printing, labels & labelling
The emergence of paper substrates
Is there a material that considers the environment and doesn’t cost the earth? By Paul Johnston-Knight
Paul Johnston-Knight is director pf Papico, a leading paper agency. For more information visit
www.papico.co.uk.
Labelling in a fast moving brand aware industry must be responsive to changes in supply and demand whilst ensuring that the substrate emphasises and enhances the brand.
F
or most of the last 20 years OPP has been the most commonly used substrate for labels on soft drink PET bottles because of pricing and speed on the
production line. However, paper is starting to regain this share of the market mainly due to its excellent environmental credentials.
SHIFTING LABELS This shift towards the use of paper labels, especially in the high volume end of the beverage industry, is increasing because it gives the brand owner and retailer the opportunity to promote its ‘green’ values by choosing a material that can be easily recycled using the correct recycling processes. Brand owners are opting for a more ‘natural’ look with their labels, which is also fuelling the demand for paper. On a small area of packaging, such as a bottle, there isn’t much space available to promote the product apart from using recognised branding, so often a change in the type of paper means that a brand can create a subtle difference to the look of its bottle. Based on the trends that have been noticed within
the UK labelling industry over the past couple of years, the water, juices and smoothies sectors are moving towards a more ‘organic’ trend in their use of paper labels. Brands are increasingly using uncoated or part- recycled paper for that natural look and feel. The FSC credentials and the lower CO2
footprint which these
types of papers provide are also contributory factors towards this growth area.
18 Packaging Gazette In the beer and cider markets volume is moving away
from metallised paper labels and towards coated white paper, printed with metallised inks. Embossed papers with these inks can often give more striking effect than the more costly metallised alternatives. Where the front body label is considered too iconic to change, often the brand owners are allowing neck and back labels to be changed to white paper whilst keeping the metallised element as the ‘shop window’ on the front. With the wine and spirits sectors there is a trend that
is moving away from glossy, coated and metallised labels to uncoated paper labels for the natural, rustic, authentic, antique and genuine look. A significant proportion of the labels business traditionally supplied for whisky and spirits in wet glue format is now starting to move towards pressure sensitive labelling (PSL) with self-adhesive materials. Although PSL labels are significantly more expensive
than wet glue, the application machinery is often more cost effective and flexible, in particular when short runs and product changes are frequent. With these high- value products though, the cost and flexibility are secondary to the improved reliability and consistency offered by self-adhesive. If your product is worth £50 per bottle, every single label must be perfect and identical, without any glue spillage or migration.
THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD RESEARCH Retailers and brand owners are dominated by price and, as such, any future change to a labelling line has to be backed-up with good research. We, Papico, and Austria- based paper manufacturer Brigl & Bergmeister recently commissioned PIRA (the worldwide authority on the packaging, paper and print industry supply chains) to complete a report on the sustainability of paper labels
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