The striped UPC barcode on your packaging has done one job, the same way, since 1974: it holds a number a scanner reads at checkout. That era is ending. Under a global initiative called Sunrise 2027, GS1—the body that governs barcodes—is pushing retailers to upgrade their point-of-sale scanners to read 2D barcodes (the QR-style square) by the end of 2027. When that happens, the little square can do everything the old stripes did and carry a web link, a lot number, and an expiry date in the same symbol. For food brands, this is not a marketing gimmick about scanning for recipes. It is a change to the most functional element on your pack, and it has a deadline.
Most procurement and packaging teams haven’t clocked how soon this is or how much of it lands on them rather than on IT. The transition touches artwork, label real estate, data management, and print quality all at once. Here is what Sunrise 2027 actually is, what a 2D barcode does that a UPC never could, and the practical moves to make on your packaging before the scanners catch up.
What Sunrise 2027 Actually Is
Sunrise 2027 is GS1’s target for widespread retailer ability to scan 2D barcodes at the point of sale by the end of 2027. It does not ban the UPC overnight—the two formats will coexist through a transition—but it marks the tipping point where a 2D code can ring up a sale at the register, not just send a shopper to a website. That dual capability is the whole point: one symbol on the pack serves the checkout system and the consumer’s phone. The retailer’s scanner reads the transactional data; the shopper’s camera opens a product page.
With less than two years on the clock, retailers are actively preparing, and the brands moving early are the ones who already committed label space to a QR code for other reasons. The mechanism underneath is the GS1 Digital Link, a way of encoding a barcode as a web URL that still contains the product’s GTIN (the global trade item number behind every UPC) plus optional data like batch and expiry. In other words, the 2D code is backward-compatible with the retail system you already use while opening a lane to everything a URL can carry.
What a 2D Barcode Does That a UPC Can’t
The functional leap is significant once you see it in operation. Because a 2D barcode can hold a lot number and expiration date alongside the GTIN, a checkout system can do things that were impossible with a static UPC. It can automatically block a recalled batch at the register—scan an affected lot and the system flags “do not sell”—turning recall management from a frantic manual sweep into an instant, code-level action. It can auto-discount items nearing their expiry date, helping retailers cut food waste and markdown labor. And for the shopper, the same scan opens a page with ingredients, allergens, nutrition, origin, and sustainability information.
That last capability connects to two trends already on this site. The consumer-facing layer is the natural evolution of using a code as both a compliance and engagement tool, which we covered in how QR codes moved from EU compliance requirement to marketing channel. And the batch-level traceability a 2D code enables sits right next to the freshness-monitoring shift in time-temperature indicators reaching restaurant packaging—both are about a package that carries live information rather than a static label. The direction across the board is packaging that knows something and can tell you.
Why This Lands on Your Packaging Team
It is tempting to file Sunrise 2027 under “the retailer’s problem” or “an IT project,” but the work shows up on the pack. First, artwork and real estate: a 2D barcode needs a clear, adequately sized, high-contrast spot with quiet space around it, and on a small or busy food label that competes with everything else fighting for the front and back panels. Squeezing it in at the last minute usually means a redesign. Second, scannability on your actual substrate: a code that scans perfectly on a flat proof can fail on a curved pouch, a reflective foil, a textured kraft surface, or under a glossy laminate—so it has to be tested on the real material and print process, not a PDF.
Third, data management: a 2D code is only as good as the data behind the URL, which means someone owns keeping product information, allergens, and links accurate and live. And during the coexistence period you may need both the UPC and the 2D code on pack until your key retailers confirm their scanners are ready, so plan layouts that accommodate the transition rather than betting on an instant cutover. None of this is hard, but all of it is easier done in a planned artwork cycle than as an emergency revision when a retailer sets a date.
How to Get Ahead of It
A sensible sequence keeps you ahead of the deadline. Start by claiming the label space now: in your next packaging refresh, design in a 2D barcode position even if you’re not activating all of its functions yet, so you’re not redesigning later. Set up your GS1 Digital Link and GTIN data properly with GS1 so the code is retail-valid, not just a vanity QR pointing at your homepage. Decide what you’ll surface to consumers—nutrition, allergens, provenance, and substantiated sustainability information are the high-value items, and that on-pack data is increasingly where you back up the green claims that now require proof, a point we made in why packaging sustainability claims now need evidence.
Then test scannability on your finished packaging across substrates and print runs, and check the print contrast and quiet zone every time the artwork changes. Finally, coordinate with your major retail customers on their Sunrise readiness and any dual-barcode requirements, and lean on the established consumer platforms—SmartLabel already runs on more than 106,000 products from over 1,000 brands and reports tens of millions of consumer interactions a year, so you don’t have to build the experience layer from scratch. Treat 2D as a phased rollout you control, not a deadline that controls you.
The Takeaway
Sunrise 2027 retires the UPC-only checkout and replaces it with a 2D barcode that rings up the sale, blocks recalled lots automatically, flags near-expiry stock, and opens a product page for the shopper—all from one symbol on your pack. The technology is mature; the constraint is preparation. The brands that win are designing the code’s space into their next artwork cycle, setting up GS1 Digital Link data correctly, testing scannability on real substrates, and deciding now what information the code will carry. The UPC isn’t dying tomorrow, but the smart move is to build your packaging for the format that’s arriving rather than the one that’s leaving.
At gqthpack.com we help food brands design packaging that’s ready for 2D barcodes—proper artwork space, the right substrates, and print quality that scans the first time. Talk to our team about building Sunrise 2027 readiness into your next packaging run.
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