What Sunrise 2027 is, in one sentence
Sunrise 2027 is the global GS1 working group goal that retail point-of-sale scanners should be able to read 2D barcodes carrying GS1 Digital Link URLs by the end of 2027. That's it. It's not a law. It's an industry alignment.
The practical pressure is the alignment itself. Big grocery, drug and CPG channels are committing publicly. Scanner fleets are being upgraded. Pilots are running. By the time the calendar clicks over to 2028, most brands selling through major retail will be on 2D codes whether they wanted to be or not.
What it means for your team this quarter
If you have a packaging refresh in the next twelve to eighteen months, this is the right moment to slot in the migration. The work isn't enormous, but it has print-cycle dependencies that you can't compress later.
The conventional approach is dual-marking: keep the existing 1D EAN-13 barcode in one corner of the artwork, add a new 2D Digital Link QR in another. Most retailers are happy with both during the transition. Your packaging team gets a low-risk way to test the new format with real retail partners before committing fully.
What it isn't
It isn't a regulation. There's no fine for missing the date. It isn't a ban on 1D barcodes. Most modern retail point-of-sale will keep reading EAN-13 for years to come. It isn't a Europe-only thing either. The Sunrise 2027 alignment is global, with national member organizations of GS1 coordinating regional working groups.
What you should do now
Three concrete steps. First, audit your catalog for hero SKUs that are due for a packaging refresh in the next year. Second, make sure those SKUs have valid GS1-allocated GTINs (you almost certainly do, since they're already on your existing 1D barcodes). Third, run a small pilot with one of those SKUs. Generate a real GS1 Digital Link QR, validate the size and contrast with your printer, and confirm with your largest retail partner that their 2D scanners are ready.
Anything beyond that is gravy. The platform's five-phase migration plan sequences the rest around your existing print cycle so nothing dramatic changes about how you ship.
Pair the migration with a real product passport
Sunrise 2027 is the retail-side milestone. The consumer-side payoff is what the QR resolves to once a shopper scans it. The same Digital Link URL that handles point-of-sale can open a real product page on a phone with story, ingredients, certifications, retailers, recommendations and batch lookups. That's where the brand investment goes. Without it, you have a 2D barcode that does nothing more than the old 1D one.
If you want to see what this looks like end to end, walk through our five-step explainer or open the free generator and see a real Digital Link QR in your browser. The point of the migration isn't compliance theatre. The point is a working consumer surface on every product you ship.