BBQ food brand turns to online printer to deliver short runs of labels

Prairie Fire BBQ was founded in 2013 by Michael Gratz. Prairie Fire BBQ offers sauces, signature rubs and prepared meat from its headquarters in London that are inspired by Gratz’s hometown of Kansas City and its BBQ traditions.

A self-confessed packaging novice, Gratz tasked label.co.uk with supplying his company with labels with a ‘rustic but contemporary look’ and that captured consumers’ interest at first sight.

A division of CCL Label, label.co.uk is an online, roll label manufacturer producing premium custom printed labels for brands and businesses, large and small.

‘The design includes all the elements that make you think authentic barbecue from the off,’ said Gratz. ‘When it came to printing the labels, we didn’t have lots of space to house label inventory and our production level meant we needed a flexible solution.  I also wanted the labels to have some texture, with a good stick and for the sauce label, and the ability to handle condensation from refrigerator storage.’

All the labels have been produced on HP Indigo 6800 digital press technology. The labels come on rolls for either machine or manual application as well as being able to be run through additional converting equipment such as printers to add sell-by dates and other variable data. 

A material was specified that is widely used in the wine label industry and that is suitable to be subjected to rigorous handling, filling, sterilization and refrigeration.

Gratz continued: ‘As novices in the packaging world, it was really helpful to have someone there to help whenever we had a query. Label.co.uk provided great customer service and everything we needed along our initial print journey.’