diff --git a/pkg/app/compose.go b/pkg/app/compose.go
index 82066c4c..f8f6db51 100644
--- a/pkg/app/compose.go
+++ b/pkg/app/compose.go
@@ -10,18 +10,60 @@ import (
 	composetypes "github.com/docker/cli/cli/compose/types"
 )
 
-// SetRecipeLabel adds the label 'coop-cloud.${STACK_NAME}.recipe=${RECIPE}' to the app container
-// to signal which recipe is connected to the deployed app
-func SetRecipeLabel(compose *composetypes.Config, stackName string, recipe string) {
-	for _, service := range compose.Services {
-		if service.Name == "app" {
-			log.Debug(i18n.G("set recipe label 'coop-cloud.%s.recipe' to %s for %s", stackName, recipe, stackName))
-			labelKey := fmt.Sprintf("coop-cloud.%s.recipe", stackName)
-			service.Deploy.Labels[labelKey] = recipe
+// setLabel writes a label to both the service object and the task template of
+// every service of the stack.
+//
+// The task template labels end up on the containers themselves and are therefore
+// visible to container-level tooling (cAdvisor, log shippers, docker events),
+// which cannot read service labels at all.
+//
+// The service object is written as well because it is free: changing
+// Spec.Labels updates the service without recreating any task and because
+// `docker service ls --filter label=...` matches service labels only.
+func setLabel(compose *composetypes.Config, key string, value string) {
+	for i := range compose.Services {
+		if compose.Services[i].Deploy.Labels == nil {
+			compose.Services[i].Deploy.Labels = composetypes.Labels{}
 		}
+
+		if compose.Services[i].Labels == nil {
+			compose.Services[i].Labels = composetypes.Labels{}
+		}
+
+		compose.Services[i].Deploy.Labels[key] = value
+		compose.Services[i].Labels[key] = value
 	}
 }
 
+// setAppLabel writes a label to the service object of the app service only.
+func setAppLabel(compose *composetypes.Config, key string, value string) {
+	for i := range compose.Services {
+		if compose.Services[i].Name != "app" {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if compose.Services[i].Deploy.Labels == nil {
+			compose.Services[i].Deploy.Labels = composetypes.Labels{}
+		}
+
+		compose.Services[i].Deploy.Labels[key] = value
+	}
+}
+
+// SetRecipeLabel adds two distinct labels to signal which recipe is connected
+// to the deployed app:
+//   - 'coop-cloud.${STACK_NAME}.recipe=${RECIPE}' on the app service object,
+//     unchanged, as read back by GetLabel
+//   - 'coop-cloud.recipe=${RECIPE}' on every service of the stack, so that
+//     tooling can attribute any container to a recipe without knowing the
+//     stack name up front
+func SetRecipeLabel(compose *composetypes.Config, stackName string, recipe string) {
+	log.Debug(i18n.G("set recipe labels 'coop-cloud.%s.recipe' and 'coop-cloud.recipe' to %s for %s", stackName, recipe, stackName))
+
+	setAppLabel(compose, fmt.Sprintf("coop-cloud.%s.recipe", stackName), recipe)
+	setLabel(compose, "coop-cloud.recipe", recipe)
+}
+
 // SetChaosLabel adds the label 'coop-cloud.${STACK_NAME}.chaos=true/false' to the app container
 // to signal if the app is deployed in chaos mode
 func SetChaosLabel(compose *composetypes.Config, stackName string, chaos bool) {
diff --git a/pkg/app/compose_test.go b/pkg/app/compose_test.go
index 81eeee36..d8a6b025 100644
--- a/pkg/app/compose_test.go
+++ b/pkg/app/compose_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	testPkg "coopcloud.tech/abra/pkg/test"
 	stack "coopcloud.tech/abra/pkg/upstream/stack"
 
+	composetypes "github.com/docker/cli/cli/compose/types"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
@@ -61,3 +62,43 @@ func TestGetTimeoutFromLabel(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, timeout, test.expectedTimeout)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestSetRecipeLabel(t *testing.T) {
+	// the app service brings labels along on both levels, the db service
+	// has none at all, so the pre-existing and the nil map case are covered
+	compose := &composetypes.Config{
+		Services: []composetypes.ServiceConfig{
+			{
+				Name:   "app",
+				Labels: composetypes.Labels{"example.container.label": "keep me"},
+				Deploy: composetypes.DeployConfig{
+					Labels: composetypes.Labels{"coop-cloud.backupbot.enabled": "true"},
+				},
+			},
+			{Name: "db"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	appPkg.SetRecipeLabel(compose, "test_example_com", "test-recipe")
+
+	services := make(map[string]composetypes.ServiceConfig)
+	for _, service := range compose.Services {
+		services[service.Name] = service
+	}
+
+	// the stack scoped label stays on the app service object only
+	assert.Equal(t, "test-recipe",
+		services["app"].Deploy.Labels["coop-cloud.test_example_com.recipe"])
+	assert.NotContains(t, services["db"].Deploy.Labels,
+		"coop-cloud.test_example_com.recipe")
+
+	// the static label reaches every container of the stack
+	for name, service := range services {
+		assert.Equal(t, "test-recipe", service.Labels["coop-cloud.recipe"], name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "test-recipe", service.Deploy.Labels["coop-cloud.recipe"], name)
+	}
+
+	// labels the recipe brought along are left alone
+	assert.Equal(t, "keep me", services["app"].Labels["example.container.label"])
+	assert.Equal(t, "true", services["app"].Deploy.Labels["coop-cloud.backupbot.enabled"])
+}
diff --git a/pkg/i18n/locales/abra.pot b/pkg/i18n/locales/abra.pot
index b4a50a2f..845c855f 100644
--- a/pkg/i18n/locales/abra.pot
+++ b/pkg/i18n/locales/abra.pot
@@ -3047,7 +3047,7 @@ msgstr  ""
 msgid   "generated secrets %s shown again, please take note of them %s"
 msgstr  ""
 
-#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:63
+#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:105
 #, c-format
 msgid   "get label '%s'"
 msgstr  ""
@@ -3695,7 +3695,7 @@ msgstr  ""
 msgid   "no %s exists, skipping reading gitignore paths"
 msgstr  ""
 
-#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:69
+#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:111
 #, c-format
 msgid   "no %s label found for %s"
 msgstr  ""
@@ -4746,24 +4746,24 @@ msgstr  ""
 msgid   "set 'main' as the default branch"
 msgstr  ""
 
-#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:30
+#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:72
 #, c-format
 msgid   "set label 'coop-cloud.%s.chaos' to %v for %s"
 msgstr  ""
 
-#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:41
+#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:83
 #, c-format
 msgid   "set label 'coop-cloud.%s.chaos-version' to %v for %s"
 msgstr  ""
 
-#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:51
+#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:93
 #, c-format
 msgid   "set label 'coop-cloud.%s.version' to %v for %s"
 msgstr  ""
 
-#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:18
+#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:61
 #, c-format
-msgid   "set recipe label 'coop-cloud.%s.recipe' to %s for %s"
+msgid   "set recipe labels 'coop-cloud.%s.recipe' and 'coop-cloud.recipe' to %s for %s"
 msgstr  ""
 
 #: ./pkg/git/init.go:60
@@ -5064,7 +5064,7 @@ msgstr  ""
 msgid   "timed out on undeploy (timeout=%v sec)"
 msgstr  ""
 
-#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:80
+#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:122
 #, c-format
 msgid   "timeout label: %s"
 msgstr  ""
@@ -5172,7 +5172,7 @@ msgstr  ""
 msgid   "unable to continue, input required for initial version"
 msgstr  ""
 
-#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:85
+#: ./pkg/app/compose.go:127
 #, c-format
 msgid   "unable to convert timeout label %s to int: %s"
 msgstr  ""