Individualized attention for an independent distillery
With a passion for spirits, history and hand-crafting everything, Yongehurst Distillery Company is a Toronto-based, independent spirit distillery. They experiment with flavours and science to bring a series of unique spirits to the city. Proudly crafting products using local ingredients is reflected in their brand. Their spirit bottles feature a map of Toronto coupled with labels in rich, sophisticated colours.
Challenge
On the cusp of launching their first product to market, the Yongehurst team was experiencing challenges with their initial digital label supplier. Frustrated with two failed attempts to produce the right colour, coupled with an unwillingness to collaborate with the Yongehurst designers onsite during the printing, the team was faced with a big decision. Should they invest more money in additional proofs with no guarantee of producing the label that was akin to their initial vision or change vendors?
Faced with a tight timeline and unwilling to shift the launch date, Yongehurst contacted Lorpon Labels. Immediately they were drawn to Lorpon’s flexibility, openness and willingness to work towards one common goal with them. Contrary to their previous experience, the team was immediately invited onsite to work collaboratively with Lorpon’s team to make changes to their labels (including matching the very specific colour they were looking for on a surface that wasn’t white) as they were printed.
With Toronto being at the heart of their brand, Yongehurst was also keen to work with a local printer, and one who would initially take on a small print run. “Being our first product and our first launch, there’s a lot of things you want to go a certain way, and a lot of expectations; we wanted to make sure all our boxes were checked,” says Rocco Panacci of Yongehurst Distillery.
Solution
Not all digital is the same – it is how you use the tool.
Digital printing transforms a client’s artwork into a living entity, allowing for both real-time proofing and editing. This means information can be easily added, edited or removed, and colours can be quickly adjusted. Using Lorpon’s digital presses allowed Yongehurst’s team to provide immediate feedback on all these elements (and more) right as their labels were being produced. With colour being a key factor, the HP Digital Press, alongside our graphics pre-press team and press operators, ensured Lorpon delivered the colour richness Yongehurst was striving to achieve.
“We’re very open with our presses anytime a client wants to come in,” says Jeff Sommer, Lorpon’s Vice President Business Development. “We can make a change in five minutes, and whatever solution we come to, it’s repeatable, which is extremely important because we can produce the exact same labels every time.”
As the relationship has grown, Lorpon has worked with Yongehurst on label solutions for new products with different requirements, as well as environmental challenges that no one had predicted once the bottles were put into use day in and day out, such as bubbling, turning transparent and sliding off the bottle.
The team worked together to do environmental testing of the bottles, ie. placing them in and out of the freezer, as well as in and out of ice buckets, to determine exactly where the label water absorption was taking place. The label face material, adhesive and varnish were all adjusted to create a label that outperforms regular wet strength labels but retains the effect of a texture label.
Result
While Yongehurst admits that reaching the final label for their first product was a back-and-forth process (albeit a pleasant one), it’s the individualized attention from Lorpon that they credit with their success.
“The labels are perfect now,” says Panacci, “and that’s the result of the hard work of Jeff and his team who said, ‘If this doesn’t meet your expectations, let’s fix the problem.’”
Lorpon’s commitment to customer service extends to every client. A smaller business like Yongehurst is
treated the same as a larger client, with Lorpon’s team working diligently to find a solution for every challenge.
“We wanted to work with someone that would help us get where we wanted to be,” says Panacci. And in working with Lorpon, he admits, “The one thing we never had to worry about is our labels.”