Sleeve label dresses exotic Chai teas (sidebar)

Chai label ‘steams’ to bottle

Full-body sleeve labels are usually shrunk onto bottles in a tunnel that directs hot air to do the job. For Celestial Seasonings’ Mountain Chai, however, labels are shrink-applied with steam.

The unusual process is completed by Ally Labeling and Packaging on equipment manufactured by Fuji Seal Europe bv, formerly Intersleeve bv, Holland. The company is part of the American Fuji Seal (Bardstown, KY) Global Network.

“The equipment is fairly new,” says Ally owner Tom Uhl, who explains that the machine is now being used for other new label applications, as well. “With steam, you get a very soft wrap, the colors on the label stay brighter, and [for Mountain Chai], as long as the label is adhered to the bottle’s base and bottom, the label won’t distort.”

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