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Sauce Label Design: 4 Ways to Make Your Special Sauce Stand Out!

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You've worked hard to develop your special sauce. Perhaps it's a recipe passed down through your family or a product you've arrived at through much trial and error. When you're ready to take your secret sauce to the masses, the right sauce label design makes all the difference.

There’s a big world out there when it comes to sauce label design. If you want your hot sauce or BBQ sauce labels to stand out from the crowd, you’ll need to spend some time crafting the perfect label design and selecting the best type of label for your product.

Here are 4 ways to ensure your hot sauce label design is just as fiery as the product within.

1. Make Sure Your Sauce Label Design Conveys the Right Information

First and foremost, a label is a way to convey important information. In the medical industry, labels are absolutely crucial for accuracy and messaging. But even for a product used in a consumer’s home or a commercial kitchen, the correct label information is vital.

It's essential to familiarize yourself with labeling requirements for food products. Explore the FDA’s labeling requirements to get it right. You’ll need to include ingredients, allergen notes, ounces, nutrition information, and details about your manufacturing plant on your food label. Most food products must also be stamped with an expiration date or production date.

You may also want to include important information in your hot sauce label design, such as the heat level. It's helpful for consumers to know the storage requirements too. For example, some sauces are stable enough to forgo refrigeration, while others will fare better when chilled.

2. Include Your Branding, Story, and Personality!

Once the technical constraints for your BBQ sauce or hot sauce label design are out of the way, you can start to work on the fun stuff! How will you capture your customer’s attention and share your story? There are many sauces out there, but yours is unique!

Look at the differentiators. What makes your sauce special? Is it the history of your brand? Was this sauce passed down from generations? Or perhaps you use unique ingredients—homegrown hatch chiles or heirloom tomatoes? Figure out what makes your product extraordinary and convey it on your label.

Labels play an integral role in helping you promote your product. Your sauce label design offers a chance to advertise your product, lure in sauce-lovers, and differentiate you from the other options out there. Use color and brand consistency to grab their attention. Maximize your use of space label space and create a sauce label design that enhances your product.

3. Be sure that Your Labels are Die-Cut to Fit the Bottle

There’s nothing more disappointing than coming up with a great design, only to find that it doesn’t fit the bottle. Fortunately, with die-cutting and an array of label options, you can adjust your sauce labels to fit your bottles and packaging seamlessly.

Often you may be limited by access to bottling supplies, especially if your sauce business is just getting off the ground and starting to branch out into the retail market. Seek labels that curve with the bottle and compliment the shape of your sauce container.

We’ve all seen the ubiquitous Heinz ketchup bottles—one of the celebrities of tomato sauce label design. You may have heard that if you hit 57 on the neck of the bottle, the ketchup comes out faster. But did you know that the whole concept was a gimmick dreamt up by H.J. Heinz, based on his lucky number? The labeling not only fits the sauce bottle, but it serves a purpose (and creates a very distinctive brand story in the process).

4. Select the Right Finish to Ensure Your Label Sticks Around

With food and beverage labeling, there's another important consideration—will your sauce label design hold up to the wear and tear of the kitchen? Sauce labels are exposed to wet, cold, and hot environments often. Splashes of food and sauce can get on the bottles, and in a commercial environment, they might be wiped down frequently. So how do you ensure your label stays put?

Another crucial component of sauce label design is in the finish. Special coatings and lamination can help ensure that your label holds up to damp, cold, and warm environments. When the bottle sweats, you don’t want your label to go south! When it’s passed around the table, hand-to-hand, you don’t want your label to smudge or become illegible.

Special coatings and adhesives are available to ensure your label stays strong even in challenging environments. Some labels require more protection than others, but it’s always best to consider how your food product will be used and what common hazards it will face.

Your label tells a lot about your product and is critical to your success. There are few pieces of marketing collateral quite so vital to your brand as your product label. Take the time to ensure that your sauce label design meets all the needs and requirements to knock their socks off! Need help? Reach out to T&L Graphics today to learn more about our services. We’ll help you create the perfect label.

Conveying Information Customers Need: Product Labeling Requirements

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Product Labeling Requirements

Your product label is one of the best messaging tools for you to connect with your customers. There’s a lot of information on that little bit of space, and you want to maximize that message!

But what are the product labeling requirements? What information do you need to include? It's essential to figure out what MUST be on your label so that you can make the most of the rest of the label real estate.

Whether you're running a large-scale operation or starting with a small line of products, it's important to follow the labeling requirements for anything you sell to the public. Today we’ll explore product labeling requirements to help ensure you’re getting the right information on your products.

Why Product Labeling Requirements Exist

Imagine buying foods and products in the late 1800s. Cosmetics and food were beginning to be widely distributed across the country. Before the industrial revolution, you were stuck eating and using whatever products you could produce yourself and make in your kitchen. You knew all the ingredients and exactly how you made it. Once general stores, traveling merchants, and catalog delivery became widespread, people could get nearly any product they wanted.

At the same time, laws and regulations weren't in place to protect consumers from the dangers of certain unknown ingredients. Many cosmetics and food products contained ingredients that were hazardous and even poisonous. For example, Coca-Cola got its name because it originally contained traces of cocaine from the coca leaf. Other items contained opium derivatives and ingredients like formaldehyde, borax, lead, and even arsenic!

Similarly frightening, food and cosmetic producers could hide spoilage by adding flavoring and coloring to mask signs of decay. When transporting certain items could take weeks at the advent of refrigeration, products could still quickly go bad. Manufacturers added dyes, perfumes, salts, acids, and even creatively colored packaging to make products seem fresher and healthier than they really were.

Finally, in the early 1900s, the U.S. Government Bureau of Chemistry regulators started to test products' safety and began to require labeling to include certain ingredients and information. Initially, they tested many additives to ensure that the levels were safe for consumption and set forth guidelines that manufacturers had to follow. With the Food and Drug Administration's birth in 1930, additional transparency requirements came about, including general product labeling requirements in food and cosmetics.

Over the 20th Century, food and cosmetic labeling requirements would grow and become more uniform. Finally, in 1993, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) was put in place to set many of the typical label requirements we still see today. The NLEA requires ingredient listings, nutritional listings on food products, and all health claims to be substantiated and supported by research. The NLEA standardized the information on product labels and ensured that consumers know about dangerous ingredients, allergens, or other items of concern in their food and toiletries. Although some product labeling requirements are still evolving, such as those regulating essential oils and supplements, a good general rule is to follow the FDA guidelines to ensure you’re telling customers what they need to know.

Product Labeling Requirements Apply to Small Sellers Too

Suppose you're creating a product to sell on your own or through an online marketplace like Etsy or eBay. In that case, it's vital that you still familiarize yourself with product labeling requirements and do your best to follow the product labeling regulations.

Smaller creators may be covered under the “Cottage Food Laws” of their particular state. These state-specific guidelines give lenience to home cooks and small-scale producers, but they vary widely. Some states do not allow cottage food sellers, even at farmers' markets. It's essential to familiarize yourself with the laws regulating your state. If you're shipping across the country, you should follow national (FDA) guidelines.

Restaurants that occasionally sell packaged products like their famous salsa or their deserts are still required to include ingredients, serving size, and allergen contents on their product labeling as well. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA temporarily relaxed some of the stringent requirements, allowing restauranteurs to sell off extra food as “take out,” without robust product labels.

While there are thresholds in the FDA’s product labeling requirements—food sellers with under $50,000 in food sales or under $500,000 in business revenue—it's important for even small sellers to follow the regulations. Product labeling requirements are in place to keep consumers safe and informed. By following the label guidelines, you're setting your business up to avoid liability and the dangers that could come with a mislabeled product.

What Exactly are the Product Labeling Requirements for Cosmetics? For Food?

So if you've created a great new product or a great new beverage, what do you need to say on the label? What are the product labeling requirements to keep your product on the up and up?

According to the FDA and the FTC, cosmetic products must include:

  • An identity statement with a common name, description, a commonly understood term, or an illustration.
  • The quantity, weight, measurement, or count.
  • Name and place of the manufacturer (or product distributor or packer) and a distribution statement, like "manufactured on behalf of…." (if the name and address isn't the manufacturer).
  • Directions and material facts—in other words, how your product should be used, especially if using it in another manner could be dangerous.
  • Warnings should the product contain hazardous or flammable ingredients [per 21 CFR part 700].
  • Ingredients “in descending order of predominance.”

Food product labels must also include:

  • Prominent information panel (placement guidelines are listed in the FDA’s Food Labeling Guide).
  • Ingredients, allergens, and nutrition information, following FDA specifications, including typeface, weight, and uniform display.
  • Serving size.

The FDA’s comprehensive Food Labeling Guide is easy to follow and offers clarification and details on important areas like beverages, fruit juices, canned goods, and more. All food, drink, and cosmetic sellers should take the time to explore the product labeling requirements and regulations to make sure you're including everything necessary on your product.

Once the critical product labeling requirements have been met, you can figure out the fun part of designing and creating a product label that stands out. You’ll want a label that captures your brand and catches the consumer’s eye. Fortunately, we can help! At T&L Graphic Systems, we know how to create labels that make the most of your product. Reach out today, and we'll help you create the labels you need for all your products.

People Must Know What’s Inside the Test Tube

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Why printed labels are so important

In times of medical uncertainty, like the global Coronavirus pandemic we’re facing, it’s easy to overlook the common tools that contribute to keeping people protected and safe.

Printed labels are one of those important tools that often go unnoticed. From the lab to the clinic, to cleaning and sanitizing supplies, labeling plays a crucial role. When you need to know critical information, labels are a communication method you can depend on.

At T&L Graphics, we’re proud of the small-but-significant role we’re able to play in supporting medical professionals in the laboratory and on the frontlines of fighting the outbreak. Not only do we go above and beyond to meet our client needs, but through our essential work, we’ve supplied our clients with labels when they need them the most. It’s times like these that underscore why printed labels are so important and play a crucial role in patient health and safety.

Here’s why printed labels are more important than ever.

1. Labels Help Laboratories with Accuracy

Laboratories are on the frontlines of any fight against illness. From outbreaks to the flu season, to routine screening tests, labels help laboratories keep track of patient samples and convey important information to technicians. Mislabeled specimens are one of the most common yet preventable sources of errors in the medical field.

When a laboratory technician draws a sample, they affix a label with a bar code to track the specimen. This thermally printed label will accompany the sample through every phase of the journey, from the draw through the diagnostic laboratory tests.

2. Labels Keep Medical Staff Organized

In a busy clinic or emergency room, practitioners rely on the accurate messaging provided by medical labels. Our thermal labels are printed with bar-coded information that is uniquely assigned to each patient. With a simple scan, clinicians can access patient information as needed.

Printed medical labeling also ensures that pharmaceutical details are clearly printed and adhered to bottles. Warning and biohazard labels ensure that personnel follow safety protocols and provide patients with what they need when they need it the most. When there's no room for error, labels promote accuracy and organization.

3. Labels Stay in Place in Many Conditions

Thanks to special adhesives, our medical labels hold up to a variety of conditions, from the heat of the autoclave to chemical baths, cryogenics, and refrigeration. Labeling is critical to all aspects of testing and treatment. When you rely on a label, you need an adhesive that won’t budge!

Special coatings are available to protect labels from moisture, heat, and chemicals. UV coatings are treated with ultraviolet light to cure the protective varnish. These labels are used in medical laboratories, phlebotomy, critical care, and throughout the many steps of the diagnostic process.

4. Labels Help Keep Track While Protecting Privacy

Professionals rely on printed labels to convey information clearly and accurately. Easy-to-read, smudge-proof labels are crucial for patient care. But bar-coded labels also play an essential part in patient protection.

With thermal printing, a scannable barcode protects patient privacy and ensures that personal information is never exposed. Not only does label barcoding help clinicians track samples throughout the testing process, but labels ensure patient information is kept private.

Labels may not seem vital, but in a medical emergency, conveying accurate information is a matter of life and death. When you need information that you can rely on, printed labels deliver.

T&L applauds the many frontline workers who are battling to keep us safe and protected during times of medical crisis. We’re proud to assist workers with reliable printed labels to help them do their critical jobs. Contact us for all your printed label needs, including labels that will keep patients safe and withstand the harshest conditions.

Going Above and Beyond to Keep You Happy

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Label converter company

Does your label converter company go above and beyond to keep you happy?

At T&L Graphic Systems, we’ve built a strong reputation as the label converter company that exceeds customer expectations. The fact is most of our business comes from referrals and word-of-mouth from our happy customers.

Why do customers trust T&L? Because we go the extra mile to keep our clients satisfied. New clients often come to us with one or two product lines, only to find they’re so pleased they eventually bring over all their label needs. One of our customers started with one SKU and we now print over 400 SKUs for their business.

At the end of the day, it's because we're easy to deal with. There's no hassle, excellent quality, and unparalleled service. Does your label converter offer all that?

5 Questions you should ask before you choose a label printing company.

1. Does Your Label Converter Give You the Run-Around?

One aspect our customers love about us is that there's no red tape to deal with. When customers call, they speak with Doug or Steve. We're the decision-makers, and we've been in the industry for over 30 years. Our customers know they have constant access to the top brass.

If there's a problem with a label order, customers talk directly to us. There's no bureaucracy. You aren't passed around to various salespeople who over-promise and under-deliver. We'll tell you exactly what you can expect, and we’ll make sure the job is completed to your satisfaction. You’ll get an accurate quote on price, time, and product.

2. Does Your Label Converter Adjust Artwork if Needed?

At T&L Graphic Systems, we employ our own in-house art department dedicated to making adjustments to your labels. Our art department doesn't create logos, design flyers, or build layouts. They're there to make sure your label prints out precisely to your specifications.

Often clients come to us with beautiful artwork, but there are adjustments needed. In food labeling, for example, there are often small changes—adding ingredients, changing instructions. Our design department expertly modifies and tweaks the artwork you provide us to ensure your label has the right text.

3. Does Your Label Converter Company Make their Own Plates?

One of our specialties is creating our own plates for our Mark Andy Performance Series P5 press. In fact, we recently upgraded our plate-making equipment, allowing us to create some of the best plates in the industry. When our in-house art department receives your files, they create proofs. Once you approve the proofs, our art department makes them into plates.

This ability to create our own custom-made, state-of-the-art plates is unique in our industry. The quality is excellent, and your waiting time is significantly reduced. We're able to offer quick turn-around and fulfillment with beautiful labels.

4. Does Your Label Converter Offer Warehousing?

Some label converter companies require all your inventory paid upfront. Others refuse to warehouse your projects because they don't have space or capacity. We offer warehousing storage and we don’t charge when the bill is released, as most label converters do.

When you bring us a project, we can flow it out slowly over time. This allows for a bigger print run and cuts the overall cost of your printing project. Best of all, there are no hidden charges and add-ons. Warehousing is one of the regular services we offer.

5. Is Your Label Converter an Expert?

The main difference that sets T&L Graphic Systems apart is our expertise. Because we work in a very specific industry niche, we know our product backward and forward. We understand the label substrate and adhesives required for different applications. We know which finishes will protect your label and which cuts will look great on your product.

Because we got our start in the medical industry, we also uniquely understand the demands of medical labeling and the needs of hospitals and physicians. We know what works and what doesn’t, and we’ll use our knowledge to help guide you.

When you work with us, you will work with people who go above and beyond for our customers. Should anything go awry, we own our mistakes and take care of the problem. We know what's most important is that you get the labels you need to continue your daily operations.

Can your label converter company do all that? And if not, shouldn’t you expect more?

Contact us today to learn how T&L Graphics will meet the needs and demands of your business with our unparalleled performance and unmatched approach to customer satisfaction.

‘Tis the Season for Variably Imaged Labels

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Variably Imaged Labels

As the end of the year approaches, your thoughts likely turn to end-of-year planning, holiday vacations, New Year goals, resolutions…and variably imaged labels?

It's true. The end of the year (and the start of the next) is often a busy time for ordering labels across many industries. Here at T&L Graphic Systems, we often see an increase in orders for our variable data labels. If you haven’t started to think about your labeling needs for next year, now is the time.

Here are several of the industries we serve, where variable data labels are a must-have.

Variably Imaged Labels in the Medical Industry

We started by serving the healthcare industry, and this is still the heart of our printing business. There are few other industries where accuracy and tracking are quite literally a matter of life and death.

Variable bar-coded labels ensure that patient information is seamless. One of the primary uses for variable bar-coded labels is in specimen tracking and medical slides. When a patient under your care has any lab work run, the labels are critical to tracking and accuracy.

The medical industry requires the highest quality labels that hold up to the strain of Xylene baths and other chemical solutions in the sterilization process. Lamination and specialized adhesive ensure the variable bar-coded labels stay put, no matter what.

Most medical practices are setting up supplies for the new year, so it's a great time to order labels and ensure you've stocked up. We print labels with any data, QR, and barcoding that you may need to fit your current system.

Tracking Inventory in Retail, Trucking, and Shipping

This really is the season for retail, and we print variably imaged labels for many distributors who serve major retailers and manufacturers. Tote labels in backstock, shipping, and conveying ensure orders never get lost or misplaced. Shipping and tracking systems require a unique code to track orders through miles of conveyors, and each unique code specifies the critical order information. Trucking companies use PRO number labels to ensure every shipment has a unique tracking code.

We print consecutive barcodes to align with any warehouse tracking and shipping system. Work-in-progress systems offer real-time tracking to tell you exactly where any order is within your process. We can populate codes according to your needs and ensure each label is sturdy, reliable, accurate, and stays in place. Warehouse shipping and tracking labels are something most people rarely think of, but it’s so critical to client satisfaction, inventory, and order accuracy.

Something as seemingly minor as a low-grade label may cost your business dearly in terms of shrink and loss. Our variable data labels are accurate and of the highest grade quality. Labels are graded on an ANSI scale of A-F (like a student’s report card), and we will never sell a label that scores below a B. When you need quality you can count on, don't cut corners.

Ensuring Safety and Security with Serial Numbers and Void Labels

Many manufacturing and repair plants implement consecutive number labels. These property tags are printed with serial numbers on durable material. Not only do these unique numbers help keep track of equipment, but it's a valuable security step as well.

Similarly, void labels add another level of security across almost any industry. Typically used in the pharmaceutical, medical, and retail industries, these void labels tell users if the product has been tampered with at all.

When it comes to variably imaged labels, a lot is riding on those little black lines of a barcode. At T&L, we know how vital your labels are to the accuracy of your business and the safety of your clientele. In addition to adhering to the highest grading system, to ensure no chance of failure, we do a rigorous quality check.

During our quality check, we ensure there are no missing labels in the run. If anything is out of place, we stop the press and correct the issue. Believe it or not, many printers will just include a note letting you know there are a few missing barcodes.

Our high-speed printers ensure jobs are completed astonishingly fast. At T&L, we have the experience and implement the right quality controls to ensure your order is completed on-time and with the highest level of accuracy.

So, this season, as you're looking ahead and making your resolutions, be sure you’ve ordered your labels for the new year. T&L will help you set up for success with labels you can depend on.