Colour Cartons & Non-Dairy
By Tom Kerchiss, RK Print Coat Instruments
Consumers of dairy products are many and varied: some will pay a premium for quality and uniqueness, others especially with regard to an item looked upon as a basic necessity such as milk seek out the lowest price possible.
One only has to glance at the dairy chiller aisle of any large supermarket to see the sector is far from static and that there are varied ways in which liquid milk is presented. Milk is often no longer seen as simply milk. Milk even in its familiar form is available as enriched, flavoured and targeted towards different types of consumers: pregnant women, toddlers, adolescents, weight watchers and senior citizens.
Some consumers are allergic to dairy products; some don’t like the taste or they are looking for a beverage that is just a bit different. A beverage that is healthy. One that addresses wellbeing concerns and meets various lifestyle choices. Plant based dairy alternatives such as soya have in recent times expanded to include rice milk, coconut, almond, peanuts, tiger nut milk, oats, and many more. Non-dairy alternatives to milk and products that are just a little bit different are registering strong growth and with regard to packaging are amongst the most innovative of product categories.
Cartons tend to be the dominant packaging medium for non-dairy and for some niche dairy products not only in Europe and North America but elsewhere around the world. While the future seems relatively bright for cartons the sector has faced some challenges in the past. It’s worth mentioning how the fortunes of packaging and products can change according to consumer purchasing patterns, environmental concerns and product innovation.
In the past and prior to new products being developed and a greater concern for the environment, fruit and vegetables juices were often packed in gable top cartons. In the 1980s it seemed that this product sector would see its market share erode as plastic bottles captured a major portion of the lucrative supermarket milk supply from cartons and from glass.
Several factors prevented the marketing slide from becoming a rout, one of which was that manufacturers tackled the issues surrounding the opening and re-closure of gable top and other liquid carton configurations such as brick and shaped. Consumer convenience was one of the opening/re-closure benefits. This, together with structural changes provided for better microbial resistance, improved shelf life and, as environmental concerns grow a better image than plastic bottles.
In terms of production nearly all printing is done on a web fed basis, much of which is flexo or gravure printed and converted. Inadequate or inappropriate web and colour control can jeopardise quality impacting on print registration – the accuracy with which one colour layer of a printed image aligns with another.
Registration accuracy is also a requirement where several webs are being laminated together and need to be aligned or where several visual patterns that are not produced at the same processing point are combined together.
The majority of liquid packaging cartons are coated for aesthetic reasons but also to protect the printed surface and provide rub resistance, moisture resistance, etc. Again accurate control of the web and tension control is needed to ensure accuracy and consistency of coating thickness, axial dimensional stability, registration and overall quality. Other factors associated with achieving excellence when coating is to select the most appropriate coating applicator technology; and having measures in place to control contamination, etc. Monitoring and test devices are available that can resolve many of issues associated with bringing a product to market.
Pilot coating, print and laminating systems such as the Rotary Koater or the built to order VCM can be used to trial materials, determine the appropriate coating applicator, print or laminating technology and even the best drying/curing method to use. Systems can be configured with different web paths and a variety of accessories enabling them to merge seamlessly in with product development and quality assurance programs.
Cartons for liquid packaging products are of two types: shelf stable or those for placement in a fridge or chill display cabinet. Shelf stable cartons are generally of a layered construction of paper, polyethylene and foil. Refrigerated liquid cartons contain a higher percentage of paper-based material and an inner and outer layer of polyethylene or similar plastic. Foil is generally absent.
Brand owners need to market their product in a manner that will grab the attention of the browsing consumer. Eye catching design, creative graphics and the distinctive use of colour is in the case of beverages such as non-dairy particularly important. The reason being that conventional milk will be on most peoples shopping lists. Milk is a staple that consumers have until recently just tended to buy automatically. Marketers need to persuade browsing consumers to buy and try the various non-dairy beverages that are now available.
Beverages such as almond, barley or flax milk are more expensive and many consumers need the nutritional and health benefits of one product category over another to be clearly explained. The surface of the carton compared with many other forms of packaging provides a reasonable amount of creative real estate whereby marketing and informational or wellbeing/nutritional content can be displayed without compromising on primary attractor elements such as brand logo, colour and design.
Graphics and good use of colour draws attention to the product while clear, sharp and readable text generates additional interest and expectation. Well-used colour can make us stand back and take notice. Poor colour representation leaves us feeling cold and unmoved. In essence this is what brand design is about – the planned evocation of positive emotional responses. Choice of colour may be down to others but accurately interpreting and reproducing colour time after time is down to the printer or converter.
In the sophisticated world of brand packaging it is more than just about colour it’s also about the subtleties associated with tone and depth. Paper brightness, surface quality and neutrality; deviance from colour cast, etc., can all affect how inks will appear on a printed surface. Even a switch to different paper, paperboard or other materials may influence colour reproduction.
Colour communication devices such as the K303 Multicoater developed and designed by RK Print Coat Instruments enable users of many descriptions to meet colour targets accurately and quickly. Easily sited on any bench top this unit is available with interchangeable gravure, flexo and meter bar coating heads.
As a standard gravure proofer the K303 is often used in laboratories for quality control purposes associated with ink/substrate combinations; also to determine printability and adhesion. The print area is 275 x 285mm and standard gravure plates are available.
When fitted with a flexo head the K303 utilises doctored anilox flexo plates from which ink is transferred via stereo roller onto the substrate. The flexo head can be used to produce gravure-offset proofs and with the addition of meter bar coating head application possibilities are extended still further. The film applicator supplied can be used for all types of paper coating, inks, varnish, adhesives and even paint and other surface coatings.
Colour communication devices such as the K303, K Printing Proofer, FlexiProof and others contribute to process and commercial efficiency. Adjusting inks and other variables off production machine reduces on-production machine waste, speeds make-ready, reduces downtime and increases yield.
Everyone involved in the supply chain when documenting processes and procedures for accreditation purposes can use colour communication devices. A unit could be set up in an in plant ink kitchen; in an ink/coating manufacturer; a substrate producer; adhesive supplier, in the pre-press department of a printer/converter, or even in a design and marketing organisation in order to determine what works and what does not in terms of processing and for specific project colour selection and much more.
The demand for quality control, product development and colour communication devices are expected to grow in keeping with the evolving development of products for the non-dairy market. With rising cases of lactose intolerance and allergies; an increasing interest in vegan and vegetarianism as well as consumer awareness on health and well being matters the future for these products and for liquid cartons look good. For example: in the UK sales have been growing at more than 30 per cent per year for the last two years, whereas conventional milk sales have only been registering a more modest 3 per cent growth.
RK Print Coat Instruments Ltd
Litlington, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 0QZ
www.rkprint.com sales@rkprint.com
Source: RK Print Coat Instruments Ltd
