Main topic: Beverage and liquid packaging
Glass and European consumers page 8 65% of European consumers choose glass because it best preserves the taste of the food or beverage it contains. This is one of the main reasons why, for example, wine producers pack their vintages in glass bottles. The image of glass as a packaging material also tends to be associated with prestige products. 79% of respondents say they choose glass for a special occasion beverage. Returnable glass bottles: pros and cons page 9 Over the last few years Eastern European consumers have become more educated and aware of ecological issues within packaging, such as biodegradable, ecological, reusable and recyclable packaging. However, in many Eastern European countries the reality is that ecological aspects of packaging are more of a theory than reality. However, there is one well-known aspect of ecological thinking which is widely known and applicable in many Eastern European countries – returnable glass packaging. In most Eastern European countries that have facilities for returnable glass bottles, such as Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine, the majority of returnable glass can be found in alcoholic drinks packaging, rather than soft drinks packaging.
When there is not a cork… page 12 The corks range among classical wine bottle stoppers. Although cork is largely characterized by positive qualities, it has also many negatives. Therefore new material alternatives are constantly sought after. None of us is taken by surprise with silicone replacements any more, but other options appear gradually, too, various synthetic resins, metal or glass, for instance. In addition to that, combinations of materials can be found within product lines as well.
Fusion is simply the Fusion page 16 Rexam is one of the world’s biggest producers of metal and plastic consumer packaging. The company focuses not only on the beverage industry but also on the food, cosmetic, and healthcare sectors. In the Czech Republic, their production plant can be found in Dýšina near Ejpovice, where the manufacture of the “Fusion” aluminium bottle has started, being the first in the country. We talked to Radomil Madr, the director, about this new product. Crown caps as closures as well as collectibles page 17 Metal closures belong to the most sophisticated means of container sealing and even though they are being widely replaced with plastics today, they are still almost irreplaceable in some cases. Crown caps, screw caps (especially for liquors), roll-on, press-on, continuous thread and other types of can, bottle, and jar closures count among the most frequently used. Some container types can also be sealed with aluminium foil.
Packaging and design Design of convenient luxury page 20 Apart from high quality requirements, the increasing competition within a wide spectrum of cosmetic products brings also increasingly higher requirements for their visual appeal, easy usability and long shelf life. We talked to Jitka Poláková, managing director, Kosmetika Capri, about packaging design innovations branded with La Chévre or La Chaton logos.
Cosmetic packaging must be sexy… page 22 Graphic packaging features – i. e. photos, letterings, pictures and pictograms – must evoke desirable impressions, also on small-size photos as the Internet sales volume grows. High price of cosmetics is often seen as a symbol of a higher quality and efficiency; a better pack allows to increase the price in turn.
Technologies Daily news page 24 A few years ago, cards were dealt clearly – labels, pouches, flexible packaging, boxes and other packages were shared between offset and flexo printers, with some jobs passed on to gravure or screen printing. Digital printing was seen as a technology suitable for business cards or party invitation cards at best. Unlike other technologies, with their long development and traditions, digital printing has evolved rather rapidly. While hardly any breakthrough and revolutionary innovations of classical technologies can be found in recent years, with digital technologies these are nearly daily news.
Premieres at Labelexpo Europe page 27 Another edition of the Labelexpo Europe trade show, focused not only on labels but also on narrow and mid web (i. e. up to/over 440mm wide) flexible packaging and board printing, was held in Brussels from September 28 to October 1, breaking previous records in terms of visitors numbers or equipment sales. Besides individual product debuts, two premieres of program innovations took place, too: Package Printing Zone for short-run printing namely of flexible packaging and Digital Print Workshops. The latter compared results of jobs printed on three presses using three different digital printing technologies – ink-jet (EFI Jetrion 4830LED), liquid toner (HP Indigo WS6600), and dry toner (Xeikon 3300).
Manufacturers and suppliers Branaldi inaugurated a new site in Chrastava page 29 The Branaldi company, Brandýs nad Labem, is known as one of the biggest manufacturers of POP displays and partly of board packaging in the Central and Eastern Europe. The completion and inauguration of a new production site in Chrastava near Liberec in Northern Bohemia, where four fifths of the company’s production will originate, became an important milestone. Chrastava is located at so-called Tripoint (“Trojmezí” in Czech), i. e. near the point where the borders of three countries (the CR, Germany, Poland) meet. This is a significant export advantage, important for the company, which exports a substantial share of its production. Manager Jiří Heider stated that thanks to this expansion, Branaldi intends to double their more than a half-billion CZK turnover (in 2010) within three years. A strategic partnership with Thimm Packaging is new, too. The company secured a one fifth share in Branaldi following a long-term co-operation. Their product lines complement each other, Thimm being stronger in packaging, Branaldi in displays.
Packaging and promotion It is about fantasy and creativity page 33 Ivo Tomáš, the owner of TOMI Hradec Králové studio and a winner of numerous awards for structure design, describes his activities in an article for Svět balení. Thus he becomes a guide to his own portfolio, which – as he repeats many times – has become a part of promotion of the product packed.
POP and packaging in the in-store marketing page 36 These days, the Czech branch of POPAI CE held several events on POP (point of purchase) applications on shop floor, i. e. in the in-store marketing. As POP is typically represented by displays with products and because a product package very often corresponds with POP in terms of graphic, shape or material, regardless of direct blending of packaging and POP categories (shelf ready packaging – SRP), no wonder a lot of interesting information on packaging (its design in particular) could be heard at the events.
Logistics LOG-IN 2012 page 37 This year’s edition (eighth in total) of LOG-IN CZ, a logistic forum, confirmed that there is a demand for relevant information from the logistic environment and that LOG-IN brings inspiration and a lot of expert advices from the branch. The LOG-IN conference hosted more than 240 visitors engaged in the logistic business, who came to listen to logistic experts sharing their experience or inspiring case studies on warehousing, processes, IT technologies or logistics in practice.
Trade fairs EMBAX 2012 with food producers again page 40 The international trade fair for packaging and packaging technologies will take place concurrently with SALIMA, MBK (6th International milling industry, bakery and confectionery fair), INTECO (25th International fair of equipment for retail trade, hotels and catering facilities), and VINEX (16th International wine fair) at Brno Exhibition Centre from February 28 to March 2, 2012. The fairs as a whole offer technology workflow from a food source and preparation, processing, packaging, labeling, and transport technologies to marketing and other services for the food industry. The food producers are presented with a broader choice of packaging technology suppliers here.
Anuga FoodTec 2012 under preparation page 42 From March 27 to 30, 2012, the sixth edition of the specialist trade fair Anuga FoodTec will be held in Cologne. With its process-oriented approach, it will offer a survey of technologies for all stages of the food and beverage production. The aim of the forthcoming fair is to make global food industry familiar with all relevant subjects of food production divided into three areas: processing, packaging and food safety.
