While New Zealand printing companies point to their successes in the Australian FMCG market, Australia’s own packaging giant Amcor has once again snatched the limelight at NZ’s premier print and packaging awards.
Amcor Cartons has won seven gold and two highly commended awards at NZ’s Pride in Print Awards for 2012, announced in Auckland in June.
Supporting some of the country’s largest and most successful consumer brands, Amcor Cartons received seven of the 13 available gold awards in the packaging category at the awards, including: Cadbury Continental 420g carton; Prime Foods’ large smoked salmon pouch carton; Contract Bottling’s Smirnoff Double Black carton; Contract Bottling’s Smirnoff Premium Ice carton; Unilever’s Surf Jasmine & Gardenia carton; Waikato Valley Chocolates’ Pirate Ship carton; and Lion Nathan’s Steinlager World Cup Pack carton.
The group general manager of Amcor Cartons Australasia, David Berry, says the company’s success repeated its triumph at the same event last year, where it also snared seven gold prizes.
“Amcor’s ongoing success at the Pride in Print Awards is true recognition of our focus on partnering with our customers, and the importance and emphasis we place on carton printing, embellishments and innovation,” he says.
Recognising excellence in printing across packaging, publications, business print, labels, displays, promotional, specialty and industrial categories, the awards are based on technical excellence in all areas of the production process, while taking into consideration the materials and equipment used.
Particular attention is also paid to design and typography, as well as the effective and innovative use of materials.
Berry says the awards validated the importance Amcor placed on the market.
“We have a market leadership role in our segment of the New Zealand package printing market, and that is a position we have earned and where we have to work hard to continue gaining their trust,” he tells PKN.
“Brand recognition and differentiation is vital for our customers’ success. We understand these requirements, and continue to invest in world-class equipment and talent to deliver the best in carton printing to our customers.
“Our customers need to trust us to reproduce their brand in the best possible way, and awards like this, judged by our industry peers, really go a long way to validate our efforts there.
Amcor Cartons in New Zealand operates three factories in the country, in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Berry says that while these facilities are substantial, he does not believe they give Amcor any significant technological advantage over home-grown NZ competitors.
“We have seven offset litho presses there, one of which is the most modern in the New Zealand folding carton market, but generally the technology is not so different from what our competitors also have,” he says.
“At the end of the day, it’s how you use them that makes the difference, and we invest a lot of equity in our people, and that’s a large part of what makes us unique.”
He says that in many ways, the NZ awards were among the most competitive in the printing and packaging world, reflecting the country’s strong export focus.
“New Zealand is a high export location for our industry, probably even more so than Australia,” he says.
“The country supports a lot of activity, particularly in the Australian private label sector, not to mention the strength of its dairy industry.
Berry is of the view New Zealand probably leads Australian levels of embellishment in packaging, in areas such as printing on foils and high level substrates.
