than 1.2 per cent proof – unless they have 30 per cent fewer calories than would normally be the case. While Amanda’s drinks contain significantly less sugar, they do not have substantially fewer calories.
The mother-of-two was inspired to enter the drinks industry because she was appalled by the lack of information on traditional labels.
She said: ‘Skinny is just a way to get people to ask what’s in the bottle and to highlight the amount of unnecessary hidden sugar in wine.
‘But we’ve fallen foul of EU bureaucracy and are paying a heavy price.’
Hampshire County Council said trading standards officers were required to ensure that EU regulations were followed and upheld.