We have previously written about Coca Cola's pilot project to abandon standard labels on Sprite bottles. However, it turns out that this is not a one-off campaign, but a fairly rapidly developing trend in the beverage market. Moreover, this trend is already beginning to be supported by legislative norms.
The first sign of legislation, oddly enough, was South Korea, where the sale of non-alcoholic drinks in bottles with labels was banned from January 1, 2026. At the same time, the rules according to which the seller must provide the buyer with full information about the product have not been canceled either. What to do in this case, you ask?
But demand creates supply. And such supply has already appeared in the packaging equipment market. Domino Printing Sciences (Domino) has already announced the launch of a new line of machines designed to print variable data and machine-readable codes, including QR codes, on high-density polyethylene lids. The addition of such codes can provide a link to all the data typically required on product labels, ancillary applications including product tracking, product recycling information, and consumer information.
Domino's print stations can be adapted to a variety of beverage bottling line configurations. High-speed printing of loose caps and closures is possible near the line, as well as real-time coding of filled bottles. The stations feature pre- and post-processing of printed codes to ensure code adhesion and durability, as well as integrated machine vision for automated code inspection and verification.
Several such stations have already been sold and installed at factories of South Korean beverage manufacturers and have received very positive feedback.
Used materials from the site domino-printing.com.