Page 33 - Packaging News Magazine May-June 2020

May-June 2020 | www.packagingnews.com.au SPONSORED | PACK & LABEL PRINTING
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UNLIMITED SCOPE
Around the same time, the company had moved into new premises in the Melbourne industrial suburb of Ravenhall, a purpose-built, light and spacious facility to house the new equipment and with plenty of room for expansion. It’s the latter point that’s most telling, because from this it’s clear Read sees huge scope for growth off the back of digi- tal print, which is borne out by the growing number of small brands turning to his company for market- ing help.
“We offer the full marketing pack- age in a collaborative partnership,” Read says. “We help brands ramp up the R&D side of their product devel- opment, to create a range of variants in any given product line with impactful packaging to match.”
“It’s usually risk-takers, true entre- preneurs that seek us out, and we find a like-minded kinship in the pursuit of a packaging solution that will give their brands an edge. It requires a lot of trust on their side, and we have to be light on our feet to find a solution that challenges the norms and deliv- ers the result,” Read says.
“If you’re smart about the way you use digital, it really can take your brand places.” ■
To find out how Read Labels & Packaging can help your brand, contact Ross Read on e: ross@readlabel.com.au
This article was sponsored by HP. HP invites you to learn more through its ebook and webinar series. Scan the QR code or Visit hp.com/go/indigo
LEFT: Cutting edge craft: Ross Read is taking small brands big places using digital print technology.
FAR LEFT: Printed film for pouches on the HP Indigo 20000 at Read Labels & Packaging.
BELOW: Packaging spiced up: The digitally printed pouches with variable designs saw a big boost in sales for Chai Spice Beverages.
DIGITALLY PRINTED POUCHES SAVE COSTS AND BOOST SALES
Some years ago, café owner Abdul Bey started Chai Spice Beverages following a desire to bring a new chai offering to his own café while seeing a gap in the market to also supply other cafés.
“Every café had the same chai on offer. We had good food and coffee, but were serving a supermarket chai blend. My business partner soon changed that, developed an artisan blend that centred on spices, and we packaged it to sell on café counters,” Bey says.
About four years ago the company approached Read Labels & Packaging. Its packaging was dated. The pouch was a kraft paper bag with a label stuck onto it. The catalyst for the company to change its packaging, Abdul relates, was that the high cost of buying bags and printing multiple labels for the different blends.
“Once we moved into printed bags, we found we could stan- dardise our bag sizes, and get a print run done with our variable SKUs all at the same time.
“We saved time and money because of that, and the process was so much easier,” he says.
The packaging has been instru- mental in building the brand’s following.
“We did a test run with one of our customers with the old packaging and the new packaging. The new packag- ing has increased our sales three-fold.”
Customers (café owners) embraced the new
packaging, and Bey says the response was so positive to the colourful, themed on-pack graphics that customers have been
dressing up to match the packaging, with
outfits posted on the company’s Instagram page @chai_spice_ beverages.
READING IT RIGHT
Back to Read’s unfolding story. Determined to find a way to leverage the rapidly advancing technology to the benefit of his growing base of food and beverage customers, the com- pany upgraded its press through sev- eral iterations of the HP Indigo, hon- ing its craft along the way. Meanwhile, in the packaging market flexible for- mats were reaching lift-off, and so too was the artisan food industry, driving demand for stand-up pouches and centre seal bags, produced in short runs with a quick turnaround.
Read moved fast. He trialled con- verting flexible pouches in house, investing in pouch making equip- ment and using the HP Indigo WS6800 to print the film.
“I was clear I didn’t want to be only a printer,” Read says. “To address this new market – short run pouches and bags – we needed to offer an end-
to end solution to create our point
of difference.”
Once the process was mas- tered, he was ready to invest, and once again turned to trusted technology. In 2019, Read Labels & Packaging took delivery of a new HP Indigo 20000 press – the second press of its kind
in Australia at the time – stepping up significantly the quality of the printed rewind and the capacity.