Poland’s alcohol display ban claims health benefits but ignores market realities and consumer rights.
Declarations vs. Facts
When separating declarations from facts, the picture looks much less convincing. In European countries, various forms of limiting exposure are used – designated sales areas, lack of visibility from outside stores, or sales from behind the counter. However, there is no documented model that involves complete “disappearance” of products from consumer view across all retail that also delivers lasting, measurable health effects.
Labels as Information and Culture
The point of sale is practically the only legal space for communication between the manufacturer and an adult consumer. It’s not about advertising, but information. Product labels contain data on composition, origin, alcohol content, health warnings, and responsible consumption markings. Thanks to these, consumers can make conscious choices – including products with lower alcohol content or non-alcoholic ones, whose popularity has clearly risen in recent years.
Hiding labels practically limits the consumer’s right to information. The paradox is that a regulation presented as pro-health removes tools that actually support responsible purchasing decisions. Instead of supporting conscious choice, it replaces it with ignorance.
Labels are not just commercial elements. They are also carriers of culture and art. Consider the example of Château Mouton Rothschild 1973, whose label was designed by Pablo Picasso. Similarly, other vintages of this winery featured works by the most outstanding 20th-century artists, including Salvador Dalí. These symbolic examples show that in European tradition, a product – especially alcoholic – functions not only as a commodity but also as a message about quality, origin, cultural identity, and producer responsibility.
Market Impact
This solution is also not neutral from a market perspective. Sales “behind a curtain” help maintain the position of the largest brands that are already recognizable. The biggest losers are small producers – often family businesses, new distributors, and local stores. In the realities of the Polish market, which is already saturated and shrinking, this means the risk of further pushing out legal offerings and weakening local trade.
Fiscal and Social Consequences
One cannot ignore the fiscal and social consequences. Legal alcohol sales in Poland are declining, while the gray market remains a serious problem – generating budget losses and real threats to consumer health. Limiting legal availability and information does not eliminate demand. It only changes the way it is satisfied.
More Effective Alternatives
Regulations based on “invisibility” rarely bring real results. If the goal is to limit alcohol-related harm, more effective would be enforcing existing regulations, education, and real control of sales to minors – not hiding shelves. Hidden display sales remain primarily an illusion of action: expensive, ineffective, and potentially harmful.
