Print-to-Table is a concept that came to me while watching a cooking show. It mirrors the successful farm-to-table movement, emphasizing local sourcing and sustainability. The farm-to-table approach has gained significant traction in recent years, with consumers increasingly seeking fresh, locally sourced products. This movement has not only enhanced the dining experience but also strengthened local economies and reduced environmental impacts. And many people feel GOOD supporting this movement.
By adopting a Print-to-Table model, printers can offer clients the same transparency and community support, providing locally sourced materials that customers can feel good about. This approach simplifies the message for clients: choosing your services means supporting local businesses, reducing carbon footprints, and contributing to a sustainable future.
It’s a straightforward, impactful way to align your printing business with values that resonate with today’s conscientious consumers – that customers can understand!
Let’s Cut Through the Noise
Sustainability and print industry messaging around it can get way too complicated for print customers. Carbon offsets, supply chain emissions, post-consumer waste content … nobody has time for a Ph.D. in environmental science before making a print purchase.
The best brands don’t educate; they connect. And they do it in one line:
Got Milk? → Dairy is essential.
Pork. The Other White Meat. → Pork is a lean protein, just like chicken.
The Incredible Edible Egg. → Eggs are versatile, nutritious, and delicious.
And the GOAT of sustainability messaging:
Procter & Gamble: We help protect, grow, and restore trees. → Our company isn’t a tree-killing, eco-enemy … you are “guilt-free” using our paper products.
Consumers don’t want an eco-spew lecture. They want a simple value statement that tells them they can feel good about their print purchasing choice. If farm-to-table helped people rethink where their food comes from, Print-to-Table makes them rethink where their print comes from.
Print-to-Table: The Local, Sustainable Choice for Print
Simple message? → Print responsibly. Print locally.
Why should customers care? → Faster delivery, lower environmental impact, and support for local businesses.
What’s the Call to Action? → Choose print that’s sourced as close as possible to you.
This is a movement printers can own.
To make Print-to-Table as iconic as “Got Milk?”, we need clear, greenwash-free messaging:
Print Close, Smart, and Sustainably.
Print Local. Print Sustainable.
Print Responsibly. Print Locally.
Use emotional storytelling that makes it personal i.e. how Print-to-Table helps other businesses in the community. Get testimonials from those businesses. Don’t make this about you.
Create and announce partnerships with eco-conscious brands, sustainability organizations, and local businesses that reinforce your commitment and credibility.
Create a marketing campaign showing items like restaurant menus, business cards, packaging, and books with a simple question: Where was this printed? Then gently introduce your print-to-table initiative and how your business is sourcing the closest resources and partners to improve the environmental impact of the printed materials you produce.
Launching the Print-to-Table Initiative
Define Your Value Proposition: Clearly articulate how local sourcing and sustainability benefit your print customers.
Secure Local Suppliers: Identify and partner with local (or as close as possible) paper, printing, and business supply sources.
Develop a Certification: Create a “Print-to-Table Certified” badge to authenticate your commitment.
Pilot the Program: Start with a few select clients to test and refine the process.
Hypocrisy Alert! Your business should shop locally (or as close as possible) for items you may be purchasing online or far away. YOU must set the example and be ready to share your story and its impact on your business, and the community.
We Must Own the Print Sustainability Narrative
Farm-to-table changed how people think about food.
Print-to-Table can change how people think about print.
Print customers are actively looking for sustainable choices, they need the right story to buy into. Let’s give them one they can understand, embrace, believe, champion, and feel good about.
PRINT LONG AND PROSPER!
##
See Deborah’s featured post: Kickstart 2025 with a Winning Challenge Network
Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to the Printerverse at Print Media Centr, a Print Buyerologist, international industry speaker and blogger, and the cultivator of Print Production Professionals, the #1 print group on LinkedIn. She provides printspiration and resources to print and marketing professionals through education, events, Podcasts From The Printerverse, ProjectPeacock.TV, and an array of community-lifting initiatives including International Print Day and Girls Who Print where she serves as the Executive Director of the global Nonprofit Organization.
Deborah also helps companies create more meaningful and profitable customer relationships by utilizing 25+ years of experience as an agency, brand, and corporate print buyer who has assessed, hired, and worked with hundreds of printers and service providers.
Explore Podcasts From The Printerverse
Calling all Girls Who Print!! Check out our NEW Member Platform and Program!
ProjectPeacock.TV is streaming PRINTSPIRATION to brands, agencies, students, and printers!
Please subscribe to PMC’s News from The Printerverse for topical posts and information delivered to your inbox.
