Flint Group Packaging Solutions prepares for LOUPE Americas

Flint Group Packaging Solutions will bring a new identity to the similarly refreshed LOUPE Americas. To learn more about the company’s latest products, L&NW sat down with Anna Niewiadomska, Marketing Manager, Narrow Web, and Paulo Vieira, Global Key Accounts Technical Director & Packaging Coatings Director.

L&NW: What are your expectations for LOUPE and the new format?
AN: The new LOUPE format is exciting and represents a natural progression for the event, building on its proven past success while delivering additional value for visitors. We see it as a great fit for Flint Group Packaging Solutions as a business, as we already operate across labels, flexible packaging, and paper & board. The broader scope simply reflects the reality of many of our customers’ businesses today. Converters and brand owners are seeking new ways to optimize performance and sustainability across their entire portfolio. The expanded LOUPE creates a more relevant environment for holding those conversations and demonstrating how integrated solutions can support them moving forward. For us, LOUPE remains a key platform to engage with customers and partners across North America. It provides an opportunity to show how Flint Group Packaging Solutions supports the industry as a solutions partner rather than solely a supplier – delivering inks, coatings, and digital print technologies alongside value-added programs that improve efficiency, reduce waste, and support regulatory and sustainability goals. The event fosters meaningful discussions on collaboration and innovation.  

L&NW: What products will the company highlight at its LOUPE booth?
AN: Our primary focus will always be on inks. Our focus is to present Flint Group Packaging Solutions as an integrated supplier of inks, coatings and digital print solutions.      

As it pertains to inks, the solutions we deliver are integral to achieving high-quality, safe, and more sustainable printing. At LOUPE, we plan to showcase our UV LED technologies across the EkoCure range, alongside our water-based ink systems. Both ranges are designed to help printers improve energy efficiency and reduce their environmental impact while maintaining consistent print quality. We will also highlight our Flexocure LEAP ink series – a food contact material solution for the US market – which helps to simplify regulatory compliance and testing.    

Alongside these inks, we will highlight a selection of our coatings for converters seeking to enhance print with added functionality, protection, or visual impact. Our teams will be ready to discuss technologies that support recyclability and circular packaging goals, such as our Evolution coatings and primers. Our intention is to show how our inks and coatings work together as a complete system for achieving quality, efficiency, and sustainability – rather than as standalone products.    

Rounding out our integrated approach, we will also highlight our Flint Group Digital Xeikon business and digital consumables. Visitors can see demonstrations of three engines running live digital print jobs.  

L&NW: What trends are you seeing with coatings?
PV: One of the main shifts we have seen in relation to coatings is the move away from viewing them as a purely decorative finishing step. Increasingly, coatings are recognized as a core strategic component within the overall packaging design and performance architecture, and are considered earlier in the overall development process as converters recognize the influence they can have across everything from recyclability to durability and brand perception.    

Sustainability remains a major driver of this shift. Coatings can play an important role in enabling recyclability by facilitating de-inking and supporting mono-material structures that are simpler to reprocess into new material. They also support the growing demand for functional performance by providing barrier properties, surface protection, and the overall preservation of graphic integrity throughout the value chain.    

L&NW: What are the benefits of your newest coating products?
PV: Our coating technologies help converters combine strong visual impact with lasting functional performance. For example, our DecaCode portfolio elevates packaging designs without making them more complex than necessary, avoiding the need for additional laminates or secondary materials. Products can be selected to deliver a range of desired finishes while providing the durability needed to maintain a premium look and feel throughout distribution and handling.    

Consistency is another key benefit as our coatings help preserve color integrity and surface quality from production through to the point of sale or delivery, which is increasingly important in e-commerce-driven supply chains. They also give designers greater creative freedom, enabling distinctive textures and finishes that help products stand out. Importantly, this is delivered with reliable performance across different substrates and print technologies, alongside shorter, more flexible production runs.    

We will also highlight our Evolution range, which includes a caustic-resistant overprint varnish for floatable materials and a de-inking primer for crystallizable PET shrink sleeves. These products simplify recycling and enable greater quantities of material to be reclaimed, thus aligning packaging performance with circular economy requirements.