Ink innovation can cut packaging costs, says UK group
UK based branded packaged consultancy, LFH, claims its Chapter 1 patented colour palette system, Rainbow, has allowed Unilever Food to reduce the number of ink colours used in the printed packaging for a range of its brands from 100 to six.
LFH joint managing director Mano Manoharan said that it audited Unilever’s spreads and cooking categories to evaluate how the costs and complexities of its packaging production process could be minimised:
“We created a six-colour palette capable of reproducing the entire range of 400 skus. The Rainbow system is based on the idea that mixing colours results in the creation of new ones.
“Chapter 1 is delivering substantial cost savings for Unilever without compromising on quality.
“We carried out a before and after marketing test with an existing pack of the Unilever brand Flora and the version using less colours, and customers were not able to identify any difference between the two,” added Manoharan.
Unilever best practice manager, Matthew Daniels, said that "the team were quite frankly blown away by the results - no one could believe that such quality could be realised when using six colours."
Innovation
Manoharan told FoodProductionDaily.com that brand owners look to a design consultancy like LFH to incorporate creativity and innovation in their packaging while minimising input costs.
“Manufacturers today strive to have packaging that maintains the key equities of the brand, has stand out appeal on the retailer’s shelf, and is sustainable but with lower production costs,” he said.
Downtime reduced
He said that the Chapter 1 system brings efficiencies throughout the packaging supply chain by reducing material waste in terms of inks, chemicals and paper and by also reducing the amount of non-productive time at the printer.
LFH and Unilever Foods set-up print trials with selected suppliers, including German printer, Rahning, to prove the business case.
“LFH worked closely with our print team to realise the vision. We were very impressed with the results of the print trial and the opportunity to make substantial savings in time and therefore money,” said Ralf Christoffer, Rahning.
Manoharan explained that previously, if a printer wanted to print the packaging for the Unilever brand Flora, and subsequently, the brand Flora Light they would have to stop the press, perform a washdown and recalibrate the machinery.
“Now using our tailored and fixed common colour palette across a brand range, the amount of recalibration and washdown required during printing is dramatically reduced, resulting in cost savings for the printer and the brand owner in turn,” he said.
He added that the system also allows for the co-printing of designs on the same printing sheet.
LFH said that its clients include a range of leading food and beverage brand owners including Coca-Cola and Sara Lee.
