Labeling Innovations from Weber

Our featured label this month is the series of deli food labels we printed for a local food importer, R&F Imports. These labels were designed by our Graphics manager, Joe Lozano, and printed on a WS6000 HP Indigo digital printing press. 

The Label's Story

The deli counter is a highly competitive area of any grocery store, so if you're a small brand competing for consumer attention, then you need to maximize your packaging with brand storytelling. This is a challenge we often talk about with craft beer labels and other products at small businesses. You have a limited budget, a small shelf space to promote your brand and you're lacking name recognition with consumers.

R&F Imports needed help and decided to rebrand their label with the help of our Graphics manager and marketing team. A beautiful rustic farm scene was designed and printed on a metalized silver label material. To enhance certain parts of the design, Joe Lozano used a matte laminate to soften areas of the design and while allowing other areas to shine. It also gave the overall texture and a soft, high-end feel. 

Weber's Digital Edge Solution 

Initially R&F was looking for an in-house label printing solution. However, the limitations in print quality and material would make for an undesirable finished product. To create the quality labels R&F wanted and at the quantity they needed, they decided to have Weber print these labels using our HP Indigo digital press.

The labels that were printed were for a variety of deli meats and each required a low volume of printed labels (under 10,000). Not only is the digital press able to produce crisp vibrant images but it also doesn't require printing plates, so producing a series of labels with different images is quick and easy. It also means R&F has the flexibility to change their artwork and print new labels without investing in new plates or dies for different shapes and colors.

Gold Ink Award 

Needless to say, the R&F Imports labels were a big hit. We're proud to announce that this series of labels was recognized with a Gold Ink Award in the Commercial Printing category under "Digital Printing, Labels & Flexible Packaging." The label was judged based on the quality and technical difficulty in printing the label.  

In its 28th year, the Gold Ink Awards from Printing Impressions magazine is a celebration of the best in printed products. They receive thousands of entries each year from printers around the world who are looking to be recognized by their customers, prospects and industry peers for their superior craftsmanship.

Congrats to our Marketing, Graphics and Manufacturing teams for putting together a great product. Pictured above (l to r) is Graphics manager Joe Lozano and Label Production manager Todd Peterson.

Want to see them shine in person? Request metalized label samples from Weber. 

There are many instances where a label application requires a more durable material beyond that of a typical product label. These durable labels are used when a product requires UL recognized labels or the product will be stored in a harsher environment with a long shelf life.

For example, think about some of the electric tools in your garage (cordless drill, sander, table saw, etc.) or your furnace and central air conditioner. These products last for years and need important information about the product to be readable for the life of the item. If you look at them closely, you will see warning labels, instructions, rating plates, wiring diagrams,  UL recognized labels or other company information.

We're happy to announce that there is finally a reliable solution for low-volume durable labeling. With the introduction of our Durable Digital material line, you can now order as few of 500 labels printed on our HP digital presses.

The new materials are designed to be resistant to high temperatures, moisture, chemicals and UV exposure. This makes them perfect for warning decals, instruction labels, toy decoration, sporting equipment, tools and more.

Our new Durable Digital label material is designed to be used for printing labels on our HP Indigo WS4500 and WS6000 printing presses. Printing labels digitally means you can get high-resolution, full-color process printed durable labels at low quantities.

Plus, unlike Flexo printing, the HP Indigo digital press can print variable information on your labels. This is a great solution for labels that will have changing serial numbers or even colorful symbols. 

Let's take a look at Weber's new Durable Digital Label materials.

If you enjoy fresh juice like I do, then you've probably noticed a lot more options lately. From the crowded shelves at Whole Foods to the new juice bars popping up around town there seem to be new companies with new flavors every day.

The local juice bars are starting to venture into bottling and distribution while established brands are growing beyond their regional Whole Foods locations and becoming available nationally. As the competition grows between juice brands, the question asked is how do you make your product stand above the others? We thought you'd be interested in a few ways to make your juice label stick out in the crowd.

Here are 6 tips for juice labels and packaging.

Share a Coke

The campaign is primarily targeting Millennial consumers who look for personalization in brands. Coca-Cola selected hundreds of the top names of Millenials for their labels. If your friend's name isn't included in this list, don't worry, they also created labels that say "Friend", "Star", and "Bestie" for millions of Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero and Diet Coca-Cola bottles. Have you seen your name or a friend's on a label? Search for your name at the Share A Coke website.

HP Indigo Digital Printing Technology

This campaign would not be possible without digital print technology. To complete a project like this, Coca-Cola had the labels printed using several HP Indigo WS6000 digital presses.

Here's why:

On Press Variable Printing

The biggest aspect of this project is printing a large amount of SKUs or label versions. Typically a label project might have a family of a few flavors. That alone can be a challenge to print so imagine over 100 SKUs making up 800 million labels!

No Plates Required

If these were printed in a traditional method a plate would be required for each unique label. And every time the press would need to switch plates additional time, labor and cost would be required to complete the job. The digital press can easily switch from one name to the next without stopping the press.

Color Consistency
Color consistency is crucial for a project of this size. If the red doesn't come out "Coca-Cola red" each time it will be noticeable on the store shelf. We work with many food brands that require consistency for their digital labels and this is easily achieved on our HP Indigo presses.

One Shot Printing

With digital printing the entire image is printed in one shot. This means the label goes through one station to get the entire image rather than run through a long press that includes several ink stations. The HP Indigo process of printing all the colors on a blanket and then printing the image in one shot yields perfect color-to-color registration. No color trapping is required, allowing a clean crisp print job.

More Options

As you can see, using the HP Indigo press gives your company the flexibility to easily print variable data on your labels for personalization or other creative purposes. Coca-Cola used this feature to build brand loyalty with a younger generation of consumers while having a little fun along the way!

The craft beer market is booming! With more competition on the store shelves, brewers need to utilize their labels as a power marketing tool more than ever.

One of the best ways to do this is with eye-catching pressure-sensitive labels. We've put together 4 reasons why pressure-sensitive labels are best.

But first, what is a pressure-sensitive label?

Pressure-sensitive labels are like stickers. They are made up of 3 parts: face stock, adhesive and liner. Normally these are created by the roll but can also be printed by the sheet. Traditionally the beer industry has used sheeted cut and stack labels. These labels are pre-printed on paper and then glue is applied to the label and bottle during the application process. 

Why Pressure-Sensitive Labels for Craft Beer Labels

The Digital Edge

The HP Indigo digital label press can print beautiful high-end labels. This printing method also requires less set up time than traditional printing allowing you to start at a much lower minimum order quantity. This is perfect for seasonal craft beer, small batch brewing or personalized event themed labels.

The standard order minimum for labels printed on the digital press is just 500. This gives the brewer flexibility to order only the amount they need and not hold on to a lot of label inventory. And it gives you the freedom to try new flavors because the initial expense is so low.

Unique Shapes

Durable Materials

Cut and stack labels come in paper only. If you want a label that will perform well in a wet environment like an ice bucket or cooler, then a pressure-sensitive label is the best option. They won't dissolve or come loose in water.

Pressure-sensitive labels also have the ability to add laminates or varnishes to protect the label artwork or give it a special texture.

You can also choose a clear film label material which isn't an option with paper glue labels. This allows you to create see-through labels or unique shapes that seem to float on the bottle. This is a popular effect on many high-end vodka products.

Labeling Equipment

Pressure-sensitive labeling is a clean efficient process. Label applicators range from simple inexpensive table-top wrap systems, to a wrap system with a conveyor to a labeler that can apply multiple labels per bottle. These bottle labeler are automated systems that remove the label from its liner and apply it to the bottle. Depending on the size of your typical bottling run, there is a label applicator perfect for you that will apply your labels efficiently, quickly, and even get them on straight!

Remember, you have options when choosing your craft beer label material. But we think craft beer labeling using pressure-sensitive labels is the best way to showcase your brand.

Weber has decades of experience printing labels for the beverage industry. Let us show you how we can make your craft beer stand out from the crowd with a great looking pressure-sensitive label.

When I think about February, I always think of chocolate. It's a month full of Valentine's Day sweets! To celebrate we're highlighting our friends at GrownUp KidStuff. They produce delicious gourmet chocolate sauces and use visually-striking labels.

A Gourmet Artisan Brand

GrownUp KidStuff is a family-owned business out of Evanston, IL that specializes in artisan sauces. They make 4 chocolate sauces, a butterscotch and a caramel each packed in 11 ounce jars.

Like many other small businesses, GrownUp KidStuff must compete for shelf space and sales with long-established, national brands.

As a result, the job of standing apart from these mega-brands often relies on attractive labeling.

The label, designed by Don Strandell, underscores the playfulness of the company name while incorporating important product, nutritional and warming information. Unfortunately, they were having some challenges with their labels color consistency when we met them.

The HP Indigo Solution

We invited GrownUp KidStuff co-owners Don Strandell and Connie Wastcoat to our plant for a tour and to discuss their current label challenges.

After a discussion on color consistency and quantity we determined the best solution for their labels is to print them on the HP Indigo WS6000 digital label press.

Brands like GrownUp KidStuff do not have the space to hold an inventory of labels and often make changes to their products based on the demands of their customers. Running these on the digital press keeps their order minimums low and allows for even smaller minimums on one label and higher quantities for their most popular flavors.

Our Graphics team worked with the label designer, Strandell, to select the specific browns they wanted to be a part of every label.  We also made sure the label material could withstand the storage environment.  Chocolate sauce jars are stored on store shelves, refrigerators and heated in a microwave. Not only does our Semigloss material hold up to those changes but with the added laminate any sauce that touches the label will not ruin the design or wipe out important health information.

We understand that the package needs to represent the hard work Strandell and Wastcoat put into their work. A high-quality product shouldn't be packaged with a poor quality label.