Specific Applications & How the Equipment Is Used
Food & Beverage Producers
Craft food makers, specialty sauces, hot sauces, condiments, jams, juices, kombucha, snack brands, craft beverages
Product Label Application on Bottles, Jars & Pouches
A hot sauce maker, jam producer, or specialty food brand starts with Elmark’s tabletop or semi-automatic label dispenser to apply pressure-sensitive labels to round jars and bottles. The operator places the container against the peel plate and the dispenser peels and positions the label, dramatically speeding up labeling vs. hand-application. As volume grows, a fully automatic label dispenser or inline labeling head takes over — applying front, back, or wrap-around labels at production-line speeds without operator intervention for each piece.
Date Coding & Best-By Dating on Food Products
Food manufacturers must print lot codes, best-by dates, and batch numbers on packaging. A Linx CIJ small character printer or thermal inkjet system integrates directly into the production line, printing variable data — dates, lot numbers, barcodes — on glass, plastic, or flexible film at line speed without stopping. A small hot sauce company printing ‘Best By’ dates on glass bottles uses a Linx coder mounted above the conveyor; the bottle passes the printhead and the code is applied in milliseconds.
Shrink Sleeve Labeling for Craft Beverages & Specialty Foods
Craft kombucha brewers, cold brew coffee brands, juice companies, and specialty condiment makers use Elmark’s low-speed shrink sleeve applicator to apply full 360° printed sleeves onto bottles or jars. The sleeve is placed over the container and passed through a heat tunnel, shrinking tightly to the container’s contours. For SMBs, this allows premium, full-coverage branding on generic/stock containers — eliminating the minimum order quantities required for custom-printed bottles and enabling seasonal label changes with no new tooling.
Direct-to-Pouch Printing for Stand-Up Pouch Products
Snack brands, protein powder companies, coffee brands, and specialty food companies selling in stand-up pouches use Elmark’s EDGE 2, FLOWPack, or FLOW XT direct-to-pouch printing systems. Instead of applying a separate label, these systems print brand graphics, nutritional info, and variable data directly onto the pre-formed pouch surface. For a small snack brand, this eliminates the label printing and application step entirely — reducing cost and allowing on-demand customization for small production runs.
Custom Printed Labels for Retail Product Packaging
Elmark’s custom label printing service produces food-grade pressure-sensitive labels in any shape, finish (matte, gloss, metallic foil), and adhesive type. A small artisan food producer ordering 500–5,000 labels for a farmers market or specialty retailer gets professional-quality labels with full-color printing, nutrition facts formatting, and barcode placement — the same output previously only accessible to larger brands with high minimum order volumes.
Case Taping & Secondary Packaging for Fulfillment
After primary packaging, a growing food SMB packing mixed-SKU cases for distribution uses Elmark’s uniform case taper to seal cartons consistently and at speed. A bundler groups multi-packs of sauce bottles or snack pouches together before case packing. These secondary packaging tools allow a small production team to handle distribution volumes that would otherwise require significant additional labor.
