The craft beer trend has gone from strength to strength this year, with more and more small companies popping up and creating their own new flavours. This sudden trend has not passed the larger retailers who have been getting in on the act by purchasing and stocking these drinks in partnership with the independents. Unfortunately, with this sudden rise in the trend, the craft beer market has become incredibly competitive.  According to a Mintel report, one in five adults has drunk craft beer in the last six months, whereas before this was a very niche market. So how do you make your product stand out from the rest? Great quality product is of course important, but striking packaging captures the retailers and customers eye. As you can see below, companies are constantly reinventing there packaging to reinforce branding and define their product. Craft brewers are known for diverse, quirky, unique branding. Often standout colours and illustrations are combined with different finishes to make an interesting product that captures the curious customers eye. Whilst this is simple for larger companies with a higher turnover, smaller companies can struggle to constantly transform their packaging. This is where in-house labelling comes into play – with a printer such as the Bottle-Matic, or any of our colour label printers, you can redesign and reproduce labels as and when you need them, meaning not only can renovate your packaging but you can also launch new product without waiting for labelling. With the constant release of new product in the craft beer industry, you can keep up with seasonal changes and more by releasing beers as and when you create them. With the majority of craft brewers being small businesses that are constantly focusing on production, branding is often pushed to the side. With an automated labelling machine, such as any of the Epson range, you can create a basic design template and produce prints without worrying about your printers, leaving you too attend to more important matters. Another key selling point that has been reported by craft beers is that customers love a story. Whether it be about how the ingredients were sourced, or the inspiration for the product, this information printed on the bottle sustains the customers attention after that first glance. One needs only to look at the success of Levi Roots on Dragons Den, whose story propelled his products further and further. This can again be factored into your colour labels with careful planning. Ultimately, fast production and clever branding will consistently make your product stand out too consumers. If you would like to find out more about our in-house printers or just samples of the high quality labels we can produce for you, please contact us today on [email protected]/(01536) 414222.