WATERLOO, NSW, Australia -- When D&D Graphics owner Derek Lane began to search for a new market for the Foilfast® Printer, he and his brother, David, had to look no further than the booming Australian wine country next door. "We wanted to expand beyond the schools in search of new applications for the printer. We already provide machines for countless diplomas and certificates, so we started contacting the wineries. We found they have a definite need for short-run, specialty labels." Customized foil printed wine labels also suit smaller, boutique wineries and are ideal for trade shows and special events, including sports events such as the Grand Prix. Lane also discovered some "home brewers" in Sydney and Melbourne who want to design and print signature labels for their bottles.
The foil printer's strengths of low production costs and immediate turn-around really hit home with the vintners. Lane, whose career began in an old-fashioned print shop, knows from experience that any printing job that involves gold foil is expensive, time consuming, and complicated.
"Wine merchants are impressed with the Foilfast® Printer's ability to deliver multiple foil colors for a mere $1.20 (Australian dollars) per label." This adds up to significant savings compared to $30 to print one foil label traditionally -- plus the initial outlay of $200 to $300 for dies and each set-up. Lane adds, "One color of a traditional die stamped foil impression alone costs $80 to $100 versus just .60 to .70 cents for a Foilfast® printing."
During a demo Lane collects business cards to scan logos and create personalized labels on the spot. He prints on standard sized peel-off labels, which match the dimensions of most wine labels, and applies the finished design to a clean bottle, presenting it as a gift. So far he has conducted demos at tradeshows and for a number of wineries, printing the foil labels six- or eight-up to show the efficiency of the process. Printing time varies with the number of colors used and complexity of the design, but usually takes about a minute per page or only ten minutes to produce up to eighty labels. Just three months into the project, Lane is building the foundation for an exceptional niche business. When he shared his idea recently with Asian distributors at a meeting in Singapore, they agreed the possibilities for custom foil labels are numerous and compelling.
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