Food & Drink
Labl.it's co-founders Kyle Wilks, Sean Larsen and Rhys Wilks
Published: April 13, 2023 | Updated: 15th November 2023
Commercial kitchens are pressurised places, but a Southampton firm has taken away some of the heat by creating an automatic print labelling tool.
The hospitality and catering industry was still relying on the outdated and laborious process of hand-writing food safety labels that were often inadequate.
But Labl.it’s solution means that any concerns over compliance, unnecessary food wastage and the risk of contamination can now be a thing of the past.
Printing food labels using the portable device allows kitchen staff to focus on the food rather than an unpopular administrative chore. It’s a simple solution for a simple problem.
The Labl.it team are so confident of their product that they offer a free 14-day trial.
The company, based at Southampton Science Park, is run by co-founders Kyle Wilks, his brother Rhys and Sean Larsen. Working in the hospitality sector and operating leisure venues in the city has given them knowledge and understanding of the industry and a realisation that the food labelling process could be automated.
The trio are co-owners of 1st Base, the only immersive baseball batting cage experience on the south coast. Kyle and Rhys are also co-founders of the Smugglers Bar Group Ltd.
Kyle said: “Myself and my brother had been running our family business, Smugglers Bar & Restaurant in Southampton, for four years. During Covid lockdown there was a fair bit of time to think about some of the frustrations we’d experienced over the years and food labelling was one of them.”
Correct labelling is an essential part of food safety, whether it’s to satisfy Environmental Health Officers during kitchen inspections or to comply with legislation such as Natasha’s Law, which was introduced to protect people with food allergies by listing all ingredients, not just allergens, on pre-packed food products.
The Labl.it tool is a a cloud-based platform that prints labels with unique barcodes, which can be used in kitchen prep or on front-of-house items.
Customers who’ve signed up so far include Hilton Hotels, the NHS, Subway and Premier League football team Crystal Palace.
Kyle said: “We have some really interesting and diverse businesses, everything from schools to golf clubs and fast food chains. It fits in regardless of the size of the customer.”
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The Labl.it team are so confident of their product that they offer a free 14-day trial.
Kyle explained: “Because technology is still not so prevalent in commercial kitchens, there’s a bit of scepticism. So that’s why we’re happy to offer a trial. It’s one of those dream situations where it really solves a problem for the people who use the device. The value is quite clear to them.”
So how come nobody had come up with this idea before?
Kyle said: “There are competitors out there, but mostly with fixed location printers. It’s a development in hardware technology that allows the print rolls to fit into the hand-held device.”
Since winning the Innovator of the Year award at Venturefest South last November, Labl.it has continued to grow its offering. Regular software updates mean new products, such as batch dates on labels and new label formatting options.
Also now in the testing phase is a function that enables remote fridge temperature readings to be taken automatically.
Kyle said: “Labl.it is our main focus now. The other businesses still require some nurturing, but we’re pretty much full-time on this.
“Labelling is not the only process in the kitchen that needs to be digitised and we’re starting to build a road map for the company.
“Kitchens are quite neglected from a technological viewpoint. QR codes and tablet ordering are common front of house, but back of house is still very manual.”
It may still be early days for Labl.it, but Kyle believes there is huge potential.
“We’re still in the start-up phase, but some of the challenges we faced early on are starting to resolve themselves. We’ve got good traction and are just hiring our first full-time staff member.”
He added: “One of the big questions is how much the company could and should grow. We’ve got this far organically without requiring any investment.
“We know the size of the market – there are 600,000 inspected food environments listed in this country and every one has to do food labelling. And that’s before you even look at the US. The sky’s the limit.”
