Bring a zing to your beverage offering with Planglow – compostable packaging and labelling experts - Botanical Collection - a chic and colourful new range of fully compostable cups available in 8oz, 12oz and 16oz’s sizes. Botanical features a dusky leaf design on three deliciously fruity shades - there’s lime, mango and berry cups in every box - while the double walled construction keeps drinks not hands the temperature you intended. What’s more, the Botanical Collection is made from entirely plant based materials. This includes an EN13432 certified liner so, unlike PE lined products, these cups may be recycled along with food waste making them a fully compostable solution: dazzling design and ever-green through and through (not to mention mango orange and berry red too)!

Planglow’s marketing director Rachael Sawtell commented, “As highlighted by the BBC’s Hugh’s War on Waste most coffee cups are unsuitable for recycling due to their plastic liners which are tricky to remove. At Planglow we offer an environmentally friendly alternative. Free of oil based plastics all of our bio cup solutions are - and always have been - made from 100% plant based materials so that even our laminates and lids will break down in an industrial composting environment without leaving any harmful residues.

“The simple fact is most paper-based packaging becomes unsuitable for recycling the moment food or drink absorbs into the paper contaminating the paper stock for future use. A plastic laminate or coating protects the paper against oils and other substances but it can be tricky, if not impossible, to remove. For this reason we recommend that food providers consider compostable products such as ours which are also less dependent on the waste recycling services operated by their local authority.

“To further support businesses looking to recycle their food and packaging waste we have just launched our Food to Field initiative which connects food providers with composting facilities, AD plants and other services in their area. This helps them to minimise otherwise landfill-bound waste and turn into materials that can be used to grow more crops. Please contact us if you are interested in this service”.

Planglows fully compostable bio cup products are also available in the company’s chalk on slate Gastro brand and rustic Natural Collection too. Please visit Planglow.com for full details.

Labelling and compostable packaging experts Planglow have launched three new sandwich products plus a retro Christmas label too: The three piece Natural Value range provides an even lower cost natural alternative for wedge-cut sandwiches while the Festive Favourites label reintroduces a familiar face just in time for Christmas.

Economical and Ecological: Eco-Friendly Squared
Showcasing the same rustic finish as Planglow’s best-selling Natural kraft collection, the three-piece
Natural Value Range sports a little leaf motif to help differentiate between products: industrially compostable packs that are suitable for same day use, providing an economical, eco-friendly solution for short shelf life sandwiches. The range includes a deep-fill, a standard-fill and a mini wedge for bites both big and small.

Rachael Sawtell, Planglow’s marketing director commented, “Unlike the packs in our standard Natural Collection - which are fully lined with a special plant-based laminate - our Natural Value wedges are made from an un-lined clay coated board and introduce an industrially compostable patch window construction in place of one formed by the laminate. This further reduces the cost to providers seeking packaging options for short shelf life products: a Natural solution for same day sandwiches”.

In addition to the classic deep-fill wedge, the Natural Value Range includes a standard-fill wedge for slimmer sandwiches plus a mini wedge which holds half of a deep fill sandwich or one quarter of a triple decker sandwich. Providers may wish to use the mini and/ or standard-fill wedges for their children’s offering or partner with soups, salads and other snacks to increase add-on sales.

Festive Favourites
In the bleak midwinter this jolly trio will bring a retro festive feel to Christmas sandwiches and snacks. Featuring Santa, snowman and bauble designs (three of each on every sheet), these fun yet versatile labels have been developed to fit a wide range of packaging products. What’s more, every label comes with a bonus star sticker too to further highlight yuletide treats and make them shine.

Planglow first began trading in 1986 and as part of the company’s 30th birthday celebrations staff were asked which label they’d most like to see bought back. A range of designs were considered but the clear winner turned out to be a very familiar face indeed.

Planglow’s marketing director Rachael Sawtell explained, “Our Santa Label was a big seller in the early nineties and it turns out he’s been much missed by our team. We’ve given him a bit of a revamp and added some extra designs as well to create a really colourful ‘old school’ label that works with a wide variety of packaging items including our new Natural Value range”.

Festive Favourites can be paired with Planglow’s Plain Nutri Label to include nutri data on the back of products without detracting from the front of pack. The label is suitable for both laser and inkjet printers and may be overprinted with product information (including legislatively compliant nutri data), logos, marketing messages and more using Planglow’s LabelLogic software or award winning fully web-based labelling software LabelLogic Live which is the only cloud based labelling application on the market.

The Natural Value Range can be paired with Planglow’s Natural or Simply Natural labels to complete the Natural look or providers can choose from a wide range of colourful label designs – including Festive Favourites - for an alternative finish.

For more information on the Natural value Range or Festive Favourites Label please visit Planglow.com

With the Countdown Now on Until Nutri Labelling Becomes Law, it's Time to Call in the Experts

Come Christmas, if you’re not including nutritional information on your labelling, you may be breaking the law because this December new legislation comes into effect meaning that all providers of pre-packed foods must include nutri data on pack. With less than five months to go, calculating the calorific value of every item in your offering – not to mention the quantities of fat, saturates, carbs and more – may feel like ‘Nutrition Impossible’, but panic not as labelling experts Planglow are here to help!

What's Happening?
The legislation - which comes into effect on the 13th December 2016 - forms the second phase of the EU’s Food Information Regulation (FIR) and, while our current position in Europe may be in flux, the directive remains law. The FIRs were initially introduced in 2011 - their aim: to simplify the hugely varied and often misleading food labelling being produced throughout the UK and Europe. They set about tackling this sticky issue with a set of rules that made it much easier for consumers to read and understand what was actually in their food.

Phase one became law in December 2014. It covered everything from the layout and size of text on labelling to banishing misleading statements and images. Perhaps most importantly, it became a legal requirement for all food providers to communicate the presence of 14 potential allergens within their food products - ingredients that in extreme cases can kill. Now December 2016 is nearly upon us and for some providers this means yet further changes to come.

How Does This Affect Me?
For providers making products fresh on site or selling foods through an off-premises outlet (such as a van) nothing further is set to change at this stage. This said, if you:
- Are making a nutrition and / or health claim about a product
And / Or
- Would like to add nutritional information to your products anyway
You must follow the rules outlined for pre-packaged food providers (below) and do so in full otherwise you will be breaking the law. This applies to all providers looking to apply nutri data to products ahead of the December deadline regardless of whether your items are freshly made or pre-packaged.

For those working in the prepacked market a MANDATORY DECLARATION must be added to your products. Typically this would be on the back of pack where there is more space though any surface is acceptable as long as the data appears in the same field of vision. This is to avoid cherry picking information for the front of pack that could otherwise mislead consumers.

The MANDATORY DECLARATION must state (in this order and given unit(s) of measurement):
- Energy value (in both kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal))
- The quantity (in grams (g)) of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt

In addition to the MANDATORY DECLARATION you can also state (in grams only) the quantities of one or more nutrients from the VOLUNTARY SUPPLEMENTARY DECLARATION as well. These include: mono-unsaturates, polyunsaturates, polyols, starch and fibre - plus some vitamins and minerals too. Where health and / or nutrition claims are made about a product the relevant nutrient (e.g. ‘high in fibre’) must be included in both the Reference Intakes (RIs) - as a percentage - and as an absolute amount too.

Providers should also be mindful that
• As previously mentioned, nuti data needs to appear in the same field of vision. This said providers are able to replicate information on the front of pack but in one of two ways only. Either:
- Energy value (in both kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal))
Or
- Energy value (in both kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal)) + the quantity (in grams (g)) of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt
• Sodium cannot be stated in place of salt as this can be misleading. However, providers are required to highlight on pack if a product is low in salt and may address if a high salt content is due to high levels of naturally occurring sodium
• Cholesterol and trans- fats cannot be declared
• Mandatory and / as appropriate supplementary declarations need to appear in the order as shown in the table on the right
• The text on labelling should go no smaller than 1.2mm or around 6.5 points

How Planglow Can Help
Planglow has been providing specialist labelling software to the catering industry for 30 years. What’s more, with a customer service team, five dedicated regional account managers and a technical support team with 50+ years combined industry expertise, we offer truly outstanding support. From help finding the right label to setting up bespoke labelling templates, we’re only ever a phone call away and more than happy to drop in should you need some additional and / or on-site assistance.

We currently offer three ways to help you create nutri labelling for your products: LabelLogic; NutriLogic + LabelLogic combined; LabelLogic Live.

Our NutriLogic & LabelLogic programs work together to help you simply and easily create your own nutritional labelling using a PC and a standard desktop printer. NutriLogic does the tricky bit for you so all you have to do is create your recipes in NutriLogic and this automatically calculates and updates the FIR compliant nutritional and ingredients box in LabelLogic ready for you to use on-pack. Working with NutriLogic and LabelLogic also allows you to create a custom nutrition box should you wish to highlight additional information outside of the standard box. While LabelLogic includes an AutoAllergen function which automatically bolds 14 of the most common potential allergens in your ingredients list. Alternatively you can simply use LabelLogic to manually input your nutritional information directly into the nutritional box.

Launched this spring LabelLogic Live is our latest labelling software solution and it combines both NutriLogic and LabelLogic in one easy to use application. It is a multi-award winning application that runs on any internet connected device (laptop, phone, tablet, home computer – Mac and PC - etc.) and a standard desktop printer. LabelLogic Live makes it even easier to create recipes and ingredients thanks to a built in recipe builder which automatically calculates and creates fully FIR compliant labelling. What’s more, because LabelLogic Live is fully web based – the only cloud based application now available on the market - it automatically updates in line with industry changes and software updates – so there is no need to run any upgrades or installations to stay compliant. Created to meet the ever changing needs of modern foodservice operators, it is flexible, intuitive and easy-to-use.

LabelLogic Live offers a number of other advantages when creating nutritional labelling too:
• Our improved product management enables you to build recipes and add product related information all on one easy to use page
• You can change the criteria for Reference Intakes (per cake, per slice, per 100g and so on) in a single click
• QR codes, text and images are all quick and easy to add: use to highlight promotions, special messaging and other information
• Once products have been created and saved in the recipe builder, you can run reports to provide to your trading standard authority or to analyse the nutritional content of your products
• Allows users to create bespoke labelling from stock designs
• Multi-site operators can create, rollout and lock down data and templates to ensure consistency across all sites
• Hosted on Amazon’s leading cloud infrastructure user’s data is always accessible and always secure

Further functions and tools will be added to LabelLogic Live in the future as well as the application continues to evolve in line with the catering industry - watch this space for updates!

Our new pots and lids are quite the all-rounders

Come hail, heat wave or high-water, our new Natural Pot - plus two choices of matching lids - will see you through. The rustic, brand-neutral finish and excellent thermo-insulating properties of the 12oz Natural Pot mean it’s as well suited to ice cream as porridge, pasta or soup.

Sustainably sourced and industrially compostable, it’s lined with a special food-safe bio coating which meets the European compostability standard EN13432.

Pair with either our transparent 12oz Pot Lid or semi opaque 12oz Bio Lid for eco-containers-to-go, no matter the temperature inside or out!

We've launched two new mini wedges + label especially for little appetites

It’s back-to-school-time and as our little ones begin their big new adventures, come lunchtime they’ll be looking for something that’s just their size. With this in mind, we've launched a Natural Mini Wedge and matching label, plus Gastro Mini Wedge too.

With room for two quarters (half) a deep-fill sandwich or one quarter of a triple sandwich, the mini wedges are perfect for adult slim-line portions or tasters too. What’s more, they can be teamed with other baked goods, soup, salad, or even another sandwich for mix and match meal options that boost add-on sales...

Eco packaging and labelling experts Planglow have expanded their brilliant white Blanco Collection by adding a large and a small salad pack to the fully compostable range. The now 12-piece collection has been designed to emphasise product quality and is inspired by casual dining trends delivering a lighter brighter presentation across a wide range of grab and go items.

Rachael Sawtell, marketing director for Planglow commented, “The Blanco Salad Packs have been created to showcase salads and more by allowing the products they hold to become the star. They also highlight the handmade nature of your produce through on-pack messaging. Sporting the minimalist stylings of our lighter, brighter Blanco range, these fully home compostable packs blend a whitewashed wood effect print, cool grey detailing and a brilliant white finish. In addition to salads, they are also ideal for sushi, desserts and sandwiches - in fact the large salad pack can be used to display a speciality bread sandwich and a side salad providing a value added offer”.

Available in two sizes - large (1000cc’s) and small (650cc) – the crescent clasp packs are quick and easy to seal. Fully lined with our unique home compostable bio laminate these versatile packs protect against leaks and seeps from juicy produce and rich dressings. The Blanco Salad Packs also feature not one but two windows (formed from the bio laminate), for greater product visibility on the shelf: a large viewing window in the top plus a clever little side window too in the front of the pack so you can see what’s inside even when stacked in the chiller. The packs are fully home compostable and free of oil-based plastics.

The Blanco collection also includes a deep-fill wedge, standard-fill wedge, heat seal wedge and bloomer pack plus three fully compostable clear bags – a multi-bag, a wrap-bag and a baguette-bag too – which offer a crystal clear view of the product(s) inside. Made from a plant-based EN13432 certified compostable material, as with the wedges and bloomer pack, the Blanco bags may be disposed of in a domestic food waste bin, as well as part of an industrial composting scheme.

Card inserts are available for the bags. Sold separately they aid insertion and provide rigidity, while remaining fully compostable and recyclable too.

To finish the range Planglow has three sizes of Blanco labels as well as brand new for Summer 2016 Banner and Bunting Labels which provide a colourful, summery finish for seasonal salads, sandwiches and snacks. Our labels may be overprinted using our market leading labelling software LabelLogic and brand new online application LabelLogic Live*.
Planglow has a policy of using materials from sustainable, renewable sources wherever possible and all of its product suppliers are commissioned for their own pro-active environmental best practice. Throughout Planglow’s extended business, waste is kept to a minimum and recycled wherever possible including off cuts from the paper board production which are repulped back into the board.