Ink innovations

29 October 2013



Packaging Inks can fulfil a number of demands from increasing a product’s visibility to ensuring it is fit for purpose to hold the items within. There are also a number of issues packaging converters must consider when investing in inks.


The packaging inks sector has taken as much flak as it has been lauded in recent years. There have been a raft of innovative developments that packaging converters have used to add effects such as fluorescent, white and matte to substrates, enabling brand-owners to produce striking packaging designs that truly stand out on shop shelves. At the same time, packaging inks are frequently under the spotlight for the potentially harmful effects they can have on food products.

Ink migration through food packaging and into foodstuffs, and the impact this can have on the consumer, has been a hotly-debated topic in recent years and one that is still no closer to conclusion.

Suppliers such as Michelman offer a raft of barrier protection and coating products to alleviate this issue but the negative connotations such reports on potential migration remain.

Growth opportunity
However, packaging inks represent a significant opportunity for packaging converters as adoption of new products from companies such as Sun Chemical, HP and Ball Packaging Europe, can give converters the competitive edge on their rivals and in turn, offer exciting new ways for brand-owners to reach the consumer.

One area this has been particularly prevalent is on the shop shelf. It's widely-recognised that on-shelf packaging is under increasing pressure to perform and as a result, attract the consumer's attention. Various studies have found that it takes only seven seconds for us to make the all-important decision on what particular product to purchase. While large sums are poured into TV and radio advertising, most consumers base their choice on the prominence a certain product has in the retail environment.

In the drinks space, beverage can producer Ball Packaging Europe has built on this need to attract by developing a number of finishes for use on aluminium cans. These have been designed to enable canned products to 'jump out' from the shelf. Ball's Sunlight Effect ink is pitched at brands that want to print a design onto the can that can only become visible once the product is placed in sunlight. UV rays react with the ink and as a result, catalyse the visibility of the image or text. Once the product is in shade and the power of the UV light has dimmed, the design disappears.

Ink innovation
Another new special effect from the Switzerland-headquarted business combines the effects of matte and high gloss print production to give the can a tactile impact. Pitched at canned-products in the premium space, the Silk & Shine Effect can give designers a variety of new ways to increase the prominence of a logo or image.

In the narrow web space, HP has launched a new silver ink for use on its HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press. ElectroInk Silver has been designed for digitally printing silver inks on such applications as labels. Elsewhere, Sun Chemical recently announced the addition of two new inks to its SolarFlex portfolio: SolarFlex Neutron White and SolarFlex Sleeve High Opacity

The former is pitched as a high opacity UV flexo first-down white ink, which enables packaging converters to produce labels and other narrow web applications that require strong whiteness and high opacity levels. According to Sun Chemical, the ink can also be used to print onto aluminium substrates in only a single layer.

The other new addition to the SolarFlex range is the supplier's UV flexo white ink that enables the converter to take on shrink sleeve reverse printing applications where high opacity is imperative. The ink is claimed to be fast curing and has a shrink capability of up to 70%.

Standout effects
Special effects inks such as those that produce thermochromic effects can have a a significant impact on the sales potential of the product in hand. Modern packaging has to meet a number of changing objectives such as product individualisation with shorter cycles of new product releases, so although a product may not be new, its revamped form means it needs to stand out from the competition.

However, while the decorative form of a new packaging design is key, brand-owners in the food and drinks space are placing packaging manufacturers and converters under increased pressures to both meet and exceed current safety regulations.

"This process starts right back at the design and packaging selection stage and follows all through to the delivery of the packaged goods to the retailer and on to the customer" explains Tom Bowtell, chief executive of the British Coatings Federation (BCF). "It is important that due care and attention is paid to procedures and handling at each and every stage, as bad practice anywhere can undo all the good upstream.

"Unfortunately," he continues, "there is currently no coating which can be applied at a single application which will act as a barrier to chemicals, partly due to the fact that a single application at normal film-weights cannot guarantee against pinholes."

Migration minefield
According to Bowtell, innovations throughout the inks market have a major role to play in ensuring the sector does all it can to meet stringent demands and avoid any unwanted controversy arising from migration incidents.

He adds: "From the inks viewpoint, the increased use of low migration products, particularly in the UV and litho sectors, has served to improve the whole situation. There is a cost penalty to these products, but this should be far outweighed by the benefits. It is also worth noting that - as a general rule - flexo and gravure inks would be considered low migration anyway.

"This of course pre-supposes that the inks and coatings are applied correctly, with the drying and curing equipment operating correctly, and machine preparation, for example if changing from other inks to low migration ones is also properly done."

In addition, market pressures, as well as end-user and regulatory demands will continue to lead to further reductions in the use of potential migratory systems. While further increases in the transparency in terms of co-operation all the way through the food packaging chain will continue to ensure consumer safety in this critical area of packaging.






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