Linerless Labels — Should You Make the Switch?

Let’s cut to the chase — we all want to know what we’re eating. When it comes to food labelling, consumers are seeking information beyond nutrition facts and ingredients; they’re looking for products that truly align with their diet, their health and their beliefs. Be it organic, gluten-free and vegetarian/vegan symbols or even a particular brand to look out for, these on-package indicators can be the nail in the coffin when it comes to making purchase decisions.

As the food industry evolves, effective labelling carries a growing importance. Nutrition facts regulations, allergy warnings, expiration dates, cooking instructions — the list goes on — all must be clearly labelled for consumers to make healthy and informed decisions. Compliance with these standards while presenting an appealing label design is vital to give products the shelf appeal they need. Pair all of that with concerns of sustainability and responsible food packaging, and frankly, that’s a lot to ask from a label.

Newer to the packaging scene and growing in popularity are linerless labels. Like a roll of tape, linerless labels come without the backing paper, eliminating the waste that builds in the label cassette with each print. Undoubtedly, this makes a great case for sustainability. While we all want to do our part to help the environment, the eco-friendlier option often comes at a higher price, and what’s sustainable for the environment isn’t always sustainable for business. Is it worth it for food packagers to make the switch to linerless?

The Benefits of Linerless Labels

 Flexibility in Design

No more worrying about how much information there is to squeeze onto a 60mm x 55mm — unlike die-cut labels, there’s no set length to linerless labels. You can print as much or as little as you’d like on a single label, using each roll to the fullest without having to exchange rolls to accommodate different designs. In effect, you get more labels per roll than die-cut labels, and with each label printing the perfect length for each design, you get less wasted space, too. Linerless lets you save the cost of purchasing and storing different label lengths and get better value with the roll that can do it all.

Functionality

In the midst of a busy shift, exchanging label rolls can be a hassle. All the backing paper left in the cassette leaves much waste to dispose of, cluttering up what should be a quick and easy process. With linerless labels, there’s no mess of backing paper to pull out of the machine before sliding in a new roll — just a convenient swap that reduces downtime for a better experience overall. And with more labels per roll, these hassle-free exchanges will be even less frequent.

The Bottom Line

Greater output, improved design flexibility, seamless roll exchanges and more labels per roll; the marginal expense of linerless labels saves time, labour and money in the long run — a packaging solution that really is sustainable for both the environment and your business.

In our commitment to continuous improvement and sustainability, Ishida has developed a range of linerless options to suit your business. Whether it’s our new WM-AI-F Linerless Automatic Wrapper or UNI-8 price-computing scale, or even an additional linerless printing kit for your existing UNI series scales, the team at Ishida is happy to help your business achieve its productivity and environmental goals.

For more information on linerless labels and how you can make the switch, contact us at info@ishidacanada.ca