The National Consumers League (NCL) is looking for congress to reform the U.S. wine labeling laws to protect consumers’ right to truth in labeling.  So, what is the untruth?  Some winemakers have been labeling their wine as being from popular regions like Napa, when in fact, they are from lesser know or regarded areas.

This is probably not a “life or death” labeling movement, but consumers do have the right to know what they are getting.  Sally Greenberg, NCL’s executive director notes:  “These labeling problems mean both that wines can be sold abroad with labels that falsely suggest that they are from well know and highly-regarded winemaking regions in the U.S., and that American consumers may be victims of deceptive wine labeling.”

It sounds like U.S. labeling laws in terms of wines are too loose.  For example, you may go to your local wine shop and find a large variety of Champagne from makers around the world.  In fact, Champagne is only Champagne if it comes from that region in France.  New legislation could prevent purveyors from falsely naming products like Champagne.  States like Oregon and Washington have already passed legislation to protect the names of wines produced in those states.

The bottom line is regardless of your desire to drink wine from a particular region, the labels should provide true and accurate information.  If a winemaker fears their lesser know region won’t be as well regarded, then they should work very hard to create an eye catching and creative label that will draw in sales.

Speak E-Z BBQ, a restaurant located in Bellingham, WA, is hosting a label design contest for their homemade BBQ sauce.  The restaurant owners, Denis and Rosie Rayborn decided to reach out to their customers by hosting a label design contest for their BBQ sauce, which will be sold in local stores.  The winner will get to enjoy all-you-can-eat ribs once a month for a year.

The owners are giving prospective designers a good start by providing the product name, which is Big D’s Bootleg BBQ Sauce.  In addition, they have given label size requirements.  This is certainly enough information for a designer to create a label.

I think the idea of a design contest is excellent.  About a year ago we had a customer host a design contest for a local organization, which was very successful.  Offering customers the chance to be a part of your organization or brand expansion is a great way to gain exposure and increase awareness.

In addition, it is always an inexpensive way to get a creative design.  First, contestants are aiming for a prize, like the all-you-can-eat offer, not payment.  This can be very cost effective for small businesses.  Obviously, some large organization may have a contest like this and award money to the winner.  Second, your customers know your business better than anyone.  They may be able to come up with creative and interesting concepts based on their experience with your company that a hired designer may miss.  Lastly, community involvement is always a win-win for a business.  Consumers like to feel like they are a part of a company, especially a small business like a family owned restaurant, where locals and “regulars” will enjoy participating in its growth.

If you have a need for a label, consider hosting a design contest.  Remember to be specific about the requirements.  Include the product’s name, the label size and specific colors if necessary.  Also, be sure to note that your business retains ownership of the winner’s artwork.

We often write about wine on this blog because it is by far one of the most fascinating and ever-changing aspects of the label industry.  Since we have always felt the label sells the bottle, wine labels have always been a favorite topic.  A recent study by the Texas Tech Wine Marketing Research Institute and the Rawis College of Business found that in fact, higher brand awareness and label recognition lead to higher rates of brand survival.

The study conducted from 1991 tracked the progress of 25 Texas wineries, using more than 900 wine enthusiasts to rate the quality and name recognition of local wines.  The most interesting finding from this study is the more recognizable a brand, the more likely it is to find success.  Interestingly, researchers could find no link between a wine’s taste or quality and its ability to survive.  We found this to be so insightful considering that wine enthusiasts tend to tout taste over style, denying any attraction to a wine’s brand or label.

Natalia Kolyesnikova, an assistant professor and lead author of the study noted, “A lot of wineries put so much effort into improving the quality, but not as much attention is being paid to marketing.  This study shows it needs to be done.”

This study makes a lot of sense.  The average consumer may not read Wine Spectator or be up on the latest wine making trends.  They know what type of wine they like and may feel more comfortable selecting the “popular” brand over lesser know, higher quality labels.  That being said, a wine can really only become popular within the mainstream with smart marketing and eye-catching label designs.  Most liquor stores have such a vast selection of wines that is easy to be drawn to the familiar.

One of the wineries covered opted to create a cartoon character that will be featured on its label and other marketing collateral.  Phillip Anderson of Cap*Rock Winery, home of Sweet Rocking Red said, “At one time, I would have felt bad or weird about marketing the character more than the wine, but…you have to get people’s attention first.”  In an industry where taste has been king, too many choices and varieties have forced wineries to explore other avenues of marketing and I think Anderson has a good concept.  Partnering a fun character or story with a brand is always a great way to gain recognition.

Wine purveyors have always put a lot of emphasis on the label, but I think we will see more wineries developing different marketing campaigns.  We could even see a shift in label design.  The label is prime real estate on a wine bottle, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the space used as part of a larger marketing effort.

I was browsing The Dieline and found this great pasta sauce packaging for Via Roma, a private label brand for A&P.  The packaging, designed by United*, is an excellent example of nostalgia, style and creativity on the part of the designers.

The design, which is based around images of Italian elders, is most likely intended to tie the sauce to the roots of Italy where pasta sauce recipes are as common as Starbucks in Manhattan.  Personally, I think the clean lines and simple black and white design truly make the label.  You can almost feel the humor and history in the photos.  For obvious reasons, my favorite has to be the Cabernet Marinara.

The designers from United* say, “Via Roma: a brand that’s not afraid to show its true personality. There are three million people in Tuscany, all different and all unique. This new authentic Italian brand shows off their true character, expression and emotion, in a way that has not been presented before in the United States. United* shot unique portraits on location in Tuscany for all items.”

I think this design is a true home run.  What do you think?

Over the past few months, we have been working closely with PLACOA (Produce Labeling & Coding of America) to unveil the most comprehensive produce labeling and traceability system available.  After decades of research, testing, and just plain hard work, the S.M.A.R.T. 750 Print-Apply system is available.

Ok, so what does this mean for you?  Well, if you are in the fruit and produce business, this is an opportunity to truly set yourself apart from other growers or packers.  The print-apply labeling system allows for each piece of produce to be labeled and coded with a specific ID to ensure easy traceability through the entire supply chain.  Supply-chain traceability is possible through the technology brought to us by ScoringAg.  ScoringAg offers state-of-the-art produce traceability software.  Currently, In-Touch Direct is the only New England provider of ScoringAg and PLACOA’s system.

What does this mean for the average consumer?  When your local grower or grocer implements this system, they are taking the extra steps to ensure the food they provide for your table is safe.  By simply entering the product’s ScoringAg ID into their encrypted website, you can find out where your food came from, how it was shipped, when it was sold, and more.

In the event of a food borne illness outbreak, like the recent cookie dough recall, this system can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes to locate and control the problem produce.  With the ability to quickly look-up and trace possible contaminants, the response time could be limited to a few days instead of a few months.  All of this is possible when a simple code is printed on your fresh produce’s label.

We rarely tout our own products on this blog, but this system is so important to our overall health and safety, we want to tell as many people as we can about it.  If you want to learn more about it, please contact us!

Avery Dennison Corporation’s Fasson Roll North America division has unveiled a 100% post-consumer waste stock for high end label production, like wine labels.  The 60-lb estate paper is paired with a 1.2-mil recyclable liner made of PET and Fasson S100R.

This stock is a great advancement for the label printing industry.  For many years, paper manufacturers have been working to create a stock made from recycled materials that can compete with standard stocks and papers.  Many consumers associate recycled paper with the brown kraft-like stocks that were popular a few years ago.  This new stock is really a step above any other post-consumer stock.

Additionally, the label can be easily and cleanly removed when the bottle or packaging is soaked in water hotter than 100 degrees.

I think we will start to see more sustainable stocks in the near future.  They are becoming more economical to produce, and more consumers are calling for products to be packaged or stored in recycled containers.

Are you stuck in a “Father’s Day” rut?  Maybe you keep giving dear old dad the same boring tie or bookstore gift card?  What about getting him what he really wants, tequila!  Not just any tequila, but personalized Corzo tequila.  It will sure to be dad’s favorite gift of the year!

Corzo Tequila is offering personalized labels on their tequila bottles for Father’s Day.  The labels allow for three lines of text, with up to 18 characters each.  The best part is the labels are complementary when you purchase a bottle of Corzo.  The labels are pretty fancy brushed chrome, which will surely look great in any liquor cabinet.

The concept of personalizing an item is fantastic, especially if you can do it for free.  Special promotions like personalization can really give you a competitive edge.  It is a great way to offer a special service to your customers.  Corzo had the right idea in terms of timing because many people have difficulties finding fun gifts for their parents.

For more information, visit www.corzo.com

Since it has been sunny for more than two days (rare happing during springtime in Boston), I decided to go shopping for a face cream with SPF.  I visited L’Occitane, which is a fancy body products store at our local mall.  While scanning the shelves, I noticed almost all of their products have Braille on the packaging.

I asked the sales person why so many products have brail, since it is rare to see it on mass marketed products, especially on smaller luxury brands like L’Occitane.  She said the company has a strong desire to be able to provide their products to all consumers, regardless of their ability to see.  While her answer was very PC, I did a little more research and this is what I found…

In 1996, L’Occitane’s founder Olivier Baussan was visiting one of his stores and noticed a blind woman sampling perfumes.  He was astonished with the way in which the woman carefully studied and evaluated each fragrance.  From that point on, he vowed to make all his products accessible to visually impaired people, and soon began adding Braille labels to a few products.  In more than a decade, the company has expanded this offering, including Braille on almost every product they sell.

Nearly 10 million visually impaired people live in the United States alone.  While this may seem like a small segment, many companies selling products in grocery stores, pharmacies, etc have largely overlooked them.

For many companies, adding Braille is expensive.  It is estimated that L’Occitane spends between 4 to 6 cents more per package than its competitors.  In addition, there are no regulations requiring food or cosmetic companies to make their products more accessible to the blind.

If you are in a position to add Braille to your packaging, you should do it.  Not only would your product be accessible to 10 million more people, but it will also show your company’s dedication to a sometimes forgotten population.  Visually impaired consumers have the same wants and needs as any other consumer, and they should be able to shop without assistance as quickly and easily as everyone else.

If your company is interested in learning more about Braille labels, please feel free to contact us.

The European Union is working on a plan to revise the information placed on food products to indicate where a food was farmed, not just where it was processed.  These label additions will help to identify where a particular ingredient, like flour in bread, was harvested.  The labels are a small step in helping to reduce the amount of food borne illnesses in light of many e-coli and salmonella outbreaks over the last few years.

While these labels are an advancement, simply listing the country of harvest won’t necessarily help in the event of an outbreak.  These labels are a great option once an outbreak has been discovered, because it makes it easier for consumers to avoid products from regions associated with a particular disease.

What consumers really need is a label that cannot only identify the region where it was harvested, but also tracks the product from “field to fork” as stated by the Produce Labeling & Coding of America (PLACOA).   PLACOA offers a state-of-the-art labeling system that according to president Ched Greenhill, “has new applications that not only apply to the label, but also to the transfer and analysis of data involving tracebck information from planting, farming, harvesting, storage, packing, shipping and delivery worldwide.”  This type of system doesn’t stop at country of origin.  It provides an entire system to ensure food is safe, and if it is not, the issue can be quickly resolved.

What many consumers don’t realize is that by the time a disease is reported in a food product, it could be months before the cause is discovered, and even longer until the origin of the infected food is found.  PLACOA has created the only system available to quickly solve this problem.

Having a label that states one piece of information is helpful, but a label that is packed with information through a simple barcode, like PLACOA offers, is truly groundbreaking.  As more concern for food safety grows, more consumers will want as much information about where the food comes from as possible.

Click for more information about PLACOA.

Smucker’s recently came out with a wholesome (artificial flavor free) line of jams called Orchard’s Finest.  The jams are made of a simple four-ingredient recipe, sweetened only by sugar.

These new jars caught my eye as I was strolling down the aisle at the grocery store yesterday morning, so I thought I would share the nice design with you.  The simple diecut labels have a very organic, natural, and kind of “old time” feel.  They almost look like something you would have found at a local corner store.  The handwritten font adds a “home grown” texture, which aligns with their overall brand message.

We have seen a lot of companies design labels that don’t always make sense, but these labels really work.  They are not only nice looking, but they really do attract attention.  I actually stopped and looked at them, and I wasn’t even shopping for jam!

What do you think of the new design?