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The U.S. spirits industry has gained a lot of traction in recent years, and it shows no signs of slowing down. According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), spirits market share reached over 42% of total alcoholic beverages in 2023, revealing steady growth for 14 straight years. The market has proven resilient to challenges such as COVID-19, high inflation and changing consumer buying habits, according to DISCUS. Further, U.S. spirits exports reached an all-time high in 2023, totaling $2.2 billion and driven by American whiskeys.
Spirit Industry Trends: A Preference for Craft Spirits
At the same time, consumers have replaced restaurant outings with meals prepared at home, and they’re stocking up on more vegetables and fruits than ever as they focus more on their health and well-being. And when you use sustainable packaging, you’re not only minimizing your own carbon footprint, your customers can feel great about making an earth-friendly choice.
Here at Belmark, we’re obsessed with food science, which is evident in our patented quality assurance technology and our comprehensive respiration-testing analytics. For our partners, that translates to packaging that delivers the best quality on the shelf and the best product experience for your customers.
Let’s look at a few ways you can make produce packaging work harder—and smarter—for you.
Telling Your Distillery’s Story with Embossment and Other Label Enhancements
Whether you have single barrel products, private select programs, sustainable practices or a proud heritage story, your label is your opportunity to highlight your unique differentiators. Consumers are increasingly excited about the growing range of spirits available and look forward to trying new options. Labels are your space to appeal to that excitement and tell your brand (or product’s) story.
And, you have more ways than ever to level up your packaging label. Creating a premium, memorable feel, dual finished, foiled and embossed labels are becoming go-tos for distillers. These options are both eye-catching and tactile, reinforcing your brand essence in multisensory ways.
Additionally, new specialty laminates give you an even more dynamic way to astonish consumers and build brand authority. Grit, linen, leather and ultra-soft textures can put the finishing touch on your packaging, making the choice between products a no-brainer for consumers, who have yet to experience these packaging options in the market.
Other Ways to Set Your Brand Apart with Spirits Packaging
- Back-side printing that shows text and images through the back of a bottle
- Adding emblems and logos onto bottles (including embossing them directly)
- Intricate glass manufacturing and custom bottles personalization
- Variable data labels for one-of-a-kind batches and collector bottles
- Premium closures, such as T-cork stoppers
- Screen-printed messaging directly on the glass
- Etching designs into the glass
- Powder coating the bottles to give the glass a specific color, opacity, or finish
Quick Turnarounds are Critical for Your Distillery’s Growth
The spirits and distillery market relies on speed to meet frequent and fast-paced consumer and retail demands. Whether it’s seasonality, new mixology trends or supply chain factors, your brand must adapt and deliver quickly or risk missing sales.
Innovate new products, boost your reputation and get your products into your customers’ hands (or glass) with faster packaging turnaround times. If you want to create a premium package or custom spirit labels, Belmark can give you a competitive advantage with industry-leading speed to market.
For example, one Belmark distillery customer wanted to produce personalized bottles for a special event to help boost interest in their brand. Belmark helped them turn around custom labels within 24 hours, which amplified the distillery’s marketing investment in sponsoring this special event — and using distinctive embossed labels set them apart in a big way.
Quickly developing labels for spirits and distillery brands is one area where our packaging and label experts can help your brand shine. You can see examples of distinctive and embossed labels in how the wine industry uses them to draw attention and drinkers to their products. The experience isn’t just visual in how your brand looks; it can also be tactile in how your brand feels, with finishes, foiling, varnishes, laminates and embossment all holding strategic value.
Get Started with Specialty Craft Spirit Labels
As a regular producer of spirits labels and packaging, Belmark offers innovative products, speed and service. We stock a wide range of materials and types, helping to reduce overhead, storage and unnecessary inventory for our customers. Standardization is at the core of Belmark’s production process, so you can count on consistency with each order.
When you package with Belmark, a dedicated account team will work closely with you to guide your project from start to finish. From consulting on embellishments to quality assurance, Belmark is committed to providing world-class packaging solutions that scale with your business.
