UPM Raflatac launches materials tailored for craft beverages

UPM Raflatac has launched a range of label materials for the fast-growing and highly competitive craft beverage market, as it seeks to ‘help brands tell their story and reflect their craft roots’.

This new portfolio of high quality self-adhesive labels is ideal for all types of craft beverages, including beers, ciders, high-end soft drinks and spirits

The European range includes textured, colored, and metalized papers, as well as ultra-clear and white film materials, all designed to increase the shelf appeal of craft beverages and offer even greater branding flexibility. When decorated with embossing for papers or foiling for films, UPM Raflatac said these new products offer a host of new design possibilities. UPM Raflatac also offers specially formulated adhesives that resist whitening during the pasteurization process.

This new portfolio of high quality self-adhesive labels is ideal for all types of craft beverages, including beers, ciders, high-end soft drinks and spirits. In detailing the new range, UPM Raflatac said textured and embossed papers come in matte or gloss with a wide range of different textures to express the character of the craft beverage being labelled, while metalized papers and foils deliver a high visual impact and strengthen the impression of quality. Clear and white film materials can be used for either a stylish no-label look or an eye-catching white label with printed designs, and Vanish films use an ultra-thin label face and ultra-clear adhesive to create a true ‘no-label’ look, and open up new possibilities for labeling small batches of recyclable drinks cans.

The range of material and texture options will help producers to create a label that attracts and intrigues, as Jay Betton, business segment manager for wine, spirits and craft beverages in the EMEIA region at UPM Raflatac, explained: ‘We want to help brands tell their story and reflect their craft roots with high performance labels that give a natural, authentic, and distinctive look. Our label materials give producers a graphic canvas that shows their company's commitment to artisanship.’