Each year our September issue coincides with both the end of summer and the ramp-up to the label industry’s largest and most important event of the year, Labelexpo. It’s a nice time of year, savoring the last few weeks of summer, and for me, there’s nothing better than unwinding with a couple cold beers.

Speaking of beer, Brussels, Belgium, the host city to the biennial Labelexpo Europe, is a beer lover’s paradise. While I’m sure beer aficionados can make a case for Munich, Germany or Portland, Oregon in the US as the top beer mecca, Brussels has them beat. With the craft beer market booming, and pressure sensitive labels playing an increasingly more prominent role in beer packaging, it makes Brussels a fitting site for the preeminent label event.

I’ve got beer on my brain (in more ways than one). Within this issue, our Packaging Spotlight showcases innovative beer labels from Constantia Flexibles, as well as the reboot of Heineken’s successful “keg can.” In this month’s Front Row column, L&NW’s resident beer sommelier Jack Kenny delves into the booming beer industry and sheds light on some of the printing and packaging opportunities the market is opening up.

Breweries today, like their winemaking counterparts, are using labels that have humor, stunning artwork or bold colors to capture attention in a crowded, competitive retail environment. Avery Dennison has released a white paper revealing the findings of its study showing the effect labels have on craft beer purchasing decisions. During the study, 193 “shoppers” wore calibrated, eye-tracking glasses while selecting products in order to gain insight as to why they were picked. Among the findings, 62% of the participants said metalized film labels caught their attention compared to labels made with paper, matte film, white gloss film, wood veneer and clear film. However, participants also said they preferred the wood label even though their eyes gravitated toward the metalized and clear labels.

While the results of the study are interesting, experienced beer drinkers know what they like and what they don’t. Beer drinkers that do not like India Pale Ales, for example, would not buy a six-pack of a beer label that said IPA, regardless of how much they like the label. If you’ve ever had a triple IPA, you get my point.

Just today, a colleague of mine gifted me a bottle of beer. He was in the store, saw the label, and thought of me (aww). The beer, from NY-based Three Heads Brewing, is called “Tre Kind,” and it’s a triple IPA. The artwork on the label depicts a grizzly-looking, big bearded, tie-dye clad, four-armed man riding a tricycle through the clouds while holding a guitar in one hand and a globe in the other. His two remaining hands are steering the tricycle. Not sure what this says about me, but he thought I might like the beer.
I’ll let you know how it is over a beer in Brussels.




Steve Katz, Editor
[email protected]
Twitter: @LabelSteve