Labels for sustainable fruit and vegetable packaging

Customised - for food-compliant and environmentally friendly product labelling

The usage scenario: Up-to-date labelling of sustainable fruit and vegetable packaging - with all the required information

The sustainability of packaging is playing an increasingly important role for consumers: the environment should be burdened as little as possible. At the same time, consumers want their fruit and vegetables to be hygienically packaged and remain fresh until they are consumed, and to survive transport undamaged.

The trend in the fruit and vegetable departments of supermarkets cannot be overlooked: away from plastic packaging and towards more sustainable packaging solutions made of cardboard, paperboard or paper.

Cardboard made from FSC-certified raw materials, recycled materials or even raw materials made from Silphie fibres are often used for environmentally friendly packaging.

What they all have in common is the consistent avoidance of plastic film.

While the previous plastic packaging allowed the product to be seen through its transparency, the new sustainable cardboard packaging achieves this through special cut-outs.

Labels are the ideal solution for labelling this cardboard packaging with the daily updated and prescribed product information.

The basic packaging can be procured economically in large batch sizes, and the label turns it into customised product packaging. Printed in the production process, in the required quantity, with the production-specific information.

Labels are required that adhere securely and reliably to different, often rough cardboard surfaces and enable easily legible print results.

They must also be able to be applied to the machine packaging systems without any problems.

And ideally, they should also be made from sustainable labelling materials.

Sustainable Labels: Apple in Cardboard Packaging with Label

The solution: labels for fruit and vegetable packaging made from environmentally friendly and food-compliant materials, for thermal transfer printing

White labels on a roll for thermal transfer printers and thermal printers - that sounds simple. In this particular application, however, it's the detail that counts.

Cardboard surfaces, made from different raw materials, can be very different. The spectrum ranges from very smooth surfaces, e.g. created by print varnishing, to matt, rough surfaces, e.g. with recycled or silphie material, to extremely rough and uneven trays (moulded fibre parts), which are used for berries, for example.

Our label materials from our own adhesive material production offer an equally wide range of adhesive properties. Depending on the surface, we work with you to select the right labelling material - for reliable adhesion right through to the consumer.

Another aspect is suitability for food labelling. The labels used for this application fulfil the food regulations according to BfR and FDA - they are suitable for direct contact with dry, non-greasy foods. The labels can be recycled together with the packaging cardboard.

We offer a wide selection of sustainable label materials for subsequent printing with thermal transfer printers:
Labels made from recycled paper, Silphie fibres or grass underline the sustainability approach particularly well with their "natural" look. Labels made from FSC-certified label materials can also be used.
If you use direct thermal printers for labelling in your company:
We will work with you to select the right material from our wide range of thermal labels, for example, our moisture-resistant Thermo Top material.

We produce your product labels either blank or pre-printed in colour.

High-quality colour-printed labels with brand logo, product image and other fixed data are produced on modern digital printing machines, even in small and medium runs. Whether blank or pre-printed in colour: in both cases, the daily updated imprint takes place in your production process - with changing content such as filling weight, lot numbers, date of manufacture and country of origin.

Our high-quality labelling materials provide the best printing results - with high contrast for perfect barcode readability.

Customisation on a roll (sleeve, roll length, maximum outer diameter, etc.) is carried out according to your specifications, depending on your in-house printing system.

The size of the label can be freely selected, and special shapes such as round, oval or any other special shape are also possible - so that the label fits perfectly on your packaging and may even be particularly eye-catching due to its shape.

In addition to their function as a labelling label, the labels can also be used as a closure label on packaging flaps, as secure proof of first opening, even when applied over corners.

Also discover our labelling solutions - our labelling machines section offers a wide range of solutions for labelling different types of packaging, with an integrated thermal transfer printing unit on request.

Apple packaging made from silphium material

Apple packaging made from silphium material with label

Sustainable Labels: Tomatoes in cardboard packaging with label (indicating lot number and closure function)

What advantages do HERMA labels offer for sustainable fruit and vegetable packaging?

High-quality label papers with the best printing results - optimum contrast for reliable legibility, even with small fonts and barcodes
Reliable adhesion even on rough surfaces
Suitable for direct food contact