On a mission to face contemporary issues in the global labeling industry, US-based Avery Dennison, a global manufacturing company specializing in labeling and functional materials, just introduced its newly developed 100% vegan self-adhesive labels.
Founded in 1935 as Avery Adhesives in downtown Los Angeles, the self-adhesive label pioneer merged with Dennison Manufacturing to form Avery Dennison in 1990. Over the past 80+ years, the company has grown into a global Fortune 500 corporation with a turnover of US$6.971 billion in 2020.
The First Label Manufacturer to Achieve Vegan Certification
The company’s products, which are used in nearly every major industry, include pressure-sensitive materials for labels and graphic applications. Moreover, the company offers tapes and other bonding solutions for industrial, medical, and retail applications, as well as tags, labels, and embellishments for apparel.
Being the first label manufacturer to achieve vegan certification in this category, Avery Dennison spoke to vegconomist about its new range and the importance to rethink global labeling.
Why did Avery Dennison decide to develop 100% vegan self-adhesive labels?
Following the vegan trend, we observed an increased number of questions about whether our products are vegan and if we have vegan products. Extensive product compliance research proved that there were no products that were meeting the vegan requirement. As there were concrete customer questions, it fit company values and further analysis proved there was clear business potential so it was decided to develop a vegan range. Our vegan range is validated by the EVE VEGAN® certification mark, with whom we will continue to work to validate our future vegan compliance projects.
Why are self-adhesive labels not usually 100% vegan?
Animal-derived components can be added for various reasons but in most cases, they are used to ease processability (plastic) films or bind components (in eg. adhesives). For papers, it is sometimes used in coatings to obtain a specific finish, like gloss. Avery Dennison does not add such components but some suppliers of components we source do. During development of the vegan range, we also learned that some paper and film manufacturers test their products for skin contact, in Asia sometimes animal testing is conducted for this.
When and for whom will these new products be available?
The official release was February 1st 2022. Products can be sourced from all label converters/print houses doing business with Avery Dennison in Europe.
What are the next steps that Avery Dennison plans to take following the launch of this new 100% vegan range?
We have created a basic range to see the market appetite for vegan self-adhesive labels. We continue to monitor the market and trends closely. If there are clear indications that vegan products are what our customers and the brands need we will certainly expand the portfolio as it fits very well with our strategy to develop sustainable and responsible products.
What other new products will you be offering in the near future?
There is a very strong focus on sustainable products, we are leveraging our legacy of innovation to design label and packaging solutions that are better for our planet. We empower consumer-focused brands to create lasting change, reduce their consumption of natural resources and move towards a circular and regenerative economy.
We continue creating portfolios of solutions that enable the use of fewer natural resources, cut carbon emissions, reduce waste and move toward a low-carbon, circular and responsible economy. Our Sustainable ADvantage solutions make it easy to improve the environmental impact of packaging and elevate sustainability credentials without sacrificing performance.
