Author Topic: What is the current best label/bag set up?  (Read 3103 times)

Offline John F

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What is the current best label/bag set up?
« on: May 04, 2017, 08:10:56 AM »
My daughter is in outside sales in a male dominated industry. She uses my coffee roasting as a conversation topic with the guys and it's been working for her.

The next move is to give coffee gifts to her clients but I don't want to give it to her in plain craft bags or mason jars.

What is the best current set up to make nice looking label/bag presentations that won't cost thousands to get set up? She will probably do very well with this so I'm willing to spend enough to get a good looking result within reason...any recommendations?
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Offline bbqbeans

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2017, 10:57:18 AM »
Hi John, there are many ways to package your coffee.  I'll share what is working for me.  For bags, I was using the poly stand-up pouches with valves.  I sealed them with an impulse sealer and labeled with standard Avery mailing labels.  This works well and has more shelf-life than paper type bags..

I recently switched to using paper bags with tin-ties and a PLA liner because I really feel like there is already enough plastic waste in our landfills and this Americana series bag from North Atlantic Specialty Bags still looks great and keeps my beans fresh while being biodegradable as well.

Whatever way you decide to go, I would recommend North Atlantic since they'll happily sell partial cases of any of their products and are a pleasure to call and deal with.  Good Luck!

Offline John F

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2017, 11:02:41 AM »
Looks good...

I'm assuming you are making those labels off a regular printer...meaning I could also do color?

I don't own a printer right now but if that is all I need I'll get one.
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Offline bbqbeans

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2017, 12:23:47 PM »
Yes, I use an Inkjet printer, Avery labels(or a Staples equivalent) and the Avery software which is a free download.

Offline Ascholten

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2017, 01:27:31 PM »
With those labels.  I find that inkjet can smear.  I use color laser and it works great on them.  HP printers are crap, stay away from them.
Either way, if you use Open Office instead of MS Office suite, they have templates for all sorts of labels, you just 'fill in the square' with whatever you want and cut / paste it to as many as you need.  If you have MS Office it will accept templates as well.  Templates are basically pre margined so you can fit your artwork perfectly into the label cut outs w/o having to guess the margins of each one.  On the side of the label box it will say something like use Avery Template 3434 or whatever, and you just plug that into your program, or download a template from free websites and it's a snap.

Aaron
As I have grown older, I have learned that pleasing everybody is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake!

Offline Badam

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2017, 07:53:38 AM »
Fwiw, I spray my beer labels with a bit of matte poly spray and it keeps them from smudging or running. Might be more than you're wanting to put into it, or they might not run to start.

Thats some good looking coffee bbqbeans! 

Offline sea330

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #6 on: May 06, 2017, 09:19:51 AM »
Aaron is correct don’t waste your time and money on a inkjet printer. By accident I was visiting a goodwill store about 2 years ago; they had a Dell 2130cn work group color laser printer for sale for $75.00 plus it had a full spare set of ink cartridges that went with it, as of yet haven’t needed to replace ink. I have printed 100s of labels without any problems the cartridges are rated at 2500 pages. If you can find one of these for a good price grab it, the color printing is amazing. At first I was buying Avery label paper and found that to be a little expensive so I switched to a better way, I print labels on regular 20 pound good quality paper for penny’s compared to Avery labels and works as good if not better. Go to Home Depot pick up spray adhesive 3M general purpose 45, cut the labels out spray the back side, stick on bag your done, believe me it works better then Avery stick on label. I have had customers tell me the Avery labels will start to come off over a short period of time; I have seen it happen on a bag over night. You can get fantastic color on 28lb multipurpose paper with this printer; OEM ink cartridges are cheap a little over 40 bucks for a set of 4. The only down side is being a commercial printer its big, 16”s square and heavy. For doing labels you can’t go wrong with this setup.

Offline Ascholten

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2017, 11:59:13 AM »
Laser printers are cheap nowadays.  I just got a Brother Laser all in one, I went for one of the better ones because I put about 7k sheets a year through them and well... give them a workout.  HP printers, I repeat, if you get one of the professional office ones that cost a few thousand, they are ok, but any 'home' model, is shit, avoid it.  After using this Brother printer and seeing how horrid my HP really was, I was really mad that I put up with the POS those years.

Anyways, the price of laser can actually be cheaper than inkjet now.  Inkjet will smear if it gets damp / wet.  A laser refill cartridge will last thousands of sheets .vs. ink which won't last that long.   Hint: If you do get whatever printer MAKE SURE you get one that has the colors individually.  Those all colors in one cartridge are a huge waste, you have to replace the entire thing, even the full ones, just because one color ran out.  At 50 bucks a tablespoon for ink or whatever it comes out to, HUGE waste.

The labels, yes, getting the pre formatted, perforated etc labels can get very expensive.  For business cards, I just use 80lb or 100 lb I think it was, you'll see it in the store, card stock, and print them right on that, then use a paper cutter to cut them out.  You can get a whole ream of the paper for ten bucks I think it was, versus like 40 bucks for the equivalent that are 'tear out' business cards.  You use your 'template' and it lines everything up perfectly and then just cut.

The labels for coffee bags, yes, 20 Lb standard stock paper works well too, and you can just affix it onto the bag like a few folks have said with adhesive.  The pre stick labels, yes they do peel off sometimes.  I don't know why but for some reason, they can get very temperamental on sticking properly.  Ive run into this on coffee bags sometimes, where it's like they made a batch that wasn't very sticky or whatever and they wanted to come off.  Again, apply the template to the paper, put your artwork into one of the 'cells' then just cut and paste that cell to populate the rest of them on the paper, save it and you are good to go.

Aaron
As I have grown older, I have learned that pleasing everybody is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake!

Offline Joe

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2017, 11:46:03 AM »
There a couple coffee shops that are "artisan"- i kinda hate that word...sounds stupid, that have a stamp where they handwrite or print the blank info such as Country of Origin= "Ethiopian" Farm Name ="The best in the world" etc.
[url=http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?board=37

Offline Ascholten

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #9 on: May 10, 2017, 12:37:30 PM »
Ive seen some like that Joe, the label is kind of generic'y  picture framey looking, they have a stamp with a little ink logo of their company and perhaps some artsy fartsy design they whomp onto the label, then try to write in 'fancy' over caffeinated calligraphy the type of coffee or something.. and that alone, in their eyes makes the stuff worth at least 5 bucks a pound more.

Aaron
As I have grown older, I have learned that pleasing everybody is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake!

Offline Joe

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #10 on: May 10, 2017, 12:39:17 PM »
Ive seen some like that Joe, the label is kind of generic'y  picture framey looking, they have a stamp with a little ink logo of their company and perhaps some artsy fartsy design they whomp onto the label, then try to write in 'fancy' over caffeinated calligraphy the type of coffee or something.. and that alone, in their eyes makes the stuff worth at least 5 bucks a pound more.

Aaron

yep exactly
[url=http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?board=37

Offline sea330

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #11 on: May 12, 2017, 07:25:36 AM »
It seems so strange to me, I got a great deal on 250 1 pound purple bags and so far this month I’ve gotten emails from 11 of my customers saying it’s the best coffee ever-- I didn’t have the heart to tell them it’s the same coffee I’ve been roasting for them the last 3 months.  It’s  bizarre to me that weird color bags would inspire them to complement me on my roasting skills.

Offline John F

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #12 on: May 12, 2017, 11:13:50 AM »
and that alone, in their eyes makes the stuff worth at least 5 bucks a pound more.

Aaron

Interesting... a more basic design gives a more premium image. I wonder how that works.
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Offline Ascholten

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #13 on: May 12, 2017, 02:11:03 PM »
Because it's the whole 'generic / organic' mindset thing John F.  Simpler is purer, better, less evil corporation, more mom and pop store, etc etc.

Aaron
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Offline stevea

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Re: What is the current best label/bag set up?
« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2017, 01:45:35 AM »
Sort of a side-topic, but I agree w/ Aaron's low opinion of HP home printers.  I've had an HP6700 all-in-one for about 2 years.  I've printed 584 pages total, and I am now on my 3rds set of cartridges at ~$110+ per set.  That comes in at more than 50 cents per page for cartridges alone!   HP included a lot of smarts in their cartridges so you can't refill or use 3rd party knock-offs.  I don't print a lot, and rarely in color, but the friggin' printer clogs and performs a little setup-dance daily, and so it runs the tiny color cartridges down fast - then to add insult to injury, it won't print in B&W when one of the color cartridges is out (WTF)!  I used to be an HP advocate, but it will be a cold day in hades before I buy another.  Brother & Canon lasers look pretty solid to me.

Sorry for the side-trip, but I needed to vent.
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