Where Is the Money? Labels San Jose CA

Two elements are driving the label market: multi-color and multi-page. These are the two products most tag and label printers specifically mention when asked, "What is your money maker?"

The reason for color is obvious: Products must have attractive labels in order to catch consumers' eyes. Multi-page, accordion-style labels do a great job of hiding all of the black text required on most cosmetic and health and beauty containers.

Tag, You're It

"Everybody can do one- or two-color labels," says Charlie DeFranza, owner of Ascot Tag and Label Co., Newark, N.J. "High-quality multi-color is where you make the money."

Ascot also finds a lot of profit in its tags, especially when they are produced on top of a label. "We can supply tags that have peel off labels, like a hotel luggage tag. We find there is a lot of demand for those [types of products]."

With the majority of its business in tags, Ascot Tag and Label has had a profitable year so far servicing its Tri-State area customers with both labels and tags. The major challenge to the business, according to Mr. DeFranza, is the conglomerate suppliers, which sell everything to hotels and casinos.

Dilip Patel, owner of Shree Ji Printing, Carlstadt, N.J., agrees that the money in labels can be found in multiple colors.

In Living Color

"We specialize in food product labels from one to eight colors, in any material of your choice. We have printed labels on different types of materials, such as freezer compatible, refrigerator compatible, and more," Mr. Patel notes.

Shree Ji Printing offers high-quality, flexo-printed four-color process labels. Most of these are printed with UV curable inks to add durability. "We can print up to eight colors to complement the four-color process image.

"We can produce mostly any size or shaped decals. Our UV-cured inks provide high gloss and durability. Our vinyl labels can be printed up to eight colors. We offer options such as back adhesive, face adhesive, and more. Vinyls used on these labels are resistant to weather; labels can be used indoors, as well as outdoors," he adds.

With the food label market in particular, Mr. Patel explains, "There are always new products and new sizes of products being introduced to the marketplace, and that is where we get a lot of our business."

Flipping Out

According to Vice President Chris Freddo at New York Label and Boxworks, Islandia, N.Y., multi-page booklet labels, sometimes known as extendable content labels, are a great way to add value to a product's packaging and increase its promotional appeal. These types of labels are used for promotions, recipes, and mail-in offers, or to consolidate warranty information or conceal unattractive text.

Another specialty item that New York Label produces is a resealable coupon label, which is useful for vitamin and pharmaceutical products, particularly when extensive information must be included on the container. A pressure-sensitive adhesive along the edge allows the pages to be read, resealed, and then left intact for later reference.

Beau Label, New York City, has also had success this year with coupon and booklet labels. "Because of strict government requirements for labels on health and beauty products, we print many multi-page labels in order to fit all the text," explains Owner V.J. Melapioni.

Multi-layer peel-off coupons, accordion style, are also popular. The firm also produces four-color process, pressure-sensitive, and custom tags.