5 Reasons Why You Should Use Shrink Sleeve Labels

Small breweries are the bread and butter of the craft beer industry. Brewers selling between one and one thousand barrels (one barrel is equal to thirty-one gallons) made up nearly 75% of American breweries in 2020.¹ 

As a beverage-maker, it’s your job to make your product stand out from the crowd. If you’ve already locked down a mind-blowing flavor palette, it’s time to move on to an equally mind-blowing private label packaging label design. 

If you’re a proud member of the beverage industry looking to improve your sales, branding, and labeling efforts, look no further than shrink sleeve labeling. Shrink sleeve labeling is an alternative to printed cans and pressure-sensitive labeling that provides beverage-makers with more reliability, durability, branding real estate, and precious time. 

If you’re ready to imbue your company’s brand messaging with innovative aluminum can packaging and exceptional designs, consider embracing all that shrink sleeve labels have to offer.

What Are Shrink Sleeve Labels?

Shrink sleeve labeling is a method used for labeling aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and other containers of all shapes and sizes. A shrink sleeve label is a piece of plastic or polyester that is wrapped around a container, then put in a heating chamber where it form-fits to the product container.

Shrink sleeve labels aren’t new in the beverage industry or anywhere else. But, the shrink sleeve labeling process provides certain benefits to beverage-makers that impact the appearance of their products, branding effectiveness, and production timelines.  

In addition to shrink labels, there are two additional labeling methods used by beverage companies: 

• Printed cans – Aluminum cans are directly painted with product branding and text.
• Pressure-sensitive labels (PSL) – Strips of plastic are printed with branding information and text. They’re then adhered to a can using an adhesive product that doesn’t require heating.

For more on the labeling methods, read our blog on ‘Shrink Labels vs Adhesive labels’ to learn more. However, shrink sleeve labels are the most reliable and offer five key benefits. 

#1: Shrink Sleeve Labels are Durable and Form-Fitting

Shrink sleeve labeling produces some of the most reliable labels on the market today. After the heat shrink process, labels are effectively sealed to the product, and removing them requires using a sharp tool, such as a knife or scissors. 

What that means is that shrink sleeve labels won’t fall off the cans or disintegrate when exposed to the elements.

In addition to their durability, shrink sleeve labels form-fit to their containers, mitigating problems experienced with print or pressure-sensitive labels, such as:

• Gapping – The shrink sleeves encase the entire circumference of a can from lip to base, and the heat shrink process creates virtually no space between the label and the can. As such, labels won’t experience mildewing, and the products are sure to have shelf appeal every time.
  
• Slipping – The lip of shrink sleeves at the top and bottom of a can prevents labels from sliding up and down the can. That means once a label has been heat-shrunk to a can, it’s not going anywhere. 
• Deteriorating – Unlike shrink sleeve labels, pressure-sensitive labels can fall off of cans quite easily under the right environmental conditions. For example, when stored in an environment that’s below optimal storage temperature, a can’s pressure-sensitive label can freeze, crack, or lose its stickiness. Submersion in water—in a slushy cooler on a summertime fishing trip, for instance—can also cause adhesives to fail. Conversely, shrink sleeve labels are simply more durable than pressure-sensitive labels. They can’t fall off, and even inclement weather or a long soak in a cooler can’t separate them from an aluminum can. 

#2: Shrink Sleeve Labels are Scratch-Resistant

Shrink sleeve labels will hang on tight to aluminum cans, but they can also withstand scratches, keeping your cans from looking beat long after the canning process. 

The plastic used for shrink sleeve labeling is significantly thicker than the plastic typically used for pressure-sensitive labels, making it more scratch-resistant. Plus, while one small scratch could spread and cause an pressure-sensitive label to fall off, shrink sleeve labels require a sharp, long cut to release their grip on aluminum cans. 

If your company has begun distributing beverages to local grocery stores, bars, and restaurants, consider how your labeling could be impacted by scratches and friction during transit. Printed cans are very susceptible to friction fading, which can obscure both the branding and text information on cans. 

Shrink sleeve labels don’t have this problem. While they’re resistant to scratches, they’re also resistant to friction fading. The plastic label can withstand more friction than printed cans, ensuring that the images and text on your can remain vibrant and effective even at the end of your distribution route. 

#3: Shrink Sleeve Labels Are Vibrant and Clear

The vibrancy of shrink sleeve labels is perhaps their best asset. The images are vivid, and the text is easily legible to consumers. Additionally, clear labeling allows for the following:

• Labeling compliance – The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has numerous size and legibility requirements for labeling alcoholic beverages.² Compliance with regulatory agencies can be difficult for small companies, especially if they’re just getting started with can distribution. But, if the TTB comes calling, you want to ensure that the labeling on your cans is in compliance with labeling requirements.
• Eye-catching designs – Because shrink sleeves are printed on white backgrounds, their images and text pop, making it easy for consumers to read labels and admire your striking packaging. Additionally, the shrink sleeve material makes sure your designs and brand messaging stay intact.

#4: Shrink Sleeve Labels Provide 360-Degree Branding

Shrink sleeve labels allow for designs to be printed anywhere on the outside wall of a can. As such, the product container can accommodate all of the text required for compliant alcohol labeling with plenty of room to spare for: 

• Branded logos
• Vivid graphics
• Text

If your company is planning on expanding to supply convenience stores with single cans, you should consider shrink sleeve labels. Since cans purchased individually don’t have the same amount of branding space as a cardboard case, companies have to pack as much branded material as possible onto the side of a can. 

Unlike shrink sleeve labels, pressure-sensitive labels often have a seam on the can where both ends of an adhesive strip meet. Additionally, pressure-sensitive labels do not cover the top or bottom of a can. Thus, printing on pressure-sensitive labels requires mindfulness of pattern overlap and allowances for printing and cutting margins. 

These qualities of pressure-sensitive labels reduce the amount of information packagers can put on a single can, leaving sparse room for anything but regulatory text and minimal brand imagery. 

Cover your cans with true 360-degree branding with shrink sleeve labels, and don’t let precious can real estate go to waste. 

#5: Shrink Sleeve Labeling is Fast and Easy

Shrink sleeve labeling is a quick and easy alternative to both printed cans and pressure-sensitive labels with fast turnaround times that will have you filling shelves in no time.

Shrink sleeve labeling companies like Wildpack are attuned to the needs of small companies. While some aluminum can printers can take up to six months to complete an order, we offer a turnaround time of four to eight weeks, depending on the size of the order. 

Oftentimes, breweries pressure-label their bottles in-house, which requires expertise and specialized equipment. Unfortunately, this can lead to delays in production or lost products since pressure-label equipment can be difficult to use. Utilizing shrink sleeve labeling services can significantly reduce your can production time. 

In a well-saturated industry like beverage making and  craft brewing, outpacing your competitors can lead to success.

Shrink Sleeve Labeling: Take Your Company’s Branding to the Next Level with Wildpack 

Shrink sleeve labeling offers beverage-makers durable, beautiful, and effective labels that expertly share brand messaging with customers looking for something on the wild side.  

At Wildpack, we’re committed to making high-quality shrink sleeve labels for beverage companies —our fast production times are only a boon to our high-quality services. Our customers are our friends—call anytime if you have questions about the process or are looking to embark on a color-filled journey with our shrink sleeve labels. 

Whether your companyis just beginning to research the canning process or looking for new ways to outshine the competition, you’re on the brink of something big with Wildpack Beverage. We’ll help you nail your can labeling so you can focus on the fun part—creating delicious beverages. To learn more on shrink sleeve application, read our blog on ‘How shrink sleeves are applied’ for more information.

 

Sources: 

1. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Number of Breweries by Production Size: CY 2020. https://www.ttb.gov/images/pdfs/statistics/production_size/2020_brew_prod_size_ttb_gov.pdf
2. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The Beverage Alcohol Manual. https://www.ttb.gov/beer/beverage-alcohol-manual 
3. Brewers Association. Economic Impact. https://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics-and-data/economic-impact-data/