With Seafood Expo North America taking place in Boston on 15-17 March, Rob Lewis, head of technical and innovation at Catapult Print, a leading US-based linerless label provider for the seafood sector, discusses the advantages of linerless labels in driving operational efficiency, reducing waste and delivering quality and compliance.
With so much volatility and price fluctuation in the seafood market, hanging on to market share and margin is more challenging than ever. Keeping quality high and costs down is critical, which is why both seafood producers and retailers are increasingly looking to linerless labels to help them achieve both of those goals.
Labels may not seem like a major part of the cost profile for seafood products, but when labelling fails, the impact on production is immediate and significant. Quality issues, such as labels detaching due to moisture or smearing under stress, can result in inconsistency across SKUs, compliance failures, and even rejected shipments. Remaining lean and agile throughout the packaging process is vital if product is going to get to store with the required quality, shelf-life and traceability, and any procurement problems or delays have a huge knock-on effect, because the product cannot leave the plant without a compliant label.
Meanwhile elevating the shelf-appeal and extending the shelf life of products also helps to drive sales and preserve margin. Vacuum skin packaging is becoming more prevalent in the seafood sector, because it showcases the product clearly while preserving freshness and extending shelf life. This, in turn, has become a catalyst for switching to linerless, because linerless labels fit neatly to the substrate with a fully adhered and print-fast label that moulds to the contours of the pack.
How can linerless make a difference?
Linerless labels are produced without the silicone-coated backing paper typically used to carry labels on a roll. While this might appear to be a small change in materials, the operational implications can be substantial. Eliminating the liner entirely, not only means eliminating the waste of all those discarded liners, but also more labels on a roll, which means fewer roll changes, less storage space, and reduced carbon and costs from transport.
Some producers may be reticent to switch to linerless because of the cost implications, but this is short-sighted. Alongside the quality and compliance benefits linerless delivers, linerless is actually a cost-effective option because it offers a cleaner process with fewer steps and higher quality, thicker materials. This provides opportunities for operational savings and waste reduction, with temperature-tested linerless materials specially designed for chilled and wet environments offering high-definition, temperature-stable print quality that holds under stress.
Linerless labels and vacuum skin packaging are a perfect match for the seafood sector, delivering an exceptionally clean and tamper evident pack. This combination de-risks the product because there is no possibility of the product being separated from its sleeve during transit or storage, either accidentally or purposefully, protecting the brand and/or retailer from issues that could arise from mislabelling, such as allergen incidents or sleeve switches to higher value items, which could lead to financial losses in store.
A move from sleeves to linerless labels on vacuum skin packs can also have huge operational cost benefits. One of Catapult’s customers was able to increase throughput from 45 packs/minute to 90 packs/minute, which enabled them to save an entire shift in labour costs. Linerless wins on time savings vs traditional pressure sensitive labels too. Linerless enables more packs to be labelled per minute, delivering more efficient production lines and giving packers more margin.
Building on the benefits
As with any sector where shelf-life is limited, compliance is mission critical, and margins are under pressure, positive changes to packaging strategy should be optimised by working with a partner that can leverage the full benefits of linerless technology.
Linerless labels can help to reduce waste and overheads while enhancing quality and compliance, and working with a supplier that can offer improved reliability, shorter lead times and real-time management data will supercharge those advantages. It is clear that there is a move from retailers to mandate the switch to linerless and nominate forward-focused supply chain partners for their co-packers to support a more agile value chain from catch to counter – the move to linerless is not just operational, it is strategic too.
