Most cold-chain label failures are not caused by cold. They are caused by water — a film of condensate between the adhesive and the pack, at the moment of application. Getting the temperature right without solving the water problem just moves the failure a week later.
Model guide · last verified 2026-10-21 · published in English · technical questions: contact the lab
A label on a frozen pack passes through three different conditions, and they are not interchangeable. Conflating them is the most common specification error we see.
Application temperature is the temperature of the surface at the moment the label is pressed on. Service temperature is what the pack lives at afterwards. Conditioning temperature is where the roll itself was stored before use. A construction that works applied at +5 °C to a pack that then goes to −30 °C is a different product from one applied at −25 °C on a frost-covered surface.
Ask which of the three is actually the constraint. In our experience the expensive mistakes come from buying for service temperature when the real problem is application temperature.
Below the freezing point, a pack coming out of a freezer or a chiller collects a film of condensate within seconds of meeting room air. Adhesive cannot bond to water. If the label is applied through that film, the adhesive initially makes contact with the water, not the substrate, and the bond is only as good as the adhesive's ability to displace it.
This is what "freezer grade" mostly means in practice: a softer, more aggressive adhesive that flows under light application pressure and pushes the water film aside. It is also why application pressure and roller condition matter more on a cold line than on a warm one — a worn applicator that works at ambient will fail at −20 °C without the adhesive being at fault.
The second water event is the thaw. A pack that defrosts in a display case sweats; if the label edge has lifted even slightly, water enters under the edge and the label peels from the outside in.
All six below are freezer or frozen grades already in our range. Facestock, adhesive and liner are as stated on the technical data sheet.
| Code | Facestock | Adhesive | Liner | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FL0103W21 | 80 gsm woodfree paper | Frozen | 54 gsm white glassine | Paper label applied to a chilled or lightly frosted surface, dry store afterwards |
| FL0105W21 | 70 gsm semi-glossy cast coated paper | Frozen | 54 gsm glassine | Printed paper label; better ink holdout than woodfree for shelf-facing work |
| FL0204W21 | 50 mic glossy white BOPP film | Frozen | 60 gsm white glassine | Thin film for wraps and bags where a paper label would cockle |
| FL0209W21 | 100 mic glossy white BOPP film | Frozen | 60 gsm white glassine | Thicker film for rigid tubs and boxes; resists edge lift through the thaw |
| FL0213W21 | 100 mic glossy white BOPP film | Frozen | 60 gsm white glassine | Same family, different coat weight; specify one and stay with it for consistency |
| FL0403W21 | 80 mic white PE film | Freezer adhesive | 60 gsm white glassine | Squeezable and irregular cold packs; PE conforms where BOPP would lift |
If your pack is wet rather than merely cold, say so before sampling — wet-surface performance is a different requirement from low-temperature performance.
Once the three temperatures are clear, the choice is usually decided by the container and by what happens to the label on the shelf.
| If this is your situation | Start with | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Applied cold, on a dry or lightly frosted surface | FL0103W21 — 80 gsm paper, frozen adhesive | Paper is the cheapest thing that works; the adhesive does the low-temperature duty |
| Applied cold, pack goes into an ice bath or wet display | FL0209W21 — 100 mic white BOPP | Film does not cockle or disintegrate when it gets wet; the extra caliper resists edge lift |
| Squeezable bag, uneven surface | FL0403W21 — 80 mic white PE | PE conforms to movement; a stiffer film would lift at the creases |
| Printed by flexo, high ink coverage | FL0105W21 — cast coated paper, frozen adhesive | Cast coating holds ink better than uncoated woodfree at the same adhesive cost |
| Needs to survive repeated freeze–thaw cycles | FL0209W21 or FL0213W21, then test | Repeated cycling is an ageing test, not a datasheet number — run it before committing |
These are the recurring cold-chain complaints. Three of the four are process problems that a different adhesive only masks.
Symptom: one edge lifts within hours, usually the edge that meets the air first. Cause: the label was applied through a water film and only the centre achieved real contact, or the applicator pressure is too low for a cold surface. Fix: increase application pressure and check roller condition before changing material; if the surface is wet rather than cold, specify a wet-surface adhesive.
Symptom: labels slide or fall off within minutes. Cause: a permanent adhesive applied below its glass transition — it cannot flow, so it never wets the surface. Fix: this is the one case where the material is definitely wrong. Move to a freezer grade; do not try to solve it with pressure alone.
Symptom: labels lift at the corners once the product reaches ambient, days later. Cause: differential expansion between a stiff film facestock and a paper liner, or moisture entering the paper facestock during the thaw. Fix: for repeated cycling use a film facestock, and check the liner — a damp liner will curl the whole construction.
Symptom: the print scuffs on handling at low temperature, though it was fine in the press room. Cause: ink or varnish that stays brittle below zero, not the labelstock. Fix: check the ink system with your ink supplier; we can only tell you that the facestock is not the variable here.
We publish the adhesive type and the construction on every TDS, and we keep retained samples for the life of each batch. We do not publish a single "minimum application temperature" number for a whole family, because it depends on the substrate, the pressure and the dwell time on your line — a number copied from another converter is worse than no number.
The honest test is your own: take samples, apply them on your line at your real temperature, and leave them through a full freeze–thaw cycle before you judge. Freezer jobs are cheap to sample and expensive to get wrong.
Answered by the coating and conversion team, not by marketing.
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