M&R Label Teams Up with DRUB Spice Rub

At M&R Label, we don’t just see our customers as another number. We truly take the time to get to know their story and understand their product. It brings us joy to partner with businesses of all sizes and industries to create the perfect custom label that will help their business grow! Learn how we recently helped a new, emerging spice business, Drew’s DRUB Spice Rub, obtain the professional, high quality labels they needed…

“When in Doubt, DRUB it Out!”

Like many successful products, DRUB All-Purpose Spice Rub was born out of passion. Founder and CEO, Andrew (Drew) Bloomenthal, began searching for a way to jazz up his chicken breasts. Store-bought spice rubs had often missed the mark, so he decided to invent his own. After countless hours of research and experimentation, Andrew had created the tastiest dry rub spice. He had perfected the formula, but his next challenge was to fine-tune the marketing and packaging.

Andrew began his search for the perfect label printing partner for his spice rub. After contacting a few different places he noticed that many of their conversations were transactional and companies didn’t seem to care about his passion project, only their bottom line. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with M&R Label:

“I looked at label printers far and wide, I started with local people in Los Angeles and I didn’t really find the warmth and human connection that I really wanted. It was very clinical. I found M&R Label online. Ross at M&R Label was genuinely curious about my story and I didn’t really expect that from the person who was going to be producing the labels for my bottle. The personal touch and meaningful conversations were my biggest drivers in choosing M&R Label…and my instincts proved correct!”

Making the Perfect Spice Label

Whether it’s a dark, room-temperature pantry or the occasional cool fridge interior, the DRUB Spice Rub labels needed to withstand whatever environment the  product would be placed in. The labels also needed to be oil and water resistant. When you’re cooking, it’s easy to get oil, water, and other residue on your hands. And, let’s be honest, sometimes your hands aren’t 100% spotless before you grab the spices. The last thing Andrew needed was a label that peels off after coming in contact with dirty hands – or a design that gets smeared altogether.

“We needed to make sure that the adhesive would adhere to plastic and that it would hold up if the label got wet. We chose a matte lamination. This ensured that we would give the label a great look and be functional at the same time.” – Ross Samotny (Owner + Sales & Marketing at M&R Label)

While we offer premium label design services, Drew previously partnered with a graphic designer and came prepared with his design. We were happy to guide him the rest of the way with choosing the best label material, finish, and printing method. When printing food product labels, it’s vital to follow FDA guidelines and list all ingredients. Additionally, the substrate and the artwork needed to be stunning and bold to grab the customer’s attention. Given all of these equally important parameters, we implemented a matte lamination which delivered a polished look that was durable and functional as well.

Andrew envisioned selling DRUB Spice Rub at farmer’s markets and having a website that was easily accessible from the label via a QR Code. M&R Label made sure to include a customized QR code on the label in order to give customers an easy way to access the company website and of course, order more spices. Plus, the DRUB website also shares many cooking demos to guide customers in using the spice properly, so the label needed to be part of this interactive concept.

Finding Creative Label Solutions 

Another challenge Andrew was facing was the design of his return labels. He wanted the custom labels to have enough space to be hand-written on with a sharpie, while also maintaining a professional and high-quality look. Multiple test prints were conducted before deciding on the final label. We had to make sure we were picking the right stock and did further testing of our own to make sure it worked before going to production.

At M&R Label, we understand that every customer is unique and can come with a unique set of obstacles to work around. Rest assured we will NEVER rush any stage of the decision making process and it’s our guarantee that we’ll find the perfect creative label solution for EVERY need! You’ll never settle when partnering with M&R Label.

Choosing the Best Printing Method

Digital printing is a more efficient and cost-effective method for printing high-quality, custom labels in small quantities. Variable data printing is also done digitally, which allows us to change the information (such as text or images) on each label without interrupting or slowing down the printing process. This also gives customers a fast, affordable solution for printing custom labels that require slight variances, such as barcodes, consecutive numbering, and other identifiable markings. Digital printing was clearly the best option for DRUB Spice Rub.