5 Benefits of In-House Bottle Label Printing for Brewers & Winemakers
Want your wine, beer, or liquor to stand out on crowded shelves? You’ll need to offer something unique, modern, and memorable.
If you’re not printing your bottle labels in-house, that may be difficult to do.
When it comes to printing bottle labels for wine and beer brands, style is crucial. By adding an in-house label printer directly to an existing bottling system, beer and winemakers are able to adjust their label design more quickly and efficiently than ever before.
In today’s competitive market, the ability to print your own unique bottle labels quickly and efficiently may be the edge your product needs to leave an impression on consumers.
Common Pitfalls of Outsourcing Wine & Beer Bottle Label Production
For many winemakers and beer brewers, having labels printed by a third-party printer may be a less expensive option up-front… but when it comes to long-term cost savings (and flexibility), this may not always be the best way to go.
There are a few common pitfalls faced by producers who rely exclusively on outside printers to produce their wine, beer, and other bottle labels. If you’re facing any of these, it may be time to consider a different label production option:
Costly minimum orders of pre-printed labels
For any label printer working with die-cut labels or custom label production, minimum order limits are a must. It simply doesn’t make sense to invest in the dies and in the materials required to complete a run of labels for a brewer or winemaker if there isn’t a guaranteed minimum order size.
For winemakers and beer brewers, however, this may mean paying for more labels than you really need. That’s also not counting any changes you may want or need to make to the finished label, which will likely require an entirely new batch of labels to be produced and printed… adding time and money to your labeling process.
Difficult to quickly pivot for new product offerings
In today’s competitive craft beer, wine, and spirits market, originality is crucial. That’s why so many brewers, distillers, and winemakers have found success by offering exclusive, limited-release products—each with its own distinct, unique, branded label design.
For businesses still relying on third-party label printers, making this quick adjustment for new product lines and offerings can be difficult and costly. Additionally, factors like minimum label orders and costly dies for label finishing may add costs that render new product offerings simply too expensive for short-run, limited releases.
Limited by the materials available
Not all labels are made equal—literally. From the type and colors of ink used to the actual material the label is printed on, producers now have hundreds of options when it comes to label design and production. But if you’re still ordering your bulk label orders from a third-party, you may find yourself relatively limited to the materials they offer.
For brewers and winemakers—especially those concerned with waterproof labels (for, say, white wine or beer)—this can be a crucial difference between labels that can stand the test of time, and those destined to fall off (or become waterlogged) after just a few minutes in an ice bucket or wet cooler.
5 Ways An In-House Label Printer Can Make Your Brew Stand Out From The Crowd
By bringing your label printing process in house, you can achieve unprecedented flexibility, efficiency, and freedom in your wine, beer, and bottle labeling process.
1. Quick turnaround from “concept” to “created”
Whether you’re working with a label designer or bringing in your own designs from in-house, a great label idea is always worth working toward quickly.
By adding a label printer to your existing production and bottling line, you can quickly turn around new labels for limited-edition offerings, experimental wines or craft brews, and new product offerings—all without the long wait times or shipping fees associated with pre-printed labels.
2. Unlock short-run cost savings
There may be no better way for a brewery or winemaker to show off their spirit of experimentation, adaptation, and craftsmanship than with small, exclusive, limited-release offerings. Unfortunately, too many breweries find themselves spending more time managing large inventories of pre-printed labels instead.
With an in-house label printer, you can change that. Taking control of your printing process allows you to maximize your label flexibility through short-run label production, allowing you to print precisely as many labels as you need, even for a small batch.
That means less time spent worried about minimum orders and label inventory, and more time spent perfecting your offerings for your customers.
3. Avoid common printing mishaps
As just about any wine or beer producer knows, a lot can go wrong when it comes to bottling and labeling—whether it’s bubbling under the label from imperfections on the bottle; poor sizing of the label to the size of the bottle; or even misprints and misspellings on the label itself.
When working with pre-printed labels, these errors can be hard to catch before it’s too late. Typically, producers must either pay for a proof of the label from the printer for testing and verification before the entire print job is started, or simply run the risk with the hope the final label design will work out fine.
By bringing your label production in-house, you can dramatically reduce the likelihood of these errors. A short-run printer allows you to print an extremely small amount of test labels well before the printing process begins in earnest. That way, you’ll be able to verify the crisp, clean quality of your labels and guard against any misspellings or misprints, saving you time and money on proofs, testing, and potential errors along the way.
4. Access a wide variety of materials & designs
Unique products sometimes call for unique labels, and alcohol is no exception. For instance: while red wine is often kept at room temperature, white wine is often chilled in buckets of ice water—meaning white wine labels may need to be significantly more waterproof.
When working with a third-party label printer, you may find your options relatively limited when it comes to label materials, backing materials, adhesives, and even ink color. By bringing your label process in-house, you can access a wide variety of materials, colors, and design capabilities. That way, you can take total control over all aspects of your label design and create exactly what you need for each and every one of your products.
5. Adapt quickly to industry changes
These days, supply lines and access to materials can shift quickly—and without the tools to adapt, you may find yourself spending time and energy looking for solutions when you have little of either to spare.
Take, for example, beer cans: because of ongoing changes regarding the recyclability of aluminum cans here in the U.S., some brewers have moved away from printing labels directly on cans in favor of adhesive or shrink-wrap labels.
By bringing your label printer in-house, you can more easily adapt to these changes and keep your product moving, even when your competition is struggling to keep up.
Don’t Just Follow Labeling Trends - Set Them
We’ve worked with our fair share of winemakers, beer brewers, spirits producers, and other beverage bottlers—and time after time, one thing always stands out: their shared passion for the products they make, the customers they cultivate, and the brand they’ve built.
That’s why we’re always excited to see a brewer or winemaker take control of their label printing process, and unlock the full potential of their unique, distinctive, and alluring bottle labels by adding an in-house label printer to their toolset.
If you’re interested in upgrading your label production process by bringing your printer in-house, we’d love to help. Get in touch with our team today and we’ll be happy to guide you through finding the perfect printer for your applications. We look forward to toasting to your success!
