Yes, most good agents help with private label, but the help is usually coordination rather than graphic design. Your brand team or designer creates the look. The agent makes sure the pack is right, legal and printed correctly.
We coordinate artwork, printing and labelling rules as part of order management, and check printed packs before goods are filled.
What an agent typically does
- Write a pack specification covering material, size, weight, closure, print method and carton marking.
- Find the factory or printer that will make the packs, and check that it can meet your spec.
- Collect the information the label needs, such as ingredients, net quantity, lot codes and the address lines.
- Pass artwork to the printer in the format it needs and get a printed proof back for your approval.
- Check the first printed packs against the approved proof before your goods are packed in them.
- Check at inspection that the right packs were used and that codes and dates are printed correctly.
Labelling rules belong to your market
The rules that matter are those of the country where the goods are sold. Food labels, textile fibre content, care labels, chemical hazard labels and country-of-origin marking are all set by the importing country, and they differ.
An agent can collect the facts the label needs and check the printed pack against your instructions. The legal responsibility for a compliant label usually rests with the importer or the brand owner placing goods on the market. Confirm your label with your regulator, a compliance adviser or your trade association before you approve the proof.
Who owns the artwork
Keep the master artwork files yourself, in an editable format, and send the factory or printer only what it needs to print. Say in the purchase contract that your brand, artwork and packs may not be used for anyone else, and that leftover printed packs belong to you.
This protects your brand if you later move to another factory. It also makes it simple to give the same files to a backup supplier, so its packs match the first supplier's exactly. An NDA can add protection, as explained in sourcing agent NDAs.
Where private label goes wrong
Most problems are small and expensive. A printer uses the wrong colour, a barcode does not scan, a net weight is misprinted, or the factory runs out of your packs and uses plain ones. Each is easy to catch on a proof or on the first packs, and costly to fix after the goods are packed.
Minimum print runs are another trap. Printers often have a minimum order, and leftover packs become waste if your design changes. Plan the quantity with the printer before you approve.
If you are combining several private-label lines in one shipment, see consolidating goods from several suppliers. The "Your brand, made in India" section of what we source covers this kind of work.
Next step
Send us your current packs, if you have them, and the markets you sell into. To plan your own-label range, book a free sourcing review.