The company showcased the technology at the UK Bottled Water Conference, organized by Zenith International in London, last month.
Natural texture of paper stocks
Paul Morris, technical manager, Americk Packaging, told BeverageDaily, brand owners and marketers are looking for a ‘point of difference’ in their packaging.
“Some of our soft drink and water customers prefer the natural texture of paper stocks,” he said.
“We have trialed numerous thicknesses and finishes both on press and high speed applicators and we have spent a lot of time and resource in perfecting the ideal specifications for our papers range.”
However, Morris did point out, in some cases paper labels are not a practical form of decoration. For example where bottles are filled after labelling the potential spillage may impact the presentation of paper labels whereas synthetic stocks are water/liquid repellent.
He added Americk Labels already supplies HD flexographic reel fed labels to 16 countries in Europe, and more recently North Africa, led by a change within the beverage industry to move from paper to reel fed OPP (Orientated Polypropylene).
Soft drinks & dairy industries
Both the soft drinks and dairy industries production environments are exposed to moist, wet conditions and OPP labelling is inert to moisture and has higher tensile strength results in faster application speeds eliminating web breaks.
The tensile strength of OPP allows thinner gage material to be used and contributes towards sustainability objectives around weight reduction.
The Bottled Water Conference covered topics including the importance of hydration.
According to Morris, the UK is seeing rapid growth in the bottled water market as health and wellbeing become more and more important to consumers.
“We showcased our range of reel-fed technology at the recent UK Bottled Water Conference with great interest,” said Michael Harkness, sales director, Americk Packaging.
“The London event explored market trends and consumer behavior which provided further evidence the choices made when packaging a product, have a direct effect on buying behavior.”
Americk Packaging’s Enniskillen plant specialises in reel-fed, stretch sleeves, cut & stack, deco and roll-on-shrink-on labels. It has six production sites across the UK & Ireland.
Its portfolio includes printing and converting cartons, punnets and trays, produce packaging, flexibles and self-adhesive labels.