Stroetmann chooses Epson label printers for its EDEKA stores

L. Stroetmann has been offering customers top quality groceries for 225 years, so when looking for shelf labels for its EDEKA outlets, it chose Epson's ColorWorks C3500.

The family-owned company distributes wholesale groceries to around a hundred stores in partnership with the EDEKA supermarket group, and sells bulk professional ingredients to canteens and hotels. 

As well as quality groceries, Stroetmann offers its partners an extensive package of marketing services, including PoS materials such as signage and shop-fittings, as well as centrally-created shelf label templates. 

"The label is the business card of each individual retailer," explains Florian Vestring, of Stroetmann's IT department. "Each customer in the EDEKA shops we supply relies on our labels to find the products they want. The quality of the label reflects the perceived quality of the items on sale." Stroetmann developed its label design and print software in-house, and it's precisely tailored to the needs of their partners. Label templates are distributed to outlets, where they're printed and placed on shelves - around 100,000 each week across all outlets.

"Before the ColorWorks, colour laser printers were used to print labels that could be torn off on pre-punched sheets of paper. But for various reasons that wasn't a good idea," explains Vestring. "First of all, the quality of the labels wasn't always what we wanted. Handling the pre-punched forms was also laborious, so our customers didn't want to do that. If you imagine having to tear a thousand labels a day from sheets of A4, you'll understand why."

The colour laser printers used were also not up to the job, failing frequently due to heavy workload, which meant high repair and maintenance costs. Adding the cost of consumables, Stroetmann decided it was time to find a simpler, cheaper and more reliable solution.

"We read about an Epson ColorWorks solution being used by a Dutch chemical company and agreed that it would work for us too," says Vestring. After a short test phase they chose the C3500, and now 40 printers are being used in the EDEKA branches supplied by Stroetmann.

One of the main criteria when choosing a printer was the ability to print both detailed nutritional information and graphic elements such as regional product logos. Thanks to the C3500's high resolution, even detailed images are reproduced perfectly. "Although there are currently no legal regulations on how labels should be designed, we set standards so customers do not have any problems reading the information about the goods," explains Vestring. 

In addition to print quality and attention-grabbing colours, the shelf life of labels was also very important to Stroetmann. Printed labels can't smudge when touched or exposed to moisture. Epson's extensive printing experience means the C3500 offers a wide spectrum of colours which are smudgeproof and waterproof, even on high quality paper.

"We also tried electronic shelf labels but they weren't that good," says Vestring. "The displays were vulnerable and much too expensive. The quality and reliability of Epson printers made the decision to go back to simple, proven and cost-effective label technology an easy one. "We are very happy with our Epson C3500s, they print durable, high quality labels."