There’s a lot to consider when you’re making high-quality, unique food and beverage labels. It’s more than just creating beautiful, one-of-a-kind designs. Though labels that stand out are important—especially in overcrowded liquor, wine, beer, and snack aisles.
But great design is just one piece of a complex custom label design puzzle. You also need to consider legal regulations, label materials, printing techniques, current trends, and more. We’ve put together a guide of best practices for 2025. Whether you’re designing food and beverage labels for the first time or updating old labels, we can help. Because when you utilize these label best practices, you can increase sales and customer loyalty.
1. FOLLOW FDA REGULATIONS
It’s important to start the custom label design process by learning about all the Food and Drug Administration regulations that apply to your product. Why? Because mistakes here are costly and can even result in having your products pulled from the shelf.
Label regulations vary by product and industry. In general, food manufacturers need to make sure labels always:
- List all added sugars clearly
- Call out potential allergens in bold
- Use easy-to-read type sizes
- Avoid misleading health claims
- Include nutritional content and ingredient lists
- Follow placement requirements
- Share expiration dates
The FDA regulations are always changing, so be sure to double-check your layout, wording, and claims each year. If you’re creating labels for wine bottles, beer labels, or custom liquor bottle labels, there are additional regulations to know and employ.
Seek legal guidance
It cannot be overstated how important it is to follow all state and federal label requirements for food and beverage products. Rather than put this to chance and risk costly fines, lawsuits, or total removal of the products, food manufacturers should work with a partner to ensure all regulatory requirements are met.
If you have a lawyer on your team, they can help you understand what is mandatory for your principal display panel and navigate all other legal requirements. If you’re a small business, an expert label partner should also be able to provide non-legal insight on current regulatory requirements.
2. PRIORITIZE INGREDIENT TRANSPARENCY
Some level of ingredient transparency is required by FDA regulations. But these rules are the minimum regulatory requirements. Today’s shoppers want honest health claims, clear allergen warnings, thorough ingredient statements, and accurate nutrient amounts on beverage and food labels.
Full ingredient transparency is a must—especially if you’re hoping to compete in the health-food space. Be clear about what’s natural and what’s not. If your product is gluten-free, nut-free, sugar-free, organic, or made without artificial flavors, put that information front and center. Food and beverage labels that allow shoppers to quickly answer the question — “Is this product right for me?” — will earn consumer trust and maybe even a sale.
73% of shoppers surveyed said they’d consider switching brands to one with more detailed product information, according to Food Business News.
One important note: FDA rules around adding the claim “healthy” to package labels are changing. Food manufacturers need to stay up-to-date on shifting requirements for front-of-package nutrition labeling.
3. LEARN ABOUT NEW LABEL TECHNOLOGY
When it comes to product labels, every year there are more options than the last. Advances in custom label printing technology mean you can customize just about every piece of your label product and design, including:
- Digital, flexographic, and lithographic printing
- Smart labels featuring QR codes, NFC, and RFID tracking
- Expansive substrate (material) and adhesive options
- Compostable, recyclable, or biodegradable materials
For some, this is great news. For others, all of these options can make one’s head start to spin. The good news is that once you have an idea of what you want, there are ways to optimize and accelerate product label printing and design. Label management software, re-usable templates, variable data printing, and specialized tools for compliance audits can make production fast and flawless.
4. CHOOSE DURABLE LABEL MATERIALS
Most food and beverage labels need to withstand harsh environments. Sports drinks, soda, and beer labels should use waterproof materials that can last in a wet cooler or cold fridge. The same goes for frozen and refrigerated food products. Nothing looks worse than a soggy or peeling label.
If you have food products that will go in the microwave or oven in their original packaging or face direct sunlight, you should also consider heat-resistant labels. That way, no matter the temperature, your product label remains intact without bubbling or color bleeding.
Another reason durable food and beverage packages matter? Durable labels ensure your ingredient lists, nutrition facts, expiration dates, and allergen warnings stay intact.
5. TRY FOOD AND BEVERAGE LABEL TRENDS
Now that you’ve considered all of the logistical and legal best practices for your labels, it’s time to have fun. Your food and beverage label design should be a clear expression of your brand. In an instant, a shopper should be able to recognize your product and tell it apart from competitors on the shelf. One way to truly stand out is to try the 2025 label trends:
- Add Smart Label technology. With QR codes and augmented reality, you can create unique experiences for shoppers that make your brand stand out in crowded store aisles.
- Experiment with customization. Have you ever bought a Coca-Cola because it had your name on it? A lot of shoppers have. Products with names, catchphrases, or hyper-local designs featuring local sports teams and celebrities have proven to be a lucrative area of product packaging. Allowing people to personalize product labels online is also a popular food and beverage trend. Think custom M&Ms and after-dinner mints.
- Use sustainable products & materials. Many shoppers today care about the environment. There is also a growing push to stop using single-use plastics, an objective that has some in the food and beverage industry worried. Luckily, your business can stand out by using compostable, recyclable, and biodegradable products and label materials.
6. TAKE RISKS
Don’t be afraid to try new things. Because of advances in label printing technology, it’s very easy to test and try multiple designs on different products and in different markets. If your brand is going to stand out, it needs to embrace trends and real-time shifts as quickly as possible. Experiment with bright colors, bold fonts, and seasonal designs.
By working with the right partner, you can try a lot of new things without huge increases to your costs or delays in production. Remember to be flexible and embrace changes in food and beverage labeling.
7. PLAN FOR ALL PRODUCT SKUS
If you manage multiple products, consistency is key. Shoppers should be able to recognize your brand, even among different product lines, at a glance.
Whenever you’re designing a package label, it’s important to consider how it connects to what you’ve already created or what you will create in the future. Establish a base design, then shift colors or flavors per SKU.
Not only will this save design time, but it will help your products look connected and increase trust with buyers.
The right label printing partner makes SKU management simple by organizing your label library and keeping it up to date.
8. BE READY FOR CHANGES
The truth is, change is the only thing most food and beverage businesses can count on. Product cycles move fast. You may update flavors, product ingredients, or packaging every quarter.
So you need labels that can change fast, too. That’s where the right label manufacturer comes in. An expert label printing company can turn around small runs quickly with full-color accuracy.
This speed and precision also helps with seasonal releases, test runs, or market trials.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT FOOD & BEVERAGE LABEL PARTNER
At Epsen Hillmer Graphics, we embrace all of these eight best practices (and more) to ensure your labels stand out, exceed ingredient transparency standards, and follow FDA regulations.
We work 1:1 with our partners to ensure their food labels, beer labels, custom liquor bottle labels, as well as labels for wine bottles and soft drinks drive sales and create connections with customers.
You can always count on our team to:
- Answer questions fast
- Spot artwork issues before they delay you
- Handle design changes with no fuss
- Quickly deliver flawless labels
Ready to get expert support and create your own labels of distinction? Reach out today to get a quote.
