Transitioning from Labels to Printed Packaging

When launching a new brand in flexible packaging – food or other consumer packaged goods – it is common for small brand owners to use a pressure-sensitive label on a stock bag or pouch for package graphics and product information. As brands grow and volume increases, a tipping point can occur when the labeling of stock pouches is no longer a viable decorating and product information vehicle, said LPS Industries. Savvy brand owners aspire to package their product in a printed pouch but the signs that point to the time being right aren’t always clear. “Determining precisely when it makes the most sense to transition from using labels to printed bags or pouches is a complex process that can include many considerations from packaging materials to manufacturing efficiency to ink formula and more,” said LPS Industries’ Vice President of Marketing Charles Ardman.

As such, LPS identified the following scenarios that indicate when the time may be right:

1.     The product has been deemed “perfected” or well refined by brand management. Most small brands are highly cost conscious and choose to invest as much as possible in the quality of the raw ingredients or the manufacturing process to build the brand rather than allocate cost to a printed pouch. While the quality of the product is of primary importance, package quality runs a very close second. The two are foundationally linked in a symbiotic relationship, and both influence consumer trial, purchase and ultimately preference.

2.     There are clear indications of market penetration and success. 10,000 units. 25,000 units. Even 100,000. The number ranges. The market embraces your product and more and more orders start to arrive. As your sales curve heads north, that’s a good time to think about making the transition . . . for a few reasons. First and foremost, it makes the most professional presentation. It signals quality and it puts you on a level playing field with the bigger brand names; as a highly effective mini-billboard for the brand it gives a consumer “permission” to purchase.

3.     Time is money . . . And pre-printed labeling takes time. Applying pre-printed labels takes time, either time for you and your team, or the time and associated cost of a contract packager, or other resource to complete this task. As product success and volume grow, the “label lag” on a production line can become an unsustainable and potentially costly proposition. At some volume point that is different for each brand owner, the printed pouch option makes a lot more sense because the economics are “right” and transitioning from a label enhances the consumer’s perception of brand quality.

4.     The brand is broadening out with the introduction of new SKUs. Here’s where brand managers pause to take stock of their brand’s growth. With the addition of new SKUs the stage is set for the brand as a whole to really take off. With future success in the balance and subject to so many variables, it’s a smart time to take a close look at the product packaging and the right time to make the move from labels to printed pouches.

5.     Growth of the brand opens the door to new considerations and requirements. While you may have started in a grass roots fashion, once that first big order from a major retailer happens, new requirements and considerations kick in, such as “is my current packaging delivering the protection my product requires given the change in distribution channel dynamics”? Where high performance barrier properties may have once been a secondary consideration, aligning barrier protection properties with the end-to-end time your product spends in the much longer distribution channel is of paramount importance. While protection for a few weeks, a month or even two may have been sufficient, your product could be spending much more time than ever before in trucks and warehouses. This means your packaging’s barrier properties must be up to the new requirements to ensure your product is at its best when the consumer opens your package.

“As a converter, we often work with young, growing companies that approach us with issues and concerns about the ability of their current packaging to meet changing and more challenging performance standards,” concludes Ardman. “But it’s important to remember that whether you’re launching a fledgling brand or positioning one for a market breakthrough, it’s really important to consult and work with an experienced packaging converter partner.”

LPS Industries’ decades of experience uniquely positions them to assess and understand each situation individually and advise on the best time and most effective way to make the label-to-printed-pouch transition. For more information, visit www.lpsind.com.