Heineken chooses wash-off labels

‘We make limited editions for platforms like UCL, Rugby, Formula 1, Bond movies and festive labels so we get more excitement for our consumers in the Off and On Premise channels,‘ said Ramses Dingenouts, senior packaging and identity design manager, Heineken International.

There are 22 labels in the collection, each one displays the country and their race track. The labels were designed by VBAT and printed by Multi-Color Corporation in Helligenstadt, Germany. Due to the amount of different colors on the 22 variable flag designs, the labels incorporate CMYK colors, 2 x white and high brilliance silver.

Dingenouts continued, ‘MCC is very cooperative and make the most complicated jobs simple. This project had impossibilities from a design point of view but MCC always make it happen.‘

MCC used a filmic pressure-sensitive labeling technology, which allows the reuse of the glass bottles. The pressure sensitive, returnable labels were printed on their wash off material called ThermoWash. With this method, the Heineken bottle can be rebranded for later use and offers the same graphic and performance benefits of traditional, single use pressure-sensitive labels. ThermoWash labels easily detach from bottles during the washing process and are engineered for returnable glass. ThermoWash is also complimentary to the traditional paper wash-off labels, requiring no changes to the majority of bottle washing machines.