Drying, Curing & UV
‘Notice me’ packaging in the petfood aisle By Tom Kerchiss of RK Print Coat Instruments.
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ot so far back in time the petfood aisle in most supermarkets, convenience stores and corner shops were fairly unimaginative, dominated as it were by a handful of regional or nationally established petfood brands. Generally, both the product and the container, usually tin cans for wet dog food and for cat food had a glue applied wrap around label, a bit of colour and a stab at design. Petfood was viewed as very much a commodity item with shoppers routinely buying the same item week in week out. There was comparatively little choice, dried petfood in cartons was available but it was expensive and as for treats, a very limited choice was on offer. Label or on carton design changes were few and far between, when they did occur the changes often amounted to no more than a coupon or money off promotion.
The Pet Superstore retail concept, its introduction and implementation re-invigorated what was essentially a moribund market. Presentation on-shelf in the retail environment now counts. Stand up pouches (SUPs) whether sold on their own or as a selection in a carton multi-pack provides designers, marketers and the converter with billboarding opportunities. Consumers like them because they are stackable and are seen as being less wasteful. SUPs and lay-flat pouches allow for a visually different approach with regard to graphics, decoration and shaping. They can be custom converted with round or sombrero shaped hang holes, ideal for retail and display of pet treats. They can be spot embellished or for lay- flat they can be cold sealed to ensure moisture stays in and oxygen stays out. The pouch can be structured to incorporate filmic and other materials that block moisture and aroma from ingress and egress and the appearance or finish options include, matte, soft touch matte, gloss or metallised finish.
From a converting perspective SUPs for pet foods are typically but not exclusively 3-ply laminated structures that may be configured as follows: PET/print/adhesive/metallised PET/adhesive/sealant or PET/print/adhesive/ metallised OPP/sealant. Pouched products for pet products may be surface or sub-surface printed often using flexo. Surface printing can result in the graphics being exposed to handling issues such as scuffing. The graphics may also be less durable. For this reason, when surface
printing is undertaken some form of protection is required, either an additional laminate or a protective varnish. Sub-surface printing refers to the burying of print beneath a ply or layer again as with surface printing for protective reasons. With sub-surface printing graphics are reverse printed on the back side of the face stock, which is then laminated to the rest of the laminated structure. SUPs whether sold for stand-alone products retailed on display modules or sold in carton multi-packs, pouches tick many of the marketing boxes. Many are printed flexographically both for reasons of economy and for the quality of print. Flexo is often favoured not only for printing pouches but for the printing of cartons for multi- buys and for the printing of cartons and more often than not for the printing of flexible plastic sack and bags with a bulk weight of a few kilos on up to 20Kg that are sold from pet warehouses and the independents, specialised pet supply outlets.
In the printing of petfood and pet supply goods, shelf presence is everything. Designers must endeavour to come up with something that outshines the competition. Converters are charged with making creative ideas and visuals into print with colour that meets or exceeds expectations. In a product sector where product differentiation can be slight but where demand is high, packaging carries a larger burden of marketing.
A well-designed package or pouch influences every aspect of the packaging supply chain, but especially at pre-press and in the pressroom. Good design together with quality control/ product monitoring devices and colour communication (proofing/sample preparation) systems and equipment contributes to productivity with speedier make ready time, higher on-press yields, lower levels of waste and a highlighting of issues that may interfere with or even halt production at an advanced processing or customer delivery stage.
Development of any product does not occur in isolation. Processing practicalities very quickly surface, regardless of whether the product is petfood packaging or confectionery. Will the new material readily convert? Is it easily printable? How will ink and substrate interact over time? It takes time to ensure products perform seamlessly; product development devices, monitoring systems, those suited to
undertaking trials, testing formulae and theories are invaluable. Ink manufacturers, chemists, coating professionals, additive and resin producers need to ensure compatibility, coating technologists and converters need to determine the most suitable and most economical coating technology to use.
The VCML-Lab/Pilot coater can print, coat and laminate on all types of flexible substrates and on a reel-to-reel basis. It may be used to apply various ink, varnishes, adhesives and even paint using environmentally acceptable formulations and solvent based materials as well. Flexography, offset gravure and gravure, knife over roll and slot die are amongst the many technologies that the user can call upon. It offers wet and dry laminating capability and drying options include hot air, infrared and UV curing.
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part from colour matching, the FlexiProof family of colour communication or proofing devices designed and developed by RK Print Coat Instruments enables users to address many of the issues that can affect print quality and profitability. The FlexiProof can be used to determine gloss, durability, rub resistance, chemical resistance, flexibility and other performance/quality parameters associated with printability. The device can be used to determine how inks and substrates interact over time. The FlexiProof can also be used to trial adhesives, inks and other coatings as well as materials that may be unfamiliar to the converter.
The FlexiProof UV and FlexiProof LED UV incorporate a miniaturised UV system enabling users to print and cure seamlessly in order that workflow practices are interrupted as little as possible. The integral in line method of curing highlights pinholes and many other blemishes that are missed using a conventional UV conveyor. With a conventional UV conveyor in the time taken to remove a sample for proofing chemical reactions make it impossible to capture pinholes and many other blemishes.
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October 2021
www.convertermag.com
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