The problem
Food packed on site before sale (sandwiches, sausage rolls, bagged cookies) needs a PPDS label with the name, full ingredients and the 14 allergens emphasized. If staff spend 30 minutes a day writing or printing labels by hand, over 26 days that's 780 minutes, 13 hours a month, and a handwritten mistake is a safety risk.
What the AI does
Labl.it is a handheld label printer with its own software. Its site says its sale (PPDS) labels are pre-loaded and designed to meet Natasha's Law requirements, pulling in allergen details shown in bold and underlined. You add products on the device or import them from a spreadsheet in the web back office; a menu analyser can draft ingredients and allergens for your team to review. Staff choose best-before or use-by when printing. A trained person checks every product's ingredients and allergens against the recipe and supplier specifications before it is first printed and whenever a recipe or supplier changes. The software prints what you've entered; it can't know your recipe has changed.
A worked example
An independent bakery in Frome with the owner-baker and four staff, a shop counter on Square tills, packs about 15 lines on site each morning and prints about 120 labels a day.
Before
About 30 minutes a day writing labels: 26 x 30 = 780 minutes, 13 hours a month
After
About 10 minutes a day printing from checked products: 26 x 10 = 260 minutes, 4.3 hours a month
What it's worth
About 8.7 hours a month saved (520 minutes), worth around $173£130€155A$250C$244 if staff time is worth $20£15€18A$29C$28 an hour. Labl.it is $37£28€33A$54C$53 a month on the annual plan or $45£34€40A$65C$64 monthly, excluding VAT, plus labels: 120 a day x 26 days is 3,120 labels, about 18 rolls of 180 at $2.59£1.95€2.32A$3.74C$3.67, so about $47£35€42A$67C$66. Safer labels matter more than the time, and aren't counted.
How to set it up
- Start the 14-day free trial, which includes 5 label rolls.
- List every product packed on site with its full recipe and the supplier specification for each ingredient.
- Enter the products, or import them, and have a trained person check every ingredient list and allergen against the recipe and specifications.
- Train staff to choose the right product and the right date type each time they print.
- Every time a recipe or supplier changes, update and recheck the product before the next print, and keep a record of the check.
What goes wrong
- A label is only as good as the data behind it. A supplier swapping an ingredient can add an allergen without warning; check deliveries against your specifications.
- The menu analyser drafts ingredients and allergens; a person must check every one before it goes on a label.
- PPDS labels need a name, full ingredients with allergens emphasized and a best-before or use-by date; follow the Food Standards Agency's guidance, not the device alone.
- Labels are on top of the subscription; a busy bakery may use more rolls than estimated.