Readers of this column may remember the recent acquisitions by Italy’s Fedrigoni group, now becoming a major European producer of labelstock. The company’s security printing division is still waiting to know if it has won a major contract to provide security papers for euro notes.

In Britain, the news from security printer De La Rue, which prints Britain’s banknotes, is still bleak. Despite printing currency for over 100 countries, the firm, employing 2,500 worldwide, in September reported a $16 million (£12 million) half-year loss and suspended its dividend. There was no question of De La Rue going under, a spokesman said soothingly. There was just “a material uncertainty that casts significant doubt on the group’s ability to operate as a going concern.”

The group has made a few unlucky decisions like supplying local currency notes to Venezuela, which couldn’t pay. It also lost to a Franco-Dutch competitor the contract to print the new post-Brexit passports. De La Rue still prints postage stamps, but this will scarcely be enough to turn it around.

A family-run converter with no regrets
Despite its size, Paris has very few label converters. Adesa Etiquettes Adhésives was one of them, until high rents, and maybe the lure of the sun, drove it to up sticks. The sticks came down again close to Nîmes, just a stone’s throw from the Mediterranean. Now run by the third generation of the Carugati family, Adesa’s production covers all sectors of adhesive labels: Food, pharmacy, cosmetics, industry, paint, and automobile.

In 2001, Adesa was one of the first label printers in Europe to deploy HP Indigo digital printing technology. Then, in 2017, it launched the e-commerce B2C/B2B platform Smartlabel, and in 2018, one of the first web-to-print stores on Amazon. Its digital presses now number four, with three HP Indigos and one Durst. All that takes care of the short and medium run lengths.

For the food and cosmetic label sector, which often involves longer runs, Adesa has turned to Omet. Purchase of a 9-color Omet X5 press in 2018 was followed by a similar 8-color machine in 2019. Thanks in part to the two new flexo presses, Adesa’s annual production now exceeds half a billion labels, and it has moved to a new purpose-built factory.

InForm plays the ecology card
Germany’s Inform Etiketten aims to “provide a sustainable and environmentally responsible approach to production.” According to this converter’s COO Benjamin Rüdt, this led InForm to invest in dry toner technology from Xeikon. “Dry toner can be used on a wide variety of different materials, eliminating the need for the pre-treated substrates required in inkjet printing,” he argues. “Another benefit is the fact that the toner is safe and totally suitable for printing labels for the food industry, which represents a large part of our customer base.”

This converter has won many awards for print quality and sustainability, most recently at the Labelexpo event in Brussels.

A question of purity
A recent edition of this column discussed the shortage of good-quality plastic waste for recycling in Europe. The presence of dirt, food residue, old boots and other undesirables in the waste stream is causing recycling specialist producers to tear their hair. However, there is one contaminant that can now be done away with, according to labelstock producer Herma: the adhesive.

Imperfect label wash-off of used plastic containers sends not just the adhesive but also the label itself, with its inks and other undesirables, into the recycling stream. Even when used with synthetic labels, this adhesive, which Herma plans to introduce early in 2020, is reported to achieve a wash-off score of 100%. The Herma adhesive, designated 62Rpw, is designed to give reliable adhesion and good resistance to the effects of moisture. Regular industrial cleaning processes are nonetheless capable of removing it without a trace. Herma has been able to realize this hitherto elusive combination of characteristics thanks to its multi-layer technology. The intermediate layer enables the adhesive to bond securely with the label while still allowing it to be removed completely from the PET surface later.  

UPM Raflatac, never to be outdone in the sustainability stakes, has developed “SmartCircle” wash-off solutions for returnable glass bottles. According to the producer, these PS labels offer a premium look that resists moisture during product use, yet separates cleanly and easily in standard industrial washing processes. This enables unlimited reuse during the bottle’s lifetime and also facilitates the switch from wet-glue to PS labeling solutions. “There is a global drive to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging materials consumed in food, beverage, home and personal care end uses,” explains Oona Koski, sustainability manager, UPM Raflatac. “Our SmartCircle wash-off labeling solutions are designed to support companies wanting to achieve their sustainability goals and enhance their brand value. Innovative solutions are needed if we are to move towards a truly circular economy.”

Back from the grave
The German paper mill Zanders, maker of label papers Chromolux and Zanlabel, amongst other products, has had a bumpy ride for the past few years, to the point of being counted down and out on more than one occasion. Now a knight in shining hot foil has come forward in the form of the Swedish group Jool Invest AB.

Not only has the new investor brought a much-needed cash transfusion, it has also brought to bear its expertise and its marketing network. Frédérique Delage, Zanders’ manager for France, reports that new products are being developed and sales are rising at last: “Thanks to all our partners and customers who kept faith in us and in the future of Zanders.”

Russian converters look to India
Trade press reports on Labelexpo 2019 did not devote much space to the Indian press manufacturer Multitec. Several narrow web equipment manufacturers in India have outgrown the build-it-quick-sell-it-cheap strategy of earlier years and are supplying not only the domestic market but are also exporting. 

The Moscow-based label group, confusingly called Label Group, recently installed its third Multitec press, an 8-color, 45mm machine said to run at up to 150 m/m. At its Labelexpo booth, Multitec’s Amit Ahuja said his company had already sold six presses to Russian narrow web converters, and that it was a promising export market for the future.

Digital developments in Turkey
Despite a few economic problems (low growth plus high inflation), Turkey’s label industry is investing. The town of Eskisehir, roughly mid-way between Istanbul and Ankara, is home to Termiz. This printer is one of the first in the country to invest in a digital label press.

According to CEO Numan Gerçekerol, “Digitization is the future of print.” He quotes an old Turkish proverb, “When the winds of change blow, the smart ones set up a windmill, the others, a wall.”
Termiz has opted for a Screen L350 UV inkjet label press. Says Gerçekerol, “We are pioneers, but this digital press gives us excellent, reliable quality at speeds up to 60 m/m.”

Can cosmetic packaging be green?
Albéa, formerly part of Alcan and now controlled by a major French bank, employs 15,000 at its 17 sites worldwide, and is a heavyweight producer of labels and packaging for all kinds of cosmetics. The group’s dynamic marketing manager is Gilles Swyngedauw, a man whose name is hard to forget (harder still to pronounce). Most of Albéa’s production, unsurprisingly, is plastic packaging, but the group strives to reduce the environmental impact by making its products recyclable or even, in some cases, reusable.

Swyngedauw notes, “The European Union has set a goal of 50% of recycled materials in all plastic packaging by 2025. We at Albéa are going one better. In cooperation with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, our aim is that by 2025 all our plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable.”

Albéa is also experimenting with paper packaging for creams. This innovation, shaped like a tube of toothpaste, is made of “bio-sourced and certified paper-type material.”

When launched, the tube will be a grease- and moisture-resistant primary pack requiring no secondary packaging. Albéa is working closely with L’Oréal and other cosmetics majors to perfect the new pack, which will be test-marketed during 2020.

Look, no water!
Waterless offset is not a mainstream label technology, but it has its aficionados. One of them is the German converter Etiketten-Küchler. With just 44 employees, this family-run firm switched to waterless offset a decade ago, using Codimag presses. The move into waterless offset brought Küchler “enormous gains in terms of print quality and register,” recalls Küchler COO Dirk Handler. 

Last year, the company installed its third Codimag Aniflo 420 and just recently switched to using  Verico Zahara plates, “completely problem and maintenance-free during routine production,” according to Handler. Most of Codimag’s European clients use Toray plates, produced in the Czech Republic, but competition in the waterless plate market can only benefit the converter.