A sharpie and a stack of bags
The printed bags look good. Then someone writes the roast date on each one with a marker, ticks a grind box, and sticks on a small label for weight. On busy days the date is written as whatever day it is, not the day the coffee was roasted. Best before is calculated in someone's head, differently by each person.
Where labels are printed, they are typed into a template for each run, which is quicker but just as open to a wrong date or a copied line from yesterday.
Label details come from three sources
A correct label needs details from three different places. The coffee name, weight and grind come from the order. The roast date and batch come from the roast log. The best before date comes from your own rule for how long you give a coffee. When a person has to bring those together at the bench, one of them will occasionally be wrong.
- Roast date is written from memory, not from the roast log.
- Best before is worked out by hand with no fixed rule.
- Grind is ticked on the bag instead of printed from the order.
- Weight labels are generic, even when a bag size changes.
- Wholesale and white label bags need different layouts.
Why a wrong date matters
Customers of specialty coffee care about the roast date. A bag dated today that was roasted three days ago undermines trust once someone notices. A missing or inconsistent best before date is a labelling problem for retail and for wholesale buyers who stock your bags on their shelves, and the rules for what your labels must show are for you and your adviser to confirm. Handwriting also takes real time on a packing day with hundreds of bags.
Labels also carry the brand. A bag with a neat printed design and a smudged handwritten date looks less considered than the coffee inside it, and customers who photograph their bags for social media notice.
What we set up for labelling
- A label layout per bag type, designed around the printed bag, for retail, subscription, wholesale and any white label customers.
- When a packing run starts, the coffee and grind come from the orders in the run, and the roast date and batch code come from the roast log for the tub being packed.
- Best before is calculated from your own rule, which can differ by product, and printed consistently.
- Labels print in packing order on your thermal printer, one per bag, with the grind in large type.
- Reprints are logged, so a spoiled label can be replaced without breaking the record.
- Fixed details you are required to carry, such as your business address and weight, are held in the layout by you, not retyped.
| Label field | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Coffee name and origin | Product on the order |
| Grind | Order line |
| Weight | Product and bag size |
| Roast date and batch | Roast log for the tub |
| Best before | Your rule applied to the roast date |
| Customer or brand | Wholesale or white label account |
At the bench afterwards
Packers pick up a roll of labels already in the right order and stick them on. No marker, no mental arithmetic, no copying yesterday's template. Every bag has the same format, and every label matches the roast record. When a customer asks when their coffee was roasted, the answer on the bag is the answer in the system.
Signs your labelling needs attention
- Roast dates are handwritten on bags.
- Best before dates vary depending on who packed.
- Labels are typed into a template for each run.
- Customers have questioned a roast date.
- White label customers need their own label and it is done by hand.