Crack open a cold bottle of beer and you’re supporting one of the last bastions of gum labels. Risk-averse major breweries are about the only gum users left as they don’t want to deal with the cost of changing their application lines.
Nowadays, most printing customers have switched to self-adhesive labels, and suppliers such as Avery Pro, Ball & Doggett, Spicers, and UPM Raflatac are following suit. They are increasing their investment in self-adhesive and have dropped glue-applied labels entirely.
“To my knowledge, no merchant is offering a local stock option for gummed paper,” said Chris Jackson, national manager for self-adhesive at Ball & Doggett. “Major breweries still use it, but pressure-sensitive is gaining momentum.”
In the latest issue of Print21 magazine, Jake Nelson peels away the confusion in the triumph of the self-adhesive sticky.