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How to Choose the Right Packaging for Alcohol Shipping: Safety, Compliance, and Branding

Whether you’re a small business looking to send out your craft spirits or a large brand aiming to distribute widely, making sure your products reach their destination safely and legally is crucial. Shipping alcohol can be a complex process filled with numerous regulations and requirements that vary significantly from state to state.

This guide will break down the essentials of alcohol shipping regulations, including the necessary permits, packaging for shipping alcohol techniques, and state-specific guidelines that you need to follow.

Regulatory Compliance

Before arranging any shipment of alcohol, you should be aware of each state’s transportation regulations.

Shippers should also obtain the necessary licenses and establish agreements with carriers such as FedEx and UPS. Each state may have its own specific regulations regarding the shipment of alcohol. However, some states completely prohibit it.

Some licenses that are required include:

Federal Basic Permit: Issued by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), this permit is necessary for any business engaging in the production, importation, or wholesale distribution of alcohol.
State Alcohol Shipping Permit: Each state requires shippers to obtain an alcohol shipping permit. The necessary type of permit varies by state, and some states may require multiple permits depending on the nature of the shipment.
Carrier Agreements: Agreements with carriers like FedEx, UPS, and DHL that outline the terms and conditions for shipping alcohol.
Sales Tax Permit: Required by most states to legally collect sales tax on shipped alcohol.
Shipping Carrier Compliance Bond: A bond that some carriers require to ensure compliance with their alcohol shipping guidelines and regulations.

Adult Signature Verification

All alcohol shipments require an adult signature (21+ years) upon delivery. Alcohol Signature Verification ensures that alcohol is not delivered to minors and typically incurs an additional fee. Carriers have specific procedures to verify the recipient’s age and identity at the time of delivery.

These procedures often include checking a valid government-issued identification and obtaining a signature to confirm that someone of legal drinking age received the package.

Safety and Durability

After checking with federal and state laws, your next priority is to get your customer a safe and intact product. Proper packaging helps your products withstand transit shocks, vibrations, and potential impacts.

These are a few best practices for getting your alcoholic beverage delivered in mint condition:

Use the right materials: Choose a durable box with inner packaging made of polystyrene, molded pulp, or die-cut corrugated.
Protection: Inside the box, each bottle should be individually cushioned with padded dividers or foam inserts to prevent movement and breakage. To protect bottles, you can also use bubble wrap or wine bottle sleeves.
Pack tightly: Fill any empty space with filler material like foam peanuts, air pillows, or crumpled paper. Wrap each bottle individually to prevent them from breaking. Pack the box so that it doesn’t move when shaken.
Secure the package: Use strong tape to seal the box along all edges and corners. You can also reinforce the bottom with extra tape or a corrugated pad.
Label instructions: Mark the box as “Fragile” or “Handle with Care”.
Seasonal considerations: Temperature control is another consideration—using insulated packaging or gel packs can help maintain the beverage’s quality, especially during extreme weather conditions.

Packaging and Branding Materials

Picture this: your beautifully crafted product travels thousands of miles, enduring various handling stages and environmental conditions, only to arrive with a worn-out, unreadable label.

Using the proper packaging materials will help your alcohol shipments reach your customers in their best condition. Below are a few important considerations to keep in mind when shipping alcohol.

Materials

Using acceptable materials like molded polystyrene, pulp dividers, and sturdy corrugated cartons ensures your product and its packaging remain intact. When it comes to a safety net, reinforced bottoms are your best friend.

Most major carriers, like FedEx and UPS, include detailed guidelines on what materials can be used for packaging on their websites.

Strong adhesives

Whether braving downpours or UV rays from the sun, a label with strong adhesive should stay put. The right adhesive helps your label stay put and in compliance no matter what wild adventures it may encounter.

Label laminates

Laminates act as barriers against environmental factors, protecting labels from moisture, temperature changes, and abrasion. High-quality laminates keep crucial information like legal disclaimers, barcodes, and brand details intact and readable during transit.

UV coatings

UV coatings provide a layer of protection against harmful ultraviolet light, which can degrade both the label material and the printed information over time. By applying UV coatings, labels are protected against fading, discoloration, and other forms of deterioration caused by UV exposure, particularly during extended periods in transit or storage.

Alcohol Label Requirements

Preparing your label before it gets picked up by your carrier helps avoid issues during shipping. Here is what you need to know:

Electronic shipping solutions: Shippers must use carrier-approved electronic shipping solutions to create and manage shipping labels. This allows shipments to be properly documented and traceable.
Active alcohol shipping account: Carriers like FedEx and UPS have specific systems for processing alcohol shipments. For instance, FedEx requires shippers to have an active alcohol shipping account and a signed agreement.
Special labels: A special alcohol label and an adult signature requirement sticker. Similarly, UPS mandates that shippers have a UPS Agreement for Approved Beer or Wine Shippers.
Declaration: You’ll need to provide details about the contents of the package with clear identification. Alcohol shipments must be clearly labeled as containing alcohol.
Adult signature: Labels should indicate that an adult signature is required upon delivery.
Compliance with origin and destination regulations: Special labels can be obtained from the shipping carrier, and packages must comply with both origin and destination state labeling requirements.

Direct-to-Consumer Alcohol Packaging vs. Distribution Packaging

As an alcohol manufacturer, you might be wondering about the differences between direct-to-consumer alcohol packaging and packaging designed for distribution and shipping on a larger scale.

When shipping directly to consumers, packaging needs to cater to a more personal experience—think appealing designs that embody your brand and provide an unboxing experience. Consider how your packaging can spark joy, but be tough enough to handle.

On the other hand, B2B or distribution packaging focuses more on efficiency and durability; your primary goal is to ensure products arrive intact and ready for resale. This often means using more robust supplemental materials and prioritizing functionality over aesthetics.

Both packaging types have one thing in common—they require a focus on product protection. If you choose the right packaging partner, both can look good and maintain the integrity of your product.

Let Blue Label Help You Choose the Right Packaging

Blue Label Packaging Co. has dedicated experts who can guide you through the ins and outs of packaging regulations. We offer customized solutions like alcohol-compliant labels with no minimum order, second-skin shrink sleeves, and hang tags with luxe finishes.

At Blue Label Packaging, we put our expertise to work. Explore our product labels or talk to an expert about your next packaging product.

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3 Key Considerations When Designing Labels for Bottlenecks

A good bottleneck label can help set your product head and shoulders above the competition. Like a good tie for a nice suit, a bottleneck label adds an intriguing element to the overall look of a bottle. As such, it’s important to devote enough time to designing these companion labels. Here are some key factors to consider when designing bottleneck labels.

Use Your Extra Space Wisely

Bottleneck labels provide you with a very important gift: more design space. Once you have more design space, you need to figure out what you want to do with that space to showcase your branding and attract consumers. You could use it to showcase your logo, add additional information that couldn’t quite fit on your main product label, or use it as a decorative seal for spirits and other classy products.

Want to add a show-stopping pop to your bottleneck? Hot foil stamping makes your logo stand out on the bottleneck in a whole new way, or simply mirror the design on your main product label. You can also opt for a new twist on your branding, such as an alternate logo or variable bottleneck labels catered to specific versions or flavors of your products.

When it comes to adding information, you can utilize the bottleneck to showcase certain messaging. Have a company motto, saying, or some other language to intrigue buyers? A bottleneck label is a perfect spot for these types of branding efforts. You can even use the extra space to make intriguing health claims for food or dietary supplements, as long as they comply with FDA guidelines.

You can also use the bottleneck as a place to include certain regulatory info to free up space on your body label. This is particularly useful for alcohol and other heavily regulated products, although you need to make sure you follow the rules for mandatory label information placement. Whether it’s decoration or compliance, bottlenecks give you the space you need to do what you want to showcase your bottled product.

A spirits bottle featuring a bottleneck label.

Taper Your Bottlenecks (if Necessary)

The shape of a bottle plays a major role in how you design a label. That same philosophy extends to bottleneck labels as well.

The neck and body of a bottle can have different shapes. For example, a standard beer bottle has a cylindrical body, but the neck has a slight taper to it. Other containers, such as spirits or wine bottles, may have cylindrical necks as well as bodies. As a result, you’ll need to measure both the body and the neck to see if you should taper one or both labels.

If the neck of your bottle is tapered, you’ll need to adjust your design. A standard label shape placed on a tapered container will look uneven and can cause the label itself to crease or bulge. The tapering process is a bit tricky, so we’ve provided guidelines on how to taper labels in another blog post for you, just in case.

Factor in Bottle Conditions

Sometimes designing labels is like picking out an outfit – a snazzy dress shirt with no jacket isn’t going to help if it rains. If you want that design to shine, you better consider potential environmental factors so that you can protect it from damage. Water resistance is one typical consideration for bottle labels, but everything from sunlight to scuffs and scratches pose future problems for all parts of your bottle.

Protective coatings like laminates and varnishes help shield your design from outside factors that will cause your labels to warp, scratch, or fall right off the bottle. This extra level of defense can help you ensure that your label design stays looking great. A varnish can double as a decorative effect as well. For example, a spot varnish can add a gloss sheen to a specific element of your design, helping your bottle neck label stand out even further.

A digital label printing expert looking over labels for bottles.

Find the Right Printing Company

A great label still needs a printing company that can do your design justice. Not only is it important to find a printer that has all the technical capabilities required to bring your design to life, it’s also key that this company works with you to identify any specific issues and potential solutions to make sure your labels both look great and perform as expected.

Blue Label is ready to work with you to print the perfect bottle labels for your products. Contact Blue Label today to talk to one of our experts about your next label project and how we can help.

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Label Considerations for Bottling vs. Canning Craft Beer

Beer can’t make the important journey from your brewing facility to your consumers’ mouths without a container. Whether you decide to bottle or can your brews, you’re going to need a good beer label to showcase your product and stay in compliance with alcohol regulations. Of course, the style of the container you choose can impact a few of your labeling decisions.
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Key Compliance Considerations You Need to Know for Your Kombucha Labels

Once an underground sensation, kombucha is becoming big business. According to The Specialty Food Association, the kombucha market had $1.5 billion in sales in 2017 and is expected to grow 23 percent over the next five years. However, the growing kombucha market is drawing attention from more than just thirsty customers, which makes proper packaging even more important than before.

A kombucha label is more than just a way to brand your products. It also serves as a compliance tool to ensure that your products are labelled in accordance to any government regulations. Here are the kombucha basics and some important areas that can directly impact labels for kombucha.
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Growlers VS. Crowlers: What’s the Difference?

⚞ The Highlights:

A growler is a reusable jug, typically glass or stainless steel, for transporting draft beer, while a crowler is a single-use aluminum can that’s filled and sealed on demand.
Growlers commonly come in 64 oz. jugs requiring labels around 4×6 inches, while crowlers are typically 32 oz. cans needing labels closer to 6×9.5 inches.
In comparison, a standard 12 oz. beer bottle or can holds less than a 32 or 64 oz. container and generally needs a shorter label—often around 3.625×8 inches.

What is a growler? If you’re a beer aficionado, you’ve heard of the growler. Growlers are airtight glass, steel or ceramic jugs that provide patrons with a portable, refillable vessel that can be filled up with draft beer at your favorite craft brewery and taken on the go. As the name might suggest, growlers are quite large in size and can transport a lot of beer—64 ounces, to be exact, or a little more than five bottles of beer—while half growlers (called howlers) can hold a respectable 32 ounces. Some herald growlers and howlers as a more mobile flavor-keeping keg. Indeed, what a time to be alive!

So, what can make the new age of beer transport even better? In comes the crowler. But what is a crowler of beer? It’s the half growler’s aluminum twin. If you haven’t seen a 32-ounce crowler can of beer yet, you will – and you will love it. However, is one portable beer vessel a better option than the other? Both crowlers and growlers have their perks, so keep reading to find out which may be the better fit for your needs.

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