The increase of premium goods in the food market has seen a shift from low to high volume products. This has meant a re-think of packaging, with inventiveness being key to maintaining a premium look, whilst keeping costs down.
In the past, low volume, premium food labels have tended to mimic the type of embellishments normally associated with wine labels. Additions such as gold foil stamping not only increase the raw material cost, but can also reduce the run speeds, resulting in label prices that are unsustainable within the industry.
These were some of the issues that label manufacturer Red Labels faced when called upon by Kraft Foods to supply the labels for their J.L. Kraft range of premium products. Red Labels senior account manager, Keith Scott, was placed in charge of finding a solution.
“There were a number of things to consider with the labels for the J.L. Kraft range. They had to have a premium look with gold foil, while at the same time the finish had to be matt rather than the high gloss you associate with most food labels. Scuff resistance during automated bottling and during transport was essential, and most important of all, the price had to be less comparable with a wine label and more with a mainstream food product,” explained Scott.
“Instead of gold foil stamping we used a metallised polypropylene material to replicate this expensive process, with an opaque white ink applied to block out the non-foiled areas. After the graphics were printed, the label was laminated with a matt polypropylene film to protect it from scuffing during bottling and to give the premium matt finish.”
Kraft Foods brand manager, Kristen Moxey, saw a great importance in achieving the right look for the product range. “Packaging and print reproduction plays a major part in communicating the premium qualities of the J.L. Kraft brand. In the case of Deli Spreads, we have used a metallic substrate to achieve a superior gold appearance on the J.L. Kraft logo, and a matt laminate to reinforce product authenticity. We were thrilled with the result.”