Dalkeith site produces labels for gin products designed to boost military charities

NSD Labels’ Dalkeith base has produced labels for three new gin brand identities for the Heroes Drinks Company.

Founded in 2011 by military veteran Chris Gillan, the Heroes Drinks Company is described as the world’s first non-profit alcohol drinks company. The organisation pledges a minimum of 20% of profits to forces and veterans charities.

Heroes in Battle remembrance gins consist of three designs, honouring those who served  during World War Two and are themed with the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic and the Battle of El Alamein.

Chris has first-hand experience of the work of armed forces’ charities. While serving in Afghanistan alongside the SAS, he suffered a training injury that would later end his career. He struggled with the transition to civilian life and, following a property flood, ended up homeless.

He is now on a mission to help military veterans with injuries find employment, as well as bridging the charities’ funding gap.

He approached The Door Creative and NSD Labels for guidance in creating the right ‘look and feel’ for the craft gin products.

The labels were laminated, with a 50 micron silver material used to give a foil look on the outside top face of the label that faces out from the bottle. On the inside face of the label, a clear inner 50 micron substrate was used, with the ‘lest we forget’ strapline and poppy printed ‘reverse reading’ to show through the liquid, magnified and slightly distorted. The printing machine used was an HP Indigo 6900 digital press, and the converting was done on an ABG Digicon label press.

Chris Gillan said, “We contacted NSD Labels via a recommendation as we were in a position where we needed a fast turnaround on the printing of the labels for the launch of our gin products. They were professional, flexible and very accommodating with every request that we had. The team took the time to understand our brand and vision for our labels, offered exceptional advice throughout the process and produced the labels within 72 hours of receiving the artwork. We are delighted with the end result and look forward to working with NSD Labels long into the future.”

Chris Hogarth, MD of NSD Labels, added, “We were delighted to produce labels for the Heroes Drinks Company limited edition gin, especially with the support the business gives to the armed forces charities. It was paramount to get the labels looking perfect and consequently we had a number of discussions with Chris to fine tune the development process.”