“We needed to triple capacity without tripling our footprint,” says Mei, Sustainability Lead at Kōra Coffee in Singapore. “And we wanted the labels to reflect what we stand for—traceability, recycled content, and no compromises on color.” Based on insights from onlinelabels‘ work with small brands in Asia, we invited two teams to speak candidly about the road to steadier quality and lower environmental impact.
GenLab Diagnostics in Bengaluru had a different lens. “Our constraints start with compliance,” adds Arjun, Operations Manager. “Low-migration, clear data, and barcode readability are non-negotiable. But the real test is: can we hold color and line clarity when volumes vary week to week?”
What follows isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a conversation—where numbers matter, ink choice meets reality, and sustainability runs through every decision, including when to say no to the shiny option in favor of the responsible one.
Company Overview and History
Kōra Coffee started as a small roaster supplying boutique cafés across Singapore. The team grew from two to twenty in five years, adding seasonal SKUs and regional collaborations. Their coffee labels moved from simple kraft paper to FSC-certified Labelstock with a soft-touch feel, aiming for consistency across limited runs and special editions.
GenLab Diagnostics serves hospitals and research labs across southern India. In their world, failure looks like unreadable codes or adhesive failure on chilled vials. They manage multiple lines—PCR kits, reagents, and transport media—where lab labels must stick under condensation and still read cleanly in scanners and mobile apps.
Both teams began with Flexographic Printing for volume jobs and outsourced short runs. As SKUs rose from 30–40 to 80–120 seasonally, flexo plates and changeovers strained schedules. That pressure—paired with sustainability goals—nudged them toward Digital Printing for Short-Run, On-Demand, and Personalized work, while keeping flexo for Long-Run staples.
Quality and Consistency Issues
Let me back up for a moment. Kōra had color drift between batches—ΔE wavering beyond 3 when switching from kraft to CCNB and then to PE film for cold brews. They needed ΔE in the 2–3 range for brand-critical hues. Reject rates sat around 7–9% on mixed substrates, and FPY% hovered near 82–85% when seasonality spiked.
GenLab’s pain was different. Line art and micro text for lot numbers looked sharp on Labelstock but softened on Glassine liners and PET Film, especially in humid rooms. For lab labels, barcode contrast must meet GS1 readability; a single unreadable code could stall intake. Their asks: stable registration, low-migration inks, and consistent adhesion at 2–8°C.
Here’s where it gets interesting: both teams cared about sustainability but hit walls. Recycled Labelstock sometimes shed fibers that made die-cutting finicky. And soy-based Ink options didn’t always meet Food-Safe Ink or Low-Migration Ink needs. The pursuit wasn’t perfect; it was a series of careful compromises mapped to end-use realities.
Solution Design and Configuration
The turning point came when the teams adopted Digital Printing with UV-LED Ink for short runs, paired with Low-Migration Ink for regulated lines. Kōra’s seasonal coffee labels stayed on FSC-certified Labelstock with a soft-touch Varnishing option to cut glare, while GenLab selected PE/PP/PET Film constructions tuned for condensation. Flexographic Printing remained for Long-Run basics.
On file prep, the operators asked, “how to print on labels and keep brand color honest?” We standardized print-ready files with G7 targets and proofed with onlinelabels samples across Labelstock and PET Film. For variable data, Kōra used maestro onlinelabels to manage batch codes without sacrificing layout control—simple, but crucial.
There was a catch. UV Ink cured well and held detail, but substrate heat tolerance varied. We documented profiles per Substrate, and built a small playbook: color-managed PDFs, substrate-specific IC profiles, and a “no-fly list” of finishes that risked migration in Food & Beverage or Healthcare. It wasn’t one-size-fits-all; it was a living recipe.
Commissioning and Testing
Project teams ran a two-week pilot: ΔE targets set to 2–3 for house colors, registration checks at 0.1 mm tolerance, and barcode tests under GS1 specs. For seasonal beverages, coffee labels underwent chill box trials at 4°C to challenge adhesive and ink density. QR readability was validated against ISO/IEC 18004 (QR).
Changeover Time now sits in the 25–30 min range—earlier sessions took 40–50 min with mixed substrates. ppm defect levels landed around 120–150, down from 250–300 in the busiest weeks. Throughput stabilized at 18–22k labels/hour on Digital Printing for Short-Run batches, while flexo handled high-volume staples without choking setup windows.
Not every test went smoothly. A glossy Lamination looked beautiful but reflected enough light to confuse some scanners. The fix was pragmatic: a low-gloss Varnishing plus a slightly thicker black for codes. A tiny change, but it made the data layer reliable without losing shelf presence.
Quantitative Results and Metrics
Fast forward six months. FPY% reached the 90–92% band on mixed short runs. Waste Rate sits near 3–4%, especially when Labelstock and PET Film rotate frequently. Energy per pack now falls in the 0.0018–0.0020 kWh/pack range; earlier, it lived around 0.0022–0.0025. CO₂/pack estimates are 8–12% below the previous baseline for short-run sets; numbers vary by SKU and substrate.
It’s fair to ask about cost. UV-LED Ink and Low-Migration Ink carry a premium against water-based alternatives. The trade-off: steadier curing, tighter text, and compliance confidence for regulated lines. Several SKUs kept Flexographic Printing for Long-Run to balance economics; Digital Printing absorbed the Seasonal and Variable Data profiles that needed agility.
Payback Period is tracking in the 14–18 month range for both teams, driven by better FPY% bands and calmer changeovers. These aren’t magic numbers; they’re moving targets shaped by SKU mix and run length. As the teams put it, better practice beats silver bullets. And when in doubt, they still test with onlinelabels-style samples before scaling.
