University
Food Packaging Labels Overview
The container, the material, the adhesive, the size and the print format, and how to choose the combination.
Not sure which combination fits your product? This guide works through the decisions in the order they affect the finished label.
Where to begin
Start with the container
Before anything else, look at what the label has to stick to and how the package will be stored and handled.
A glass jar that goes into a refrigerator is a different problem from a kraft bag sitting on a dry shelf, and both are different from a squeezable plastic bottle.
The container decides how much curve the label has to follow, how much moisture it will meet and how much handling it gets. Its size and shape also determine how much label area is available for the information about your product.
Get the container right and the rest of the decisions follow from it.
The model
The four choices
Every food packaging label comes down to four choices, and they are easier in this order. Each one narrows the next.
- 01Face materialWhat should the label be made of?
- 02AdhesiveWhat does it have to stick to, and survive?
- 03Size and shapeWhat does the container allow?
- 04Print formatHow will the labels be produced and applied?
Most label problems come from one of the four being wrong for the product rather than from the printing itself. A paper label on a jar that goes into a refrigerator will wrinkle. A standard adhesive on a frozen container will let go at the edges. A label sized for the artwork alone can leave the ingredients too small to read.
This page covers each of the four, so you can work out what your product needs. There is more detail on label stock, adhesives and dimensions and color options.
Choice 01
Face materials
The face material is chosen for the environment the product is stored in, not for how it looks.
Moisture, oils, refrigeration and handling all decide what will hold up. The first choice is paper or film. Paper costs less and suits dry products on a shelf. Film resists moisture and holds up in cold storage, and polypropylene is widely used on food packaging.
Paper
Paper is the cheapest option and it suits dry products on a shelf, such as bakery boxes, coffee bags and dry goods. It comes in glossy, matte and semi-gloss finishes, where glossy and semi-gloss are coated and matte is uncoated, and as PrimeCoat paper on rolls. Where a product gets handled a lot, paper can be laminated for extra protection against scratching and moisture. What it does not do is live in condensation, so it is the wrong choice for anything refrigerated.
Vinyl
Vinyl is moisture resistant and comes in clear, white matte and white glossy. It is thicker and more squeezable than polypropylene, so it takes the curved and uneven containers that a stiffer film struggles with. It also holds up at low temperatures, which is what makes it the usual answer for refrigerated and frozen products. Clear vinyl is worth knowing about on its own, because it gives the no-label look, where only the printed ink appears on the container.
Polypropylene
Polypropylene is the most common film on food packaging and it is also moisture resistant, with a nice-looking glossy finish. It is thinner and slightly more rigid than vinyl, so it sits best on flat surfaces, though it has enough give for mildly uneven ones. It is also the more economical of the two as volumes rise.
Polyester, polyethylene and a range of specialty and textured papers are all used for food products too, where something particular is needed. We keep paper on both sheets and rolls, vinyl on sheets and polypropylene on rolls, so none of the three is a special order. If your product needs something outside that, tell us what it is and we will source it.
Choice 02
Adhesives
The adhesive matters as much as the face material and it is the part most often overlooked.
Three things decide it: the surface the label goes on, the temperature it lives at, and whether it ever has to come off cleanly.
Cold, damp glass jar
Has to bond through condensation and stay flexible at low temperature, so it needs a freezer-grade adhesive with strong initial adherence.
Dry cardboard box
At room temperature the same label has an easier job, and a standard permanent adhesive is enough.
Put the second one on the first container and the edges will lift within days.
Because three conditions have to be satisfied at once, the adhesive is not something that can usefully be picked from a list. Tell us what the container is and how the product is stored, and we will pick the adhesive that bonds and stays bonded in those conditions. There is more in label adhesives.
Choice 03
Sizes and shapes
The label follows the container, not the other way around.
A printer working from pre-cut plates can only offer the shapes it already holds. Anything outside that set needs a new die, and that is what a die charge pays for.
We do not work from pre-cut plates, which means there is no set menu of shapes to choose from and no die charges. An oval label costs the same as a rectangular one of the same size, because pricing depends on label size and not on label shape. A smaller label will bring the price down a little.
Short jar
Tall bottle
Flat carton
Worth thinking about at this stage is how much text has to fit. Ingredients, weight and any producer information all need room, and a label sized purely around the artwork can leave the text too small to read comfortably. More on dimensions and color options.
Choice 04
Sheets or rolls?
Sheets and rolls are different production and application methods rather than different products.
The same artwork on the same material prints identically either way. What differs is the setup, and therefore the cost at your volume.
| Sheets | Rolls | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical quantity | Low to medium | Medium to high |
| Application | Hand | Hand or machine |
| Setup | Lower | Higher |
| Unit economics | Better at smaller runs | Better as volume increases |
The useful question is not which format is better. It is which one fits your quantity, your number of designs and how the labels go on.
Sheets usually make sense when
- The quantity is low to medium
- Labels are applied by hand
- You are running several designs in one order
- The product or the artwork is still changing
Rolls usually make sense when
- The quantity is medium to high and repeating
- Labels are applied by machine
- The design is settled and you reorder the same label
Roll printing carries a heavier setup, so rolls generally become economical as quantities rise. Where that crossover sits depends on the label size and the number of designs, which is why the two need looking at together.
If you are not sure which you need, select “not sure” on the quote form. We will look at your quantity and the number of designs and tell you which format works out cheaper. It is often sheets, even when customers expect otherwise.
The commercial variable
Multiple designs
Several designs can be printed within a single run, because the constraint is the total quantity rather than the number of versions.
That matters to most food producers, since few sell only one product. Several flavors, sizes or seasonal versions usually share the same container and the same label size, and splitting them into separate orders is what makes them expensive.
Multiple designs cost nothing extra with us. You can have them all printed within one quantity at the same price as a single design, as long as they are the same size and shape. The quantities do not need to be equal either, so you can order more of one design and fewer of another without it changing the price.
That is worth knowing if you are launching a range rather than a single product, because it means the number of designs does not have to be the thing that limits you.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Packaged food carries required information such as the product name, net weight, ingredients and the name of the producer, and the requirements vary by market. We are a printing company, so we print the artwork you supply and make sure it comes out sharp and readable. There is a full breakdown in Food Packaging Labels: Required Information.
Yes, with the right face material and adhesive for cold storage. Condensation and low temperature are hard on a label, so tell us how the product is stored and what container it goes in, and we will tell you which combination holds up.
Sheets are cost-effective for low to medium quantities. Rolls become more economical as volumes rise, and they are what you need if labels are applied by machine. Where the crossover sits depends on the label size and the number of designs, so if you are not sure, we will work out which is cheaper for your order.
No. Our pricing depends on label size and not on shape, and there are no die charges.
Yes, at no extra cost, as long as the designs are the same size and shape. The quantities do not need to be equal for each design.
Our pricing starts at around a hundred labels. Below that the preparation and the shipping make up most of the cost, so a slightly larger quantity is usually more cost-effective for you.
Our usual turnaround is four to nine business days, from the moment your order is confirmed to the labels arriving with you. That covers the printing and door-to-door delivery. The range depends on how complex the order is and on the current schedule in our production line. Quoted prices include the preparation for printing, the labels themselves and the shipping.
Send your files in a vector format, such as PDF, PSD, EPS or AI, and our graphic team will review them, so that barcodes and small text print sharply.
Next step
Get a custom quote
If you know the size, the quantity and how many designs you need, send those three and we will come back with a price and a recommendation. If anything is still open, say so on the form and we will fill in the gaps.
Get a Free Label Quote