What Goes on the Label, and Who Supplies It

Labelling is the part of a packing order that brands think about last and that causes the most reprints. It is also the cheapest thing on the quotation to get right, and the most expensive to get wrong at scale.

This is the mechanical side: what we apply, what you supply, what it costs and what has to be decided before artwork goes to a printer. What a label may claim is a different question, and it belongs to your broker.

What a position means, and what it costs

We charge by position rather than by label. A position is one place on the bag where a label goes.

What you want	Positions	Cost per bag	Across 500 bags
Front label only	1	USD 0.15	USD 75.00
Front plus an information panel on the back	2	USD 0.30	USD 150.00
Front, back, plus a seal across the top	3	USD 0.45	USD 225.00

Two positions is the usual shape for a retail product: the brand on the front, the ingredients, allergens, weight and your address on the back. At USD 150 across a 500 bag run that is the cheapest route to a finished looking product at this volume, and much cheaper than printing the information into the bag itself.

What we need from you

Labels, printed, on a roll or in sheets, cut to size, with adhesive. We apply them. We do not design artwork, we do not print, and we do not hold label stock.

• The labels themselves, enough for the run with a margin for setup waste.
• The size, and which position each one goes in.
• Which way up, if it is not obvious from the artwork.
• The bag they are going on, so we can confirm the panel takes them.

Check the label fits the bag before you print

This is the mistake that costs a print run. A 130 by 130 mm pouch has a usable front panel well under that once the seal and the gusset are taken out, and a label drawn to the full dimension will wrap around the edge. Three side seal sachets are tighter again.

Send us the bag you have chosen with the label size you want and we will tell you whether the panel takes it. That exchange costs an email and it prevents the most expensive version of this problem. The complete stock list has the dimensions of all 25 bags.

Barcodes

A barcode goes on a label like anything else. You generate it, you include it in the artwork, we apply the label. There is no separate charge for a barcode, because to us it is ink on a label we were applying anyway.

What we do not do is obtain the number for you. A retail barcode is issued to your company by the numbering body in your own country, and it identifies you as the brand owner rather than identifying us as the packer. If you are selling through retail, you will already have dealt with this; if you are not, the sales channel that asks for it will tell you where to apply.

• Give the barcode enough quiet space in the artwork. A barcode crowded to the edge of a label scans poorly.
• Print it at a size the scanner at the till can read, not at the size that fits the design.
• Check it scans from a printed proof, not from a screen.
• A different fill weight is a different product, so it usually needs its own number.

How many labels to send

More than the bag count. Setting up a label applicator consumes a few at the start, some are lost to misfeeds during a run, and running out at bag 480 is a worse outcome than having fifty spares.

A few per cent over the order quantity is the sensible margin, and label printers generally price in round quantities anyway, so this rarely costs anything real. Tell us the quantity you are sending with the bag count so we can flag it if it looks tight before the run is scheduled.

If you are sending labels for more than one position, send each position as its own clearly marked roll or box. Two unlabelled boxes of similar looking labels is the kind of thing that stops a run while somebody works out which is which.

Labels against printed film

The alternative to labelling a stock bag is buying bags with your artwork printed on them. That is a real option and we handle it, with a flat USD 45 handling charge per order to receive, check and stage your bags.

	Stock bag plus label	Your own printed bags
First order cost	Bag plus USD 0.15 a position	A print run, plus USD 45 handling
Minimum	Our 500 bags	Whatever your printer insists on
Changing the wording	Reprint labels for the next run	A new print run
Lead time	As fast as your label printer	Weeks, usually
Looks like	A label on a bag, which is normal retail	A fully printed pack

The honest advice is to use labels until the wording has survived a season and a market. Everything on a first pack is provisional: the claims, the panel, sometimes the brand name. A label can be reprinted for the next run. Printed film cannot be amended, it is bought in a quantity, and it is usually ordered weeks before anybody has asked a broker what the pack may say.

Most brands move to printed bags in year two, at a volume where the per unit saving is real and the wording has stopped changing. That is the right order to do it in.

There is a middle option worth knowing about. A printed bag with no variable information on it, carrying only your brand and the general design, plus a label for everything that might change. You get a printed pack and keep the ability to reprint the panel, at the cost of one label position.

If you do supply printed bags

Send us the material code, the dimensions and the seal specification before you ship. We confirm the bag feeds through the sealer before anything moves. A printed bag that will not run is otherwise discovered on the day, with your material in Kyoto, the run scheduled and a print run already paid for.

What goes on a label is not our question

We apply what you supply. Whether the wording is permitted, what has to appear, in what language, at what size, is set by the rules of the market you are selling in, and the person who answers it is your customs broker or the regulator there.

Two things are worth knowing anyway. Packed in Japan is a different claim from Product of Japan, and the difference matters more than most brands expect. And we hold no organic, halal or vegan certification, so any mark of that kind has to be supported from your producer’s end.

What to tell us when you ask

• How many label positions you want.
• The label size, and the bag it is going on.
• Whether a barcode is part of the artwork.
• Whether you are supplying printed bags instead.
• The date you need finished stock in your own warehouse.

Rates, the stock bag list, minimums and conditions are on the contract packing page.

Questions we get asked

Do you print labels?

No. You supply printed labels and we apply them, at USD 0.15 per position.

Is a back label extra?

Yes. A back label counts as its own position, so a front plus a back is USD 0.30 a bag.

Can you put a barcode on the pack?

Yes, as part of a label you supply. There is no extra charge. The barcode number itself is issued to your company in your own country.

Can I send my own printed bags instead?

Yes. There is a flat USD 45 handling charge per order, and we need the material code, the dimensions and the seal specification before you ship so we can confirm the bag runs.

Will you tell me whether my label is legal?

No. That is a question for your customs broker or the regulator in the market you sell in. We apply what you supply.

Related reading

• Stock bags and what each one costs per piece
• Packed in Japan or product of Japan
• The claims we cannot certify
• Boxed sets and multi packs