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Case Study

Developing New Products: Cotton Labels

There may be no other place where packaging drives differentiation and delivers brand benefit than in the wine industry. The custom solutions and unique finishing requirements across a variety of conditions makes it even more important to pick the right label material.

Among the many options for pressure sensitive label materials, non-tree label options have been growing for their look and sustainable nature. An established printer of premium wine labels was offering and selling cotton materials into the wine market but challenges with long lead time on material supply and a non-ideal off-white label look, made it hard to forecast material and sell in new accounts.

The Challenge

Develop a brighter white, heavier gauge cotton product that has lead times to allow for fast turn-around. Given the cotton market is narrowly defined with raw material partners, the ideal product did not exist. A new cotton face would have to be developed.

The Solution

The printer contacted Technicote to see if we had a stocked cotton product that was brighter as an alternative to the current cotton labels. “That type of product didn’t exist in our current specialty beverage portfolio,” said Jerry Spence, Senior Technical Marketing Manager. “However, we knew how to develop a solution that met their needs, working with supply partners and using Technicote’s development process,” said Spence.

Working with Technicote and Technicote’s supply partners, Spence and team began rounds of development and testing. Within less than 40 days, a new face sheet was developed. The wet strength sheet had a 97 brightness, a heavier 74# sheet and had outstanding ice bucket performance results. In addition to co-developing a new sheet, Technicote was able to supply the finished material in multiple widths in our California manufacturing plant to ensure fast service on every order.

The Results

The cotton product was widely accepted by the printer’s customers and delivery times have been greatly improved. To learn more about Technicote’s new cotton line, click here.

“That type of product didn’t exist… however, we knew how to develop a solution… using Technicote’s development process.”

Jerry Spence, Technical Marketing Manager