So, You Want to Make a Food Label Online?
So, you want to know how to make a food label online, it’s quite simple really… Get yourself a label management software or a Print company that can do both.
Why?
Because you can’t be sure that you aren’t breaking the law and forgetting some vital information on those labels with some free online label maker. It could cost you a drastically obscene amount legally for your failures, no we’re not just talking about having products pulled from shelves or offline because you got reported for missing vital information.
Feeling the fear yet?
You should be, at least considering what research you have done already and what is legally required on your food labels. Not only that but you need to ask yourself:
- Do you have a professional/trustworthy-looking logo?
- Does your brand have a familiar feel with your label designs regarding colour scheme or fonts for example?
- Are your fonts legally the correct size and information clear?
- Is your label information in the correct format?
- Can you understand your label?
- Have you Bolded the allergens in your ingredients list?
- Did you calculate the Nutritional Information Correctly?
- Does Your label design stand out?
- Can you tell what your brand values are from your label information?
These are just a few things to consider before you go off on your merry way to design something with a free tool such as Canva. Within free tools there are many templates you can use and manipulate to fit your needs; they lack information that those in the industry can help you achieve such as the best material types or colour that will fit your product and business needs at a better cost and lessen your wastage. These templates are often generic and don’t stand out amongst similar product options. However, they can be a quick fix for home printing but would be unsuitable for larger runs.
Professional home printing can be achievable by using label management software and materials that align with your printer specifications. It can lack the ability to properly focus on getting your design central and won’t provide you with industry insight on how to draw in your consumer market.
There are label tools online that are reputable, developed by those within the food industry or print industry, or even a combination of both. These tools and software are varied in what they can do and what type of labels or systems they can be used on, with different options to use and categories added to help you achieve compliant labels. Not only that but some can even have the option to import your ingredient and product information straight into the database such as Tolarus.
An example of types of functions some tools might include or focus on, are the nutritional values/ QUID values, while others will let you build your own database and pull the product information to your label design.
The most important thing when choosing a software or company to go with is that, you need to be sure that the label software or options you choose will not only align with your business and marry up perfectly to suit your products, but the information provided will be fully compliant with laws and regulation.
For example, you might want a company that can provide a design or bureau service and print in-house, saving you the stress of printing product labels yourself, this also gives you more warehouse space and saves you time to focus on other areas of business.
What about custom labels?
Custom labels are fantastically unique and secure to your brand, once you know what it is you’re wanting to create. There are many print companies with graphic designers and digital services and solutions available in-house that can meet your needs. The benefit of working with a smaller company such as Tolarus, is that they value your results and outcomes as much as you do. When you succeed, they succeed.
Once you have settled on a design, you need to figure out which material or style of print you are looking for, such as inkjet with gloss to get your labels to really *PoP* and call to consumers from the store shelves or in a sea amongst social media advertising.
With Tolarus you have the option to change fonts and upload label designs to assign to your products within the database, giving you the time and control you need to get it right. It’s easy to update ingredients within a product and make quick changes to always keep compliant.
What about cost?
Only you can determine the budget to spend on this section of your product and business. There are a variety of companies with software options and various features that can and will meet your needs.
There are a number of label software that offer free trials or a period in which to decide if it is right for you before proceeding and committing. Some companies may even offer you a sample package including label designs and what results you can achieve and booklets or information about the software. (We at Tolarus can do that for you!)
Overall?
It really is worth investing in proper labelling solutions or services to make sure your products don’t get pulled off the shelves for the wrong reasons leaving you more out of pocket or worse!
It’s vital to comply with laws and regulations regarding your product and the product specification, you want to be known for having the best product and trusted brand rather than the latter. For UK Food Labelling laws and information Go Here.