Page 38 - Print21 Magazine May-June 2022

Cover story
Currie Group
presenting new look at PacPrint
Rob Mesaros, the new CEO of Currie Group, says that visitors to the company’s stand at PacPrint will see an evolution of its business, and have plenty of opportunity to see how they too can align with emerging market trends.
Visitors to PacPrint won’t miss Currie Group’s stand, it is the biggest at the show, and will present the company in a new light. The transformation over the past 12 months will be evident.
Currie Group is the biggest supplier to the print industry in Australia and New Zealand, a position it has built up over the past seven decades. The independent company achieved its position by focusing on customer service and support, bringing in the latest technologies, and by not resting on its laurels, always moving forward.
A year ago, the family-owned business brought in a new CEO, Rob Mesaros, with a brief to modernise the business. The print industry will be able to see the changes the company has been through by the new look and feel at PacPrint, with the company’s stand aiming to reflect the transformation. It says the showcase will be quite a visual departure from the past, due to the fresh branding, and also a more solutions-based approach.
Mesaros says, “We will unveil our new look, our fresh approach. We will be far more orientated towards applications, and we will have real brands participating on the site itself, with some pretty cool work.
“Our aim at PacPrint is to show visitors what is possible in a tangible way, then working collaboratively
to explore how they can make those possibilities a reality in their own business,” he explains.
A prior life in the corporate world means Mesaros has a focus on the facts, and doesn’t shy away from them, saying, “The industry isn't getting any bigger. Your opportunity
38 Print21 MAY/JUNE 2022
as a printer is to build adjacencies, whether that's organically or otherwise. There are still numerous opportunities and growth areas.”
Print businesses of course are experts at building adjacencies, whether that is in short-run digital printing, in wide-format printing, or today even in label printing. Mesaros says, “The adjacencies
are there if you are brave enough to pivot.
Mesaros points to the intersection between craft alcohol, food and beverage, and the technology available from Currie Group, as a prime example of the opportunities available to print businesses.
Centre stage
Centre stage on Currie Group’s stand will be the B2 HP Indigo 100K high volume non-stop digital colour press. Mesaros says, “High volume is the sweet spot. If you have a look at the 100 or more installations the sweet spot has been a combination of offset transfer and the need for high value- added applications.
Australia of course is a smaller market size than North America, Europe or Japan, but Mesaros says, “This marketplace has the capacity and business profile to absorb many more HP Indigo 100Ks. I’m optimistic that we will continue to see more installations throughout the next 12 months. The 100K not only boosts margins on short runs, it also helps businesses tap into new digital applications to secure long-term business gains,” adding, “It’s already generating a huge amount of interest, so we’re really looking forward to demonstrating it at PacPrint.”
Along with the 100K, Currie Group will also be showing the HP Indigo 7K, the go-to digital colour press for much of the industry.
Most commercial print businesses recognise that wide-format printing is both a growth area, and a relatively comfortable pivot. After all they have the file management skills, the colour management skills, and crucially, the customers. The upcoming PacPrint will be the first time that Currie Group has had wide format technology on its stand, courtesy of the new EFI partnership.
Mesaros says, “When you look at the wide format devices these days, they're becoming far more versatile with respect to the applications. You can think about short run packaging, interior décor, fabric, just to name a couple of applications.”
He also points to the ongoing supply chain pressures as a driver for local print businesses to install wide format, saying, “We're already