by admin | Jun 28, 2017 | Beer Wine Spirits, Technical
Premium Wine Label Papers are the starting point for distinctive labels that help your product get noticed. The wine market is very crowded and you need an edge to stand out on the retail shelf. Premium Wine Label Papers make a difference – here is what you need to know about them.
Call us for free samples of our Wine Label Materials.
Face Material Thickness
This is what you see on the bottle, and probably the most important part of your label stock selection. The thickness is measured in basis weight – the actual weight in pounds of 500 sheets of paper (typically 19″ x 25″ sheets). Our thinner face materials are 60# and our most popular is 70# Bright White Felt. We even have a 90# (Ever Opaque) material in white and cream – this material feels thick and elegant on the bottle.
Face Material Texture and Color
Besides thickness, many people want a texture on their Premium Wine Label Papers. We have that, too! Besides the texture, we offer bright white and eggshell (cream) colored stocks. Color can always be printed onto the label, but having a nice, rich color and texture to begin with is very important.
Moisture Barrier
A new winery client – Blakeslee Vineyards – and his designer – Chris Noud from NowDesign – recently introduced us
to Ever Opaque wine label stocks. These two materials have a thin polyester backing behind the label face. This barrier significantly improves performance in an ice bucket. We highly recommend these materials for white, rose’ and sparkling wines. The material costs a bit more, but the performance in an ice bucket is unmatched by any other material. Call us for samples.
Adhesive
The label isn’t much good to you if it doesn’t stay on the bottle. Having a proper adhesive for glass bottle application is critical. Our wine label business continues to grow and we have the proper adhesives to go through your label application system correctly.
Backing Paper (Liner)
This isn’t the most exciting part of a Premium Wine Label Paper, but it is critical to performance. We offer both 44# brown Kraft backing and 1.2mil Clear PET backing. Please discuss this with your equipment supplier or mobile bottler. Each machine seems to work best with one type of label stock – it is always better to check up front rather than dealing with problems on the bottling line.
by admin | May 2, 2017 | Company News, Technical, Videos
We Constantly Reinvest in the Latest Technology to Serve You Better
Servo driven technology keeps us on the cutting edge. Our customers demand better labels each day. We work hard to bring them to you faster, more accurately, and at a more competitive price. By investing in our fourth state of the art, servo driven machine, we are raising the bar on quality each day. Servo driven technology means our machines are faster, more reliable, and more accurate for you.
Video – See the Machine in Action!
Check out this 2 minute video to see the machine running in our shop. This isn’t a demo or a factory video – this is our machine running on our floor! Click here to see the video of this new machine.
Faster Label Production
With speeds up to 900 feet per minute, this servo driven technology flies through the orders. The touch screen setup is faster and the actual rewind process is much faster than before.
More Accurate Roll Counts
With precise servo driven technology, you know you will get exactly the roll count you need. Being able to deliver repeatable, high quality labels is a cornerstone of what we do at Rose City Label.
Servo Driven Technology – More Reliable – Meeting Commitments
Being able to guarantee on-time deliveries is important to our customers. By constantly upgrading and modernizing, we can be sure that our equipment will be ready to serve you – on time, every time. If a machine does break down, modern electronics backed by a US company help us to always be back up and running quickly. This machine helps us to stand behind our commitments.
Constantly Modernizing For You!
As we continue on our 90th year of label production, we are not resting on our success. We are constantly moving forward with the latest technology innovations. Check out our new Foil Stamping Press by clicking here. We also added environmentally friendly, water-wash printing plates last year. Check out this post to learn more about these new printing plates. Please call us today for all your label needs – we are working hard and preparing for the future so we can always be your trusted label printing partner.
by admin | May 2, 2017 | Technical
Pantone® Matching System Color
Chart
PMS Colors Used
For Printing Labels
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This chart is intended as a reference guide only. PANTONE Computer
Video simulations displayed may not exactly match
PANTONE®-identified color standards. Use current PANTONE Color
Publications for most accurate color.
PANTONE® and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property
of Pantone, Inc. |
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by admin | Mar 9, 2017 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples, Technical
Wine Symposium Networking
The Oregon Wine Symposium is a great event for Rose City Label. This event is packed with people following their dreams. They are passionate about making the best possible wine – they want to earn a good living, but for most producers, it is calling to make great wine. There are three main parts to this Wine Symposium Networking:
- To connect with current and future customers
- To stay current on the issues, pressures, and trends facing the overall industry
- To network with others that serve the wine community
In a previous post we talked about the amazing, grass roots marketing advice from Clare Carver – check out that post by clicking here. Besides that fantastic, motivational session, we got several other good ‘nuggets’ of information from the Symposium.
Keeping Up with TTB to get a fast, easy COLA
This presentation falls under reason number 2 above – Demaris Brown from the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is actually one of the people on the other end of the label approval process. She and her colleagues sign off to award a Certificate of Label Approval (COLA). Ms. Brown gave a fast paced presentation about the required (and non-required) elements on a label. She also gave great tips about common errors – if wine label designers can just eliminate these common errors, their approval rates will go way up. These slides have current, important information about wine label approvals.
Band Together – The Power of the Wine Industry
Our customer, Pattie Bjornson of Bjornson Vineyards, gave a wonderful testimonial about the power of joining and supporting your industry association. Some time ago, Pattie and her husband Mark learned about plan by a national company to build an asphalt plant right down the road from her vineyard and tasting room. They contacted the prospective ‘neighbor’ to express their concern about the aesthetic (and ultimately financial) impact that this smelly, loud plant would have on their vineyard and business. The company, she said, was very polite but also very candid, stating – ‘nobody wants a plant of ours near them – we fight this everywhere we build, and we never lose’. Since her direct contact approach didn’t work, Pattie turned to the collective power of the industry.
Through smart connections and advocacy, Pattie and the industry were able to convince the permitting and zoning authorities of the tremendous negative affects the asphalt plant would have on the region. With this collective voice, the pressure and the economic facts were strong enough to get things done that Bjornson couldn’t do on their own and the plant was never built. This real life example was a compelling reason to support your trade and advocacy groups, regardless of your industry.
Click here to visit the website for Bjornson Vineyards – it shows their beautiful setting that would have been greatly impacted by this industrial asphalt plant.
Wine Symposium Networking – The Social Sip
Since our business has been around since 1928, we have built up some great relationships. We have connections and vendors in nearly every area connected to print or marketing. We love to connect our clients to good resources. This almost never results in direct business for us, but it serves our customers and it gets repaid over time.
One great new resource we met at the Symposium is Brooke Huffman of The Social Sip. This is a boutique marketing agency based in Seattle that really understands and caters to the wine industry. Brooke and I spent some time on the phone and she really knows her stuff – she loves wine, loves helping people grow their brand, and has the technical smarts to make it happen. Check out the Social Sip by clicking here.
Why give her a try? Besides being good at her craft, she makes it easy! I love the simplicity of monthly packages with a fixed, predictable price. Working by the hour, a project can quickly get out of hand. With a fixed monthly budget, you know what you get and what you pay – no surprises. Packages are even themed specifically around the different point ratings applied to wines – you can get the 85 point value package, the 90 point, or the 95+ point ‘extraordinary quality’ package. If she has this clever marketing twist for herself, I’m pretty sure she does a great job for her clients,, too! Check out the affordable packages by clicking here.
That’s a Wrap!
Wine Symposium Networking is a valuable part of how we grow this part of our label printing business. Hopefully we will see you there next year. In the meantime, if you need advice or suggestions about your labels, we would love to help. For anything in a bag, box or bottle, we can print a high quality label, delivered on time, at a fair price – call us today!
by admin | Mar 3, 2017 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples, Technical
What is it all About?
The Oregon Bottle Bill was created in 1971 and was a groundbreaking way to encourage recycling in our state. In fact, it was the first bill of its kind in the country. Though we continue to innovate in the area of recycling, we haven’t been meeting our goals the past few years. As a result, the bottle deposit is going up.
Because the redemption rates for 2014 and 2015 were below 80%, ORS 459A.705 requires the refund value to increase to 10¢.
Read the full text of the OLCC explanation by clicking here.
Read a related post on this site about the bottle reuse by clicking here.
OLCC Enforcement
The best practice for all affected beverage companies is always to be in full compliance with the law, but we know it isn’t always easy to hit every deadline. Industry sources have speculated that the year 2017 will likely be a transition year and the OLCC won’t be aggressively going after people with outdated information on their bottles. Resources are tight and the OLCC has many other issues to deal with, like regulating marijuana and it’s packaging.
Don’t Wait Too Long
Presumably most mass merchant stores are going to automatically impose the 10c deposit at the check stand on April 1st, regardless of what the label says. The fee will be collected and the refund will be offered in accordance with the new law right away, even if the label still says 5c redemption in Oregon. Even with that in mind, it is a good time to look at your labels and see if there are other revisions you need. If you need help, we have a great selection of graphic designers that can help – just ask.
Make it an Opportunity for a Facelift
Nobody likes legislation to force them into spending money on label updates. That’s no fun for anyone. But, if you use this change constructively, it can be an opportunity for a brand review. Labels don’t last forever – our most successful beverage brands refresh their labels every 3-5 years. Make it a part of your annual business review to ‘audit’ your branding to make sure it is still telling the story you want. Your target consumer may have shifted over time and you want to make sure your message is still resonating with those core customers. You have to tweak the redemption value, so you might as well get some value out of the process, right?
We Can Help
We aren’t regulatory or compliance lawyers, and we don’t do much true graphic design from scratch. What we do have is a wealth of practical knowledge – we have our finger on the pulse of the beverage market every day. Please call us today – we can help with a simple text change or a full brand refresh. Cheers!
by admin | Feb 24, 2017 | Beer Wine Spirits, Technical
As the demand for more natural, relatively healthy products continues to grow, we are happy to pass along this guidance from TTB regarding Organic claims on your labels. Organic wine labels require special approval. The requirements to call your wine, beer, or distilled spirits ‘Organic’ are very strict. This is a serious designation, and a big commitment for producers. If you want to go down the road to Organic certification for your product, here are some good resources to start with:
Cooperating with Department of Agriculture
Because the regulation of Organic products generally falls outside the scope of the TTB (which provides label approvals for alcoholic beverages) there is a very detailed agreement between the two agencies. That memo, along with other guidelines, are published on this page:
Click here to see this page. There is also an excellent FAQ section to get the basic concepts on this topic. This page covers all types of Organic alcohol products, with specific guidance on beer, wine, and spirits.
Examples for Organic Wine Labels
Click here to see this page. Thankfully, this 8-page PDF provides many good examples of correct (and incorrect) Organic wine labels. Sometimes seeing the wrong examples is almost as helpful as seeing the correct ones. There are very specific requirements to make sure you are making correct, approved claims about the ingredients, the production techniques, and the finished product.
Trust the Experts – Find Good Examples
It is always wise to begin surveying the market leaders – what do their labels look like? What logos and certificates do they provide on their labels? Are they in your local area or AVA? Perhaps you could meet them and talk about their journey to Organic Wine Label certification? Also, lean on your vendors – suppliers of equipment, glass, labels and other items can often provide a wealth of knowledge in specific areas. Don’t try to learn everything alone – connect with your peers and learn from their experience. Most people are happy to share knowledge.
We Can Help!
If it is a label printing question, we can help. If it is regulatory or design related, we can probably direct you to the proper resource. Experience and a strong network are very helpful when you are starting down a new path. Call us today – we can help. Cheers!
