With the rise in multi-channel ordering in the hospitality industry in recent years accompanied by increasing demand for customer collection, third-party delivery, and legislation around accurate ingredients and allergy identification, the requirement for efficient food and beverage labelling has surged. Without a doubt, amongst the range of labelling solutions currently available, linerless labels stand out for their eco-friendly properties and operational efficiencies.
In contrast to traditional labels with backing paper, direct thermal linerless labels are self-adhesive labels that can be applied directly to products or packaging. Such labels are supplied with varying levels of adhesion, from high adhesive permanent labels to low adhesive repositionable labels which can be applied to virtually any surface and be removed easily and reapplied without residue.
For all linerless media, a key benefit is waste reduction. With no backing paper to discard, linerless media offers significant paper-saving properties with more labels per roll than standard label rolls. Thanks to fewer roll changes as well as the advantage of reduced shipping costs and storage space requirements given linerless labels are more compact than traditional labels, cost savings can be achieved alongside enhanced operational efficiency and sustainability.
In terms of label size, linerless media is available in a range of widths, enabling businesses to create labels for any product type including larger labels for food deliveries to smaller, more compact beverage labels. Equally, variable length linerless labels enable the printing of shorter orders or labels with less information on minimal paper, further promoting efficiency.
As demand grows for labelling products in a variety of sectors, international POS hardware solutions provider Star Micronics has recently introduced its mC-Label3 and TSP143IVSK printers, designed to print permanent and repositionable labels, food orders, delivery, and takeaway labels.
The printers respond to the growing requirement for allergy and food labelling, clear delivery and takeaway customer order labels, particularly with linerless media. Low adhesive, repositionable labels can track an order through the entire preparation process from initial order to delivery, providing the potential for greater order accuracy and efficiency.
The ability to print different sized and types of labels from one easy-to-use device including variable length food and allergy labels, nutrition information as well as food delivery labels and bag seals from web-based apps or local services is essential. The Star mC-Label3 printer offers the ideal solution thanks to its ability to print on a wide range of liner-free media including low adhesive re-stick labels as well as high adhesive permanent and semi-permanent labels.
In addition to a range of label printing options including fully adjustable label widths from 25mm to 80mm wide, the mC-Label3 features black mark and GAP sensors. Capable of printing traditional liner pre-sized labels, continuous label rolls and receipt paper, the printer is ideal for businesses that use a variety of media or are planning to move from traditional labelling to linerless media in the future.
Incredibly user friendly and with paper position, paper width detection and simple drop-in loading, different media can be loaded with ease and given its jam free operation reliable printing is ensured. Star’s Cloud-based free labelling app offers a wide range of pre-designed label templates, whilst the one touch label function allows for storing and printing of up to three label designs.
Alternatively, for businesses seeking a compact linerless-only label and order printing solution the TSP143IVSK boasts optimal versatility and ergonomic design, printing on low tack linerless re-stick media from 40mm to 80mm. Moreover, the TSP143IVSK benefits from the power cable, interface cables and paper guide included at purchase as well as a 4-year warranty as standard.
In line with today’s multi-channel ordering and printing expectations in hospitality, the mC-Label3 and TSP143IVSK benefit from multiple interfaces for local PC, network, tablet and Cloud connectivity. Furthermore, both printers include Ethernet LAN and USB-C connectivity as well as direct sync and charge with supported tablets, together with hub connectivity to connect a scanner or customer display. mC-Label3 additionally features Bluetooth connectivity, whilst the printers equally benefit from a Wireless LAN option with Star’s MCW10 module. Star’s CloudPRNT™ technology is included as standard on both models for printing directly from central ordering platforms and websites.
With CloudPRNT widely used by hospitality establishments worldwide as part of an online ordering platform or e-commerce solution, Star also provides StarPrinter.Online, a fully managed service for businesses to manage the printer estate with minimal set-up time and cost as well as near zero integration. For enhanced online visibility of connectivity and print jobs over an entire printer estate, the service additionally offers device management via an online dashboard to provide an overview of all devices and activity including reliable tracking of print jobs with notification of device status changes, barcode scans, new device connections to a group, etc.
Additional printers and peripherals can simply be added without the need for server upgrades, further enhancing the versatility of the service.