P-s labels provide premium look for pickles

With a family recipe more than 75 years old, Fort Worth, TX-based Best Maid Products, Inc. has grown from a single-kitchen operation to a beloved provider of pickles, relishes, and dressings known throughout the southwestern U.S. What started as a one-room grocery store run by Mildred and Jessie Otis Dalton, who found a niche with their popular homemade mayonnaise and pickle relish, has grown into a multi-building operation housing manufacturing, processing, warehousing, shipping, distribution, and offices. As the company continues to grow, so too does the need to reflect through its packaging the evolution of the brand, while still maintaining its heritage.

Recently, Best Maid switched its package labels from glue-applied paper to pressure-sensitive film labels, supplied by Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials, in an effort to promote the freshness of its product with a broader visual backdrop and improve the graphic appeal of its package label.

“Our initial challenge was making the label pop, and we wanted to keep with our heritage, but show a fresher, more premium image to our existing consumers, while enticing trial from new customers,” says Best Maid’s vice president of operations, Jeff Robinson.

“Previously, our product featured glue-applied paper labels, which created downtime and were susceptible to tearing and scuffing. We felt clear film, pressure-sensitive, versus glue-applied labels, showcased not only our product, but also our vision as being the premium pickle in the market,” he adds.

The new p-s labels are now featured on all of the company’s products—102 SKUs in all—with the exception of its mayonnaise items.

P-s application provides solution
According to Avery Dennison, p-s materials provide brand-building and creative freedom, while blending attractively with the substrate, to enhance product image and raise consumer awareness, which helps boost sales.

“Clear-on-clear self-adhesive labeling helps brands position themselves as contemporary and allows additional graphic attributes to be added to the label,” says Tina Hannan, film product line director, Avery Dennison. “In addition, the clear-on-clear label design creates a premium no-label look that grabs the consumer’s attention and lets the product stand out on shelf.”

Self-adhesive labels can also be cost-effective, due to operational efficiencies that factor into the production equation for end users. Avery Dennison claims that they allow for shorter production runs, faster labeling changes, cleaner processing, and better-quality results compared to glue-applied labels.

Notes Hannan, “With its plug-and-play clean-application attributes, pressure-sensitive is widely viewed as one of the most efficient decoration technologies—achieving some of the highest labeling application speeds with the least downtown.”

With the no-label look capability offered by p-s, Best Maid’s new labels allow consumers to see more of the company’s products in the jar, giving a better sense of its freshness. While leaving the brand’s legacy elements intact, including its iconic caricature “Smiley,” who is said to be the likeness of the founders’ granddaughter, and vibrant colors, the clear label provides an updated, contemporary appearance.

New label pops at the shelf
New labels for the Best Maid packaging were created by The Quake Group. Says Isabel Lamb, Best Maid brand manager, “The Quake Group performed the design work, then it was transferred to our in-house team to duplicate the designs for all 102 retail products.”

Featuring Avery Dennison’s 2.0 clear biaxially oriented polypropylene material, the p-s labels were produced and printed by Smyth Companies LLC (www.smythco.com), using UV flexo on an Omet Varyflex press with eight colors.

“The graphics were fairly straightforward and presented minimal production challenges,” says Bill Orme, marketing communications manager for Smyth. “The feedback from Best Maid Products has been very positive—they liked the overall appearance and print quality.”

In May 2012, the updated label hit store shelves in 17 states offering enhanced shelf-appeal and product image for the brand. Since the introduction of the new label, sales have increased 3% to 5%, with longer-term expectations of 7% to 10%.

“The new labels help our product ‘pop’ and stand out on the shelf, making them more eye-catching for potential consumers,” says Lamb. “Everyone at Best Maid is very excited about the new labels and the direction the company is headed. The labels are a huge improvement and give our brand a new look that is almost as crisp as our pickles!”

The company is featuring the updated label on its Web site home page, with the opportunity for consumers to offer comments on the new look.

“We have received an immense amount of positive feedback from our customers on Facebook and Twitter, at marketing events, and even on phone calls,” Lamb says. “The general opinion is that our new labels make our product look very fresh, clean, and current.”