In-mold labeling: creating a new image for food packaging

In-mold labeling: creating a new image for food packaging

In today's fierce market competition, a product must stand out from many similar products. In addition to the competitiveness of the product itself, the product packaging must also be attractive. However, the cold and humid circulation environment often damages the "outer coat" of the label, causing the edge to warp or even fall off, greatly affecting the sales of the product. However, the development of in-mold labeling packaging technology (IML technology) has completely solved this problem. In-mold labeling integrates the label and the container into a whole, which will not cause problems even in very harsh environments.

1. Create a safe and reliable outer coat for food

Providing safe, hygienic and durable packaging support for food has become the main reason for food manufacturers to choose in-mold labeling technology. In-mold labeling packaging technology is a good form of labeling. Since in-mold labeling is waterproof, it will not cause deformation, warping, label falling and other problems. It is very convenient to use, thus avoiding secondary contamination of the product. Traditional self-adhesive labeling increases the risk of product contamination due to the increase of labeling process. At the same time, in-mold labeling technology can effectively avoid the impact of label damage on sales, making consumers feel safer when using it. Take ice cream products as an example. Since ice cream needs to be refrigerated in a freezer, it is inevitable that the box will be soaked in water and frosted. The self-adhesive label will often be warped and bulged due to moisture, and in severe cases, the label will even fall off. These situations that damage the appearance have affected consumers' choices to a certain extent, and also affected the normal sales of merchants and manufacturers. Therefore, when in-mold labeling technology entered the domestic market, it became the first choice for many ice cream product packaging. Well-known companies such as Nestlé, Wall's, and Baskin-Robbins have successively adopted this technology.

2. The expressive effect makes the delicious taste visible
Modern packaging has long surpassed its original function. It is no longer a simple container, but an important means of communication. Various effects can play a role here. For example, due to its realistic and high-quality image effects, in-mold labeling can really make the product win attention on the shelf. The red Family Circle biscuit box is the latest IML packaging produced by WPG Group in its UK factory. Both the lid and the box are decorated with IML technology, and the appetizing and bright biscuit image design gives it a high-quality appearance.
In fact, IML has been popular in some European and American countries for many years. At present, more than half of the products in developed countries in the world use IML technology. Compared with other packaging forms such as curved screen printing and self-adhesive labels, IML printing has more dazzling colors, rich layers, and exquisite graphics. After filling, transportation wear is less, the image on the shelf is very beautiful, and the label seems to be printed directly on the bottle, and the overall effect is more harmonious.

3. Bring more value to food packaging
For enterprises, in addition to high aesthetics, IML packaging also gives packaging more value. The person in charge of packaging at Yili Company said: "Dairy products are rich in nutrients and have high requirements for packaging. The reason why Yili Company chose the in-mold labeling packaging technology is that it is attracted by the various excellent physical properties of injection molded containers. In actual applications, the quality of in-mold labeling packaging products is stable, quality problems rarely occur, and the visual effect is beautiful, which is in line with the product positioning." In addition, the person in charge also emphasized that in addition to the advantages of strong anti-counterfeiting and convenient recycling, the oxygen and light blocking functions attached to the in-mold labeling packaging labels have advantages that other processes cannot match in dairy product packaging.

In-mold labeling packaging brings companies not only the high-end texture of packaging, but more importantly, the economy of the packaging. Compared with self-adhesive labels, labels attached to the mold do not require backing paper, which further reduces the cost of label materials. In-mold label materials are integrated with containers, which can also reduce the use of plastic in the container itself. At the same time, due to the use of robotic labeling, manual labeling is no longer required, which reduces the cumbersome labeling procedures, and the labor cost and time cost are effectively controlled.

In addition, as a high-end and economical packaging, in-mold labeling packaging also has great advantages in environmental protection: easy recycling and high reusability. Both labels and plastic containers can be 100% recycled, because the in-mold labeling packaging labels and containers are made of the same plastic raw materials, so they can be directly recycled after being discarded. Moreover, in fact, this labeling technology no longer requires release paper, which means that it has taken an important step towards sustainable packaging.

Through the above introduction, we can see the excellent performance of in-mold labeling technology in food packaging, which also allows us to see the wide applicability of this technology in food products: the excellent effect of integrating labels and containers provides more possibilities for product packaging design, let us look forward to the more perfect performance of in-mold labeling technology in the field of food packaging.