Pet Care Product Labels & Packaging

In recent years, the range of pet care products available to consumers has expanded at an impressive pace. This market expansion has been accompanied by pet owners’ increasing discernment when it comes to buying pet food, pet treats, and other products for their ‘fur babies’.

If you’re a pet care product manufacturer, this is great news for your business – but it also means that you’re facing stiff competition on pet store shelves. To attract consumers, you need to ensure that your pet care product labels stand out from the rest and that your pet care packaging gives consumers the confidence that they are purchasing only the very best for their four-footed darlings.

Building your pet care brand

Whether your business is long-established or you’re just starting, creating striking, informative pet care product labels is key to the continued growth and success of your brand.

Your product labels are also critical for gaining the trust of consumers: many people will recall the mass pet food product recall of 2007 when hundreds of dog and cat food brands were recalled after their products were discovered to be contaminated with melamine. Just last year, the FDA announced that Mid America Pet Food products were being investigated for potential salmonella contamination.

In the aftermath of these and similar stories, pet owners are paying greater attention to the products they are purchasing for their pets. One way to stand up to consumer scrutiny and win the trust of pet owners is to craft a reputable and reliable brand image through your product labels.

Essential elements of pet care product labels

Any eye-catching pet care product label will have at least the following design elements:

• a cute, appealing picture of the pet species the product is aimed at;
• a sophisticated brand logo and tagline;
• clear, legible text which includes the product description, ingredient list, and manufacturing details; and
• details of regulatory approvals if applicable.

All these elements should be complementary to the overall brand aesthetic that they create and should be enhanced by a glossy label finish or other label embellishments that will indicate the product is of high quality.

When designing your label, you should take care to ensure there is sufficient space for product information. Both the FDA and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) publish rules regulating the product information to be included on pet food labels. AAFCO also provides pet care product labeling rules for particular words and phrases, for example, when the word ‘meat’ can be used, and what standards must be met for a product to be described as ‘complete and healthy’.

It is vital to check that you are complying with these rules both when you are developing your pet care products and when you are deciding which information to include in the copy of your labels.

Types of pet care product labels

The above considerations aren’t only applicable to pet food products – all pet care products, from medicines to toys to grooming products, need unique and informative labels to boost sales. The design guidelines above are equally applicable to:

• Dog and cat treats labels
• Pet toy labels
• Pet shampoo labels
• Flea repellent labels
• Pet dental care labels
• Pet odor control labels
• Pet skin and wound care labels
• Pet nail care labels
• Pet grooming tool labels

However, the design of your pet care product label is just one part of the story. The other is the product packaging it is adhered to, which needs to make an equally good impression on the consumer.

Pet care packaging options for different types of pet care products

Just as there is an incredibly wide range of packaging options for products intended for human consumption, there is an equally wide range for pet products. Your particular product will dictate the type of packaging you need to use.

Dry and semi-moist pet food

Plastic and aluminum pouches are usually appropriate for dry pet food. Metallized polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films are more appropriate for large quantities of food, as they are more tear-resistant. Semi-moist and wet pet food, such as chunks or soft pellets, require a stronger, airtight film that locks in the product’s moisture and prevents bacterial growth. Multi-layer films made of aluminum or PET are popular for semi-moist food pouches, and steel or aluminum cans remain a popular packaging choice for many types of dog and cat food.

Shampoos, dental care, sprays and supplements

Plastic bottles are most commonly used for pet grooming and dental care products. These bottles may need a spray nozzle or may need to be squeezable depending on the product. Pet supplements are most frequently packaged in plastic tubs with screw lids.

Medicines, toys, and grooming tools

Pet toys and grooming tools are commonly packed with cardboard sleeves and tags. Make sure that your sleeve design is sturdy enough to support the product and has sufficient space to include all necessary product information. Pet medicines, some pet supplements, and pet CBD products are typically packaged in boxes and cartons. For these products, your cardboard box or folding carton packaging design should provide structural integrity but also aim to catch the consumer’s eye with a high-quality glossy or matte finish.

Ensuring compatibility between product labels and packaging

Whatever pet care packaging you choose, you need to think about how your product labels and packaging will work together and choose a label and packaging specialist who will accommodate your product needs without compromising on quality. Any reputable pet care product label supplier should be able to produce labels for at least the following product options:

• Pet product labels and shrink sleeves for glass and PET plastic bottles
• Wrap-around pet product labels for plastic tubs and aluminum cans
• Pet product labels for squeezable tubes and plastic bottles
• Pet product labels and cardboard sleeves for pet toys and grooming kits
• Flexible pet product labels for foil, aluminum, and PET pouches

When choosing your label supplier, you should also check whether they can supply flexible order sizes on a variety of label materials to accommodate your product range needs.

The key to an excellent pet care product label is an excellent label printing company

You might design the perfect label for your pet care product, but if your label printing company isn’t up to scratch, your hard work will be wasted. An excellent label printing partner will offer you a range of finishes and embellishments for your labels, from glossy and matte finishes to soft-touch lamination, detailed embossing, scented labels, and more. Most importantly, they will use high-quality digital printing methods to ensure that your labels pop with color and stand out on pet store shelves.

At Ritter’s Printing & Packaging, we work closely with our clients to help them create memorable, eye-catching labels that take their brands to the next level. We can print a wide range of pet care product labels, from pet treats and toys to medicines and grooming kits. From our 7-color label printing technology to our lightning-fast turnaround times, there’s no doubt that we are committed to providing excellent client service.

Give us a call at 954-771-7204 today to find out why we’re the label printing company of choice in the South Florida Tri-county area.