Bakery labels
Custom Bakery Labels: Sizes, Stock and What Goes On Them
A home bakery label has two jobs, and most people try to make one sticker do both.
Home bakeries and cottage food businesses need two different labels and usually order one. That is the mistake worth fixing before you print five hundred of anything.
The two labels
The brand label
Your name, your logo, maybe a handle. It goes on the outside of the box, it is the one customers photograph, and it is the reason someone can find you again. This is where foil and nice stock earn their money.
The information label
Contents, allergens, a use by date, your business name and address. Plain, legible, functional. Nobody photographs it and that is fine, because it is doing a legal job rather than a marketing one.
Trying to combine them produces a label that is too cluttered to be attractive and too decorative to be readable. Print them separately.
What the law expects
Cottage food rules are set state by state in the US and they vary a great deal, so check your own state's requirements rather than copying another baker. Most states require the product name, ingredients in descending order by weight, allergen declarations, net weight, your business name and address, and a statement that the food was made in a home kitchen.
For allergen wording and the general framework, the FDA labeling guidance is the reference. If you sell across state lines or wholesale into a shop, the rules tighten considerably.
Keep the information label editable
Ingredients change. Print your decorative labels in bulk and your ingredient labels in smaller runs, or print them at home, so a recipe tweak does not scrap a thousand stickers.
Choosing stock
Matt paper
Reads premium and takes pen, which is useful for writing a date by hand. It does not like moisture, so it is wrong for anything refrigerated or anything going near a drink.
Gloss
Brighter, more color saturation, and it handles condensation far better. The default for cake boxes going into a fridge.
Transparent
Excellent on kraft boxes and cellophane bags where you want the design to sit on the packaging rather than on a white square. Poor over busy patterns.
Gold foil
Use it on the brand label only. Foil on an ingredients list is a strange decision that also makes the small print harder to read.
Our baked with love labels cover the decorative side, and custom stickers take your own artwork in any of these finishes.
Sizes that actually work
1 inch
Cellophane bags, cookie sleeves, cupcake boxes. Big enough for a name, too small for a name plus a handle plus a logo.
1.5 to 2 inch
The workhorse. Fits a name and a handle comfortably, and it is the right scale on a standard cake box corner.
2.5 to 3 inch
Large boxes and hampers, or an information label where you need room for a full ingredients list.
Rectangular
Ingredient labels almost always want a rectangle rather than a circle, because text lines up better and you waste less space.
Practical things that go wrong
Adhesive and cold
Labels applied to a cold box lift at the edges. Apply at room temperature, press firmly for a few seconds, then refrigerate.
Greasy surfaces
Nothing sticks to a box that has had buttercream on it. Label before you fill, not after.
Applying to curves
A large circular label will wrinkle on a curved jar. Use a smaller diameter, or a rectangle wrapped around rather than a disc pressed on.
How many to order
Brand labels in bulk, because they do not change and the unit price drops sharply at 500. Information labels in smaller batches, because recipes and dates do.
If you go through them steadily, ask for a standing quote on the bulk order page and reorder against it rather than requoting each time.
One thing that pays for itself
Put your handle on the brand label. Bakery customers photograph boxes constantly, and a handle turns someone else's story into a route back to your shop. It is the cheapest marketing on the entire box.
Shop bakery labels and tags
Related reading
FAQ
1. What size should a bakery label be?
One inch for cookie bags and cupcake boxes, 1.5 to 2 inch for standard cake boxes, and 2.5 inch or larger rectangles for ingredient lists.
2. Do I need an ingredients label on home baked goods?
In most US states selling under cottage food rules, yes. Requirements vary by state, so check yours. Typically you need product name, ingredients, allergens, net weight, your business details and a home kitchen statement.
3. Which sticker stock survives a fridge?
Gloss or transparent vinyl. Matt paper stock absorbs condensation and will lift or wrinkle in a refrigerated box.
4. Why do my labels peel off the box?
Usually because they were applied to a cold or greasy surface. Label at room temperature before filling the box, and press firmly for a few seconds.
5. Can I put my logo on bakery stickers?
Yes, at no design fee. Send a PNG, PDF, SVG or AI file. Vector prints sharpest and is required for foil.
6. Should the brand label and ingredients label be the same sticker?
No. Keep them separate. Brand labels stay the same and can be ordered in bulk, while ingredient labels change with recipes and dates.