Looking back: Packaging winners at PrintWeek Awards - The Noel DCunha Sunday Column

One of the trends at Drupa 2024 was print service providers (PSPs) entering the packaging business. This trend has accelerated post-Covid-19. Hence, given the general consolidation of the print industry as a whole and the blurring of lines between the various segments, it would make sense to see an increase in commercial printers seeking to enter package printing.

A look at the data will help you understand why commercial printers are making the move. India is one of the largest commercial printing markets in the Asia-Pacific region. The market size was at USD 33.2-billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 41.6-billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4% during 2023–2028. Likewise, the Indian packaging market size is estimated at USD 71.90-billion now, and according to the Indian Institute of Packaging in Mumbai, the packaging industry is expected to grow to USD 130-billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 12.6%.

Many PSPs interested in entering the packaging industry are from the smaller cities, says A Appadurai, country manager, HP Indigo and Inkjet presses, India and Srilanka. “Previously, a business would declare that it exclusively handle commercial printing and am not willing to take on projects outside of that realm. However, nowadays, businesses are incorporating a wider range of services into their offerings for customers. This indicates that there will be a growing intersection between commercial printing and packaging,” says Appadurai.

In commercial printing, the printed material is the final product, but in packaging printing, the primary value lies in the substrate and its conversion. “However, having expertise in a specific area remains crucial,” says Appadurai. For example, with folding cartons, when a product has to be packed, that box has to fold right, open right, and pack right. If that does not happen, it will slow down the packing line.

“In packaging production, various factors can impact the final product. Paperboard quality is crucial, as using lower-quality materials can lead to dust and patches affecting production. The quality of ink and varnish also play key roles in ensuring smooth production on the customer's line. Additionally, maintaining high-quality dies is essential to avoid formability and runability issues,” says Akshay Kanoria, executive director at TCPL Packaging, the PrintWeek Company of the Year 2023.

PrintWeek Awards packaging categories
The point is that packaging derives a lot of its value from the process of converting it, which usually involves equipment and expertise beyond printing. The annual PrintWeek Awards seeks to honour converters who go above and beyond technology and process to create packaging that is functional, innovative and environment-friendly.

And, keeping up with the changing times, the earlier three segments of packaging categories — cartons, flexible, and luxury — expanded into the following categories in 2022: F&B, FMCG, pharmaceuticals, rigid boxes, and paper bags and textile boxes. 

The award-winning packaging has to tick several boxes, from illustrating the highest quality and production values to being fit for purpose, whether it be ‘selling’ the contents, keeping them safe from harm, or both. There is no restriction on the shapes or sizes of packaging produced. The timeliness of production and how the post-press added value to the product are also things that need to be taken into consideration.

Packaging Converter of the Year (F&B)

This category encompasses all types of printed packaging, including cartons, flexible packaging, and other containers typically expected to have been produced for the food and beverage segment. Entries consist of (but are not restricted to) products such as pouches and boxes for food, wines and spirits, presentation packs, and more.

At the 2023 edition of the Awards, this category saw joint winners, with the ITC Packaging and Printing Business (Chennai) and Lipi International (Nagpur) taking the title.

ITC was recognised by the jury for its modern twist to traditional food packaging. It deployed a sustainable, anti-microbial, germ-free package, along with compostable, food-grade, germ-free coating. The samples it submitted also featured ventilation, drip-off and spot gloss effects, gable tops, and innovatively replacing rigid plastic with paper-based packaging for ice cream. 

Lipi International's simple yet elegant, eye-catching, functional packages were recognised. Its samples featured five-colour offset printing with drip-off UV and embossing, flap pasting, complete box making, six-colour printing, matt and gloss UV, total embossing, matt lamination, gold foil embossing, and inner trays.

The category had joint winners at PrintWeek Awards 2022 as well. 

The first was Arihant Enterprise. The company was recognised for its work on mono cartons of chocolate that featured selective processing. Other samples from the company featured CMYK plus Pantone colours, matt finish coating, special colour foil, and screen printing. One of the samples was 100% sustainable.

The second winner was the ITC Packaging and Printing Business (Chennai). The jury recognised the company for its micro-fluted cartons with high-definition fluid art, a combination of HC Moog gravure and press and post-press effects, UV matt and gloss coating, hot-foil stamping, embossing, metallic silver, copper-coloured foil, reverse printing, auto-lock, and gloss drip-off, among other things.

Packaging Converter of the Year (FMCG)

This category includes all types of printed packaging including cartons, flexible packaging and other containers that would typically be expected to have been produced for the FMCG segment. Entries consist of products such as boxes for FMCG products. 

Ahmedabad-based Ocean’s Deep Printers bagged the Award in 2023. The company retained its prize from the 2022 edition of the Awards. 

The company won the Award in 2023 for a range of carton boxes replete with embellishments. The samples came in for special praise, with the judges saying that all the four submissions packaging are “consistent, bold, and engaging.” The samples featured exclusive UV effects, abrasive UV finishes, elastic cords for convenience, gold foil embossing, and velvet lamination.

Perfect Packaging won this Award in 2022, recognised for using CMYK plus special colours, blue and gold foiling, five-colour printing, Pantone colours, thermal finishing, velvet finishing, and six types of UV — crystal, matt, reflective, spot, wrinkle, and abrasive.

Packaging Converter of the Year (Pharma)

This category consists of all types of printed packaging, including cartons, flexible packaging, and other containers that are typically expected to be produced for the pharma segment. Entries consist of products such as medication boxes, blister packs, bottles, labels, inserts and outserts.

Letra Graphix and Sain Packaging were joint winners in this category at the 2023 edition of the Awards. The jury recognised Letra Graphix for multi-layered jobs that featured six-colour cold foil, screen and flexo varnish, scratch-off release ink, invisible ink elements to avoid counterfeiting, self-adhesive labels, side openings, and leaflets.

In the company’s debut at the Awards, Sain Packaging’s winning samples featured metPET printing, hybrid texture UV, drip-ff texture UV, UV gloss, lamination metPET gold, aqueous gloss varnish, UV spot screen, matt varnish, silver hot-foil stamping, and embossing effects. The company’s pre-press was done using Art Pro, Artios CAD, Apogee, and Adobe Illustrator.

Noida’s Any Graphics and Ahmedabad’s Letra Graphix shared this honour at the 2022 edition of the PrintWeek Awards. AnyGraphics was awarded for using effects and technologies like foiling, embossing, screening, coil foil, drip-off, colour and clear coating, and cutting. Letra Graphix was recognised for a host of print and security features. The company used window labels, gloss varnish, invisible blue ink (dynamic), scratch-off black ink for security, micro text, scratch-off silver ink, special symbol, scratch-off release varnish, peelable tabs, and holographic foiling.

Packaging Converter of the Year (Rigid Box)

This category includes all printed packaging including rigid boxes and other containers that would typically be expected to have been produced for packaging smartphones, electronic items, food and sweet boxes, and more.

The rigid box category also saw joint winners at the 2023 edition of the Awards — with Trigon Digipack and Ahmedabad-based Print Vision clinching the prizes. Trigon Digipack’s samples were sturdy, protective, and had a high-end look and feel. PrintVision’s samples deployed technologies like laser cutting and foiling with hand-fabricated boxes. It also used metPET printing and MDF laser cutting.

This category saw joint winners in 2022 as well, with Screen Art Enterprises and Pune-based Unbox taking the Awards. Screen Art Enterprises was recognised by the jury for its hand-created fabrics, litho-laminated four-colour print, foiling, screen printing, intrinsic artwork with foil, embossing, laser cutting, leather stitching, form die-cut, and lock setting. Unbox was awarded for its miniature scale models, gold foiling, CMYK plus coating, matt lamination, soft UV, and v-grooving.

Packaging Converter of the Year (Paper Bag)
This category encompasses all types of paper bags. Entries include products such as bags for packaging garments, FMCG, alcoholic beverages, gift packs, and eCommerce.

Kolkata’s CDC Printers won the Award in this category. The jury recognised them for their prowess in both commercial printing and packaging printing. The company’s samples featured machine-made fabrication, windows, drip-off printing, tags with hole punches, inserts, special window punching, embossing, and a metalised board with aqueous matt varnish.

In 2022, Galaxy Offset, and Ahmedabad-based Ocean’s Deep Printers shared the award. Galaxy Offset’s samples featured conventional five-colour printing, matt lamination, die-cut, PVC window pasting, side pasting, scratch resistance, and six-colour printing. Ocean’s Deep Printer was awarded for its quality and finishing — its samples featured velvet lamination, perfect die-cuts, silver embossing, thermal velvet lamination, UV with foil embossing, and textured UV embossing.

Other winners in packaging categories
In the 2019 edition of PrintWeek Awards, Mumbai-based Manohar Packaging took home the trophy for Packaging Converter of the Year (Carton), and Kolkata-based CDC Printers impressed the jury enough to earn a special mention in the category.

Manohar Packaging was recognised for its use of gold foiling, 3D embossing, foil stamping, blind UV, tactile screen, and textured UV in the submitted samples. Meanwhile, CDC Printers earned a special mention owing to its use of aqueous neutral coating, matt lamination, silver foiling, art velvet lamination, a magnetic lock, multiple foils, and a glossy finish.

The same year, ITC Packaging and Printing Division took home the Award for Packaging Converter of the Year (Flexible). The jury recognised this company for its samples, one of which was a confectionery pouch made for children with a bear-like design. The company submitted other porches with a tear notch for easy access and braille-effect labels for the visually impaired.

Bell Printers and Pragati Pack shared the award for Packaging Converter of the Year (Luxury) at the 2019 edition of the PrintWeek Awards.

Bell Printers was awarded for luxury packaging that used effects like gold foiling, luxury egg packaging, green foiling, 12-step grooving, sharp-edge finishing, four-sided display, and reflective acrylic panels. Pragati Pack was recognised for its versatile samples that deployed technologies like magnetic lids, EVA foam fitting, scratch-resistant matt film, and spot gloss UV varnish, among other specifications.

The registration process for the 14th edition of the PrintWeek Awards is online. If you’ve not registered yet, enter now. The fee for the same will be Rs 3,000 + taxes. After that, the fee will be Rs 4,000 + taxes. The deadline for submissions is 31 July. The Awards Night for the 14th edition will be hosted on 23 September at The Westin Powai Lake, Mumbai. Participants can register for the Awards by clicking here.