In-Mold Labeling Encourages Reuse and Protects Branding in Pail Application ​

At first glance, the white pail with its simple red and yellow text labeling seemed to be an unlikely choice for an awards competition entry, which typically feature complex and colorful designs. However, the unassuming entry caught the eye of the 2021 IMDA Awards Competition judges with its clever use of in-mold labeling (IML) to resolve concerns with product branding and container reuse.

Label durability in a demanding application

Frylite has offered cooking oils to restaurants, bakeries and pubs for more than 30 years and now supplies more than 60% of the food industry in Ireland, according to its website. The company has

developed an innovative supply-and-reuse concept, delivering the vegetable oil products to its customers and then collecting used oil for recycling into a biodiesel energy source.

With its unique business model and its dominance in the cooking oil supply chain, the branding on the Frylite oil containers represented a highly visible way to enhance and maintain its market position. However, the manual handling and transport took a toll on the self-adhesive labels that were used on each pail.

“The labels just didn’t survive,” explained Aoife Doherty, quality manager at Frylite. “We have a lot of manual handling, and our labels were constantly damaged. They often peeled off. Or they didn’t retain their shape. The colors faded. They tore. You name it. They simply weren’t practical for us.”

Even when the buckets came back from Frylite’s customers with the labels intact, the cleaning process caused concerns. “We put our buckets through a wash process which is like an industrial dishwasher,” said Doherty. “The labels rarely survived. Replacing them after each use was tiresome and time-consuming.”

In addition to label durability, the pails that contain Frylite oils are a key component in the company’s sustainability proposition. Clients return used oil to Frylite in the buckets, allowing Frylite to clean, refill and send out the same bucket up to five times. However, the company began to notice the buckets disappearing, an issue put down to the ease with which the labels peeled off.

“We were determined to find a new solution,” said Doherty.