Beverage Labeling

Beverage labeling includes wine, spirits, soft drink and water labeling. The use of pressure sensitive labels is growing rapidly in labeling wines and spirits. The adhesive and face stock must perform well during washing, pasteurization, filling, transportation, chilling and drinking. The adhesive must also resist ice bucket immersion for white wines and champagnes.

A special element in wine and spirits labeling is the wet strength resistance of face stock to moist environments or humid substrates. For example, wine labels must often withstand long-term storage in cold, humid cellars.

Depending on the wine qualities, different printing methods can be used. For high quality wines and spirits, the printing method currently employed is offset. Labels are elaborate with many different colors, up to and exceeding 10. Complementary techniques, such as embossing and hot foiling, are also often used. Face stocks for these types of bottles are either cast coated materials or textured papers. For standard quality wines, which are usually produced in large quantities, UV-flexo is typically used when printing coated papers.