New Horizons: Rethinking Label Material for a Changing Industry

By Adam Frey, EVP, Sales and Marketing, Wausau Coated Products

The label industry has always evolved incrementally. New materials emerge, press technologies improve, regulations shift, and customer expectations rise, often gradually enough that change feels manageable. 

What has become different in recent years is the pace of those changes. Today’s converters are navigating multiple transitions at once: technology around print, material sustainability pressure, supply chain volatility, workforce challenges, new laws and regulations, and increasingly complex application requirements.  

Yet amid these challenges, some of the fundamental things remain unchanged: performance matters, reduction of risk is key, and the ability to adapt separates success from failure. 

1. Material Complexity Is Increasing

From the outside, labels appear deceptively simple. To many brand owners, a label is a label until it fails. Internally, however, label materials have grown more complex over the past decade, driven by the need to reconcile these conflicting demands:

• Thinner constructions with equal or better performance to reach sustainability goals.
• Improved converting and printing efficiency to drive out costs.
• Broader material compatibility across print platforms to allow flexibility for label printing across different work centers.
• An increased regulatory environment that brands face and labels must comply with.
• Demanding adhesive performance requirements to support new labeling technologies.

As an example of this complexity, let’s talk about print coatings. They have become more application specific – the value of not only topcoating expertise but also the ability to add topcoats efficiently in the pressure sensitive coating process can add tremendous value. Wausau Coated has been dedicated to solving these puzzles, and it’s something we design and build our equipment around.  

There is also a myth of one-size-fits-all. While digital printing promises flexibility and shorter runs, it has introduced new variables. These include:

• Ink chemistry differences by platform
• Higher sensitivity to surface coatings
• Narrower operating windows for optimal performance

WCP works diligently on making sure we engage the OEM printer manufacturers to trial and test new topcoat solutions before they are released to the market. Our collaboration with these channel partners ahead of time helps to provide success for our customer. Print receptive topcoats are not all created equally, and it is important to have partners like WCP who are constantly innovating and improving material and topcoat combinations.

Materials that perform well in flexographic or offset environments may behave very differently with a digital press. For hybrid presses, taking up a station to provide topcoats for the digital print stage is value lost from the ability to add another color. Buying film that has the added cost of a flexo topcoat when a printer may cover that up with digital coating on press leads to added costs that are not necessary. Having a partner like WCP that thinks about this every day and has the equipment to bring value can set printers apart. 

From a sustainability standpoint, WCP has seen requests for numerous sustainable materials. Customers are searching for products featuring recycled content with parity performance. Meaning, they want excellent performance with a more environmentally friendly label. Customers want recycled inputs – especially PCR film and higher PCW paper – without sacrificing print quality, converting speed, or durability. The label market is also requesting verified fiber sourcing and other key compliance. FSC certification continues to factor prominently for responsible paper sourcing. According to WCP, more diligence is being driven by regulations and retailer policies. EUDR related requests underscore why transparent supply chains matter for fiber based products, as well.

WCP has also seen an influx of requests for broader sustainable paper choices. These include recycled, tree free, and alternative fibers (hemp, agave, sugarcane). This market is growing quickly, giving brands both environmental benefits and the premium aesthetics they want in wine and spirits, specialty foods, and health and beauty, and more.

WCP has relied on innovation to bring some of the newest, most effective materials to market. We have engineered new products like our Black Vellum Laminate, which speaks to the need for brands to provide beauty and durability in harsh wet environments. 

The Black Vellum Laminate (W037402) features a high-quality, reinforced uncoated black paper face with a smooth vellum finish. Engineered with “wet strength” properties, it excels in moist environments—making it the ideal choice for wine, spirits, and other premium beverages. Whether showcased on a handcrafted absinthe or a classic vintage, the Black Vellum Laminate brings luxury and resilience to every bottle.

We also have introduced our 60# Agave Signature, which is 50% agave plant fiber and 50% PCW content. These solutions reinforce our focus on unique, specialty, alternative fiber products that are sustainable but provide brands and printers an opportunity to differentiate their packaging.

2. Supply Chain Volatility Has Changed How Risk Is Managed

The past several years have reshaped how the label industry thinks about supply continuity. Extended lead times, allocation scenarios, and upstream changes to material recipes have forced companies to ask hard questions about their material strategies and their suppliers.

The industry has continued to evolve from lean to resilient. While lean inventory practices remain valuable, many converters now weigh:

• Dual sourcing strategies
• Domestic versus imported supply
• Material standardization to reduce SKUs
• Agreements on material change parameters all the way up the supply chain 

Resilience has become a key competitive advantage, not just in surviving disruptions but in serving customers reliably when others cannot. This focus on a resilient supply chain demands an enormous amount of time, money, and effort internally at both printer and supplier. Having a partner that supports this strategy and works together versus a take-it-or-leave-it approach is key to keeping your most trusted brands long term.   

An educational shift is required, as well. Understanding where and how label materials are produced matters more than ever. Domestic manufacturing, vertically integrated coating operations, and stable raw material sourcing are increasingly part of strategic conversations, not marketing bullet points. Listening has to be our first step with every customer. WCP focuses on the customer need and then works to build products that can meet that need to the best of our ability. We are focused on our customer having success because we know we will find success if our customers win. 

The list is long for how we put customers first. Dedicated and focused individual sales managers and customer solution representatives are assigned to each account. When you call WCP you work with people that know your business, your assets, and your preferences. What sets WCP apart is these strong relationships and our ability to anticipate what our customers will need so we can be a problem solver with them. Knowledgeable suppliers can help customers balance cost, availability, and performance without forcing risky choices. 

There is also a quiet advantage of expertise. Perhaps the most overlooked trend in the label industry is the growing importance of institutional knowledge. As turnover increases and technology evolves, experience becomes harder to replace. At WCP, we boast 45 years of creating specialty products for the label printing industry. Over that time, we have developed a critical strength to be ready and plan for change and disruption. It’s not if but when a disruption will happen. It is built into our processes and equipment and – most importantly – our people. We have great customers and partners that have come to rely on us to come with solutions when challenges arrive and trust us to navigate through it with them.

Companies that invest in the following can create value that persists even as products change:

• Long-term technical talent
• Application testing and feedback loops
• Education rather than overselling

The best material solutions are often invisible to the end consumer but highly visible to those responsible for making labels run efficiently, consistently, and profitably. The experience of your supplier both at the technical level but also all the way through organization and their ability to help anticipate problems with you is beginning to disappear. Feedback tells us our customer intimacy, technical collaboration, knowledge, and expertise focus continues to make a difference. 

Conclusion: Education as a Competitive Differentiator

The label industry’s future will not be defined by a single technology, substrate, or sustainability claim. It will be shaped by thousands of daily decisions about materials, processes, and partnerships.

In that environment, education is no longer optional. Understanding how materials behave, why they are engineered in a certain way, and where tradeoffs exist empowers better outcomes across the value chain.

For converters and brand owners alike, working with suppliers who prioritize technical understanding, manufacturing discipline, and application-based guidance can be the difference between reacting to change and navigating it proactively. Partnering with someone like WCP stacks the deck in your favor when solving label challenges. With the flexibility across topcoating, adhesive technology, silicone coating, and knowledge and expertise adapting to challenges or figuring out new solutions becomes less daunting with so many tools in the toolbox. 

Our approach has always been simple. We listen and collaborate with our customers to ensure they get the right solution for their unique application needs. We seek to understand how this change affects the product and make sure we do not lose the critical features that customers have come to depend on with the previous product.    

WCP also moves quickly and provides trials necessary for testing and approval at the printer, converter, and brand levels. We utilize our specialized equipment to trial, and then move quickly to scale. Speed and flexibility allow us to overcome hurdles together to move through the material change together.    

The next chapter of the label industry will belong to those who see materials not as commodities, but as systems, designed with intention and applied with insight.