In this issue of Food & Drink Matters, we are pleased to feature Labl.it as our Kitchen Compliance Company of the Month.
In a commercial kitchen, some of the most important jobs are also the least glamorous. Take labelling. Before Labl.it, the process was a piece of masking tape, a marker pen and a hurried scrawl, and that’s if anyone remembered to label the container at all. That led to inconsistency, illegible labels and serious compliance risk. For Kyle Wilks and Rhys Wilks, former operators of Southampton restaurant Smugglers, this was a problem they knew first-hand.
That experience became the starting point for Labl.it, the commercial kitchen labelling business they founded with Sean Larsen. Incorporated in 2020 and launched in October 2021, the same day Natasha’s Law came into force, the company set out to replace the handwritten approach with something faster, clearer and more consistent. After 11 months of development and testing, Labl.it launched their innovative handheld device designed specifically for commercial kitchen prep labelling.
Since then, the idea has moved well beyond a single restaurant kitchen. Labl.it now supports more than 4,000 kitchens across the UK and Ireland, ranging from independent cafés and restaurants to hotels, hospitals, schools, contract caterers and quick service restaurants. Its customer base includes names such as Turtle Bay, Roxy Leisure, Hilton, Domino’s, and multiple NHS Trusts.
The breadth of that customer base is revealing. The person buying Labl.it might be a senior operations, compliance or procurement manager overseeing dozens of sites, while the person actually using it is more likely to be a chef or kitchen manager in the middle of a busy service. For both, the challenge is making accurate labelling work at the speed of a real kitchen.
The system combines a handheld device with intuitive software and a centralised, cloud-based office. Kitchens can print prep labels and PPDS labels, with ingredients and allergens pulled through automatically. Use by dates are calculated according to storage method, labels can be printed in just three clicks, and a built-in scanner for the barcode on labels allows for quick reprints. The printer uses thermal technology, removing the need for ink.
The system also includes reporting for single site and multi-site businesses, wastage data, an AI powered Menu Analyser tool, regular software updates, UK based support and next working day replacement cover.
Based at the University of Southampton Science Park, Labl.it remains bootstrapped and firmly hospitality led. Its founders’ original frustration with illegible prep labels has transformed into a technology business operating at the intersection of food safety, compliance and the everyday realities of professional kitchens.
“What sets Labl.it apart is that it was purpose built for commercial kitchens, rather than being an app that has to fight for space on a shared tablet,” says Isabelle Kimberley, Marketing Lead at Labl.it.
“Labelling is three times faster than handwriting, and it can cut the admin involved by 75%, which makes a real difference during a busy shift. Our subscription model also removes the upfront capital cost and the worry about repairs, with a 24-hour hot swap replacement service, so a broken device never has to bring a kitchen to a standstill. For multi-site operators, the Reports dashboard gives head office visibility across every kitchen from one place, so they can see what is happening across the business rather than having to manage each site separately.”
For Labl.it, recognition has come quickly, with nine awards to date, including Best Commercial Kitchen Label Printer at the 2026 SME News Business Elite Awards and Most Innovative Business at the 2026 UK Hospitality Awards. But the company is already looking ahead, with two patent protected launches planned for early 2027: the TempLog® Probe for food temperature checks and the TempLog® Sensor for cold storage monitoring.
“The TempLog® launches in early 2027 are both patent-protected and running through the same platform as labelling. That takes us from one job in the kitchen to three,” says Isabelle.
“Going forward, the priority for us is always to maximise customer satisfaction and keep Labl.it useful and always improving for the 4,000 plus kitchens that already trust and rely on us.”
“Another goal for us is enterprise. Multi-site groups are where the labelling problem compounds: forty kitchens doing labelling forty slightly different ways is a harder compliance position than one kitchen doing it badly. Most of our growth is now coming from operators who need visibility across every site, and a labelling solution that can scale without dropping in performance.”
Labl.it’s focus on compliance extends beyond its own products. Two of its tools are free for any food business to use, whether or not they subscribe to Labl.it. The Allergen Matrix Generator helps businesses create an allergen matrix, while Labl.it Academy provides free food safety and labelling training, complete with certificates. For the team, the principle is straightforward: compliance knowledge should not be restricted to those who can pay for it. Both tools are available through the Labl.it website.
For more information, please see below:
T 0800 047 2320
info@labl.it
https://labl.it