• The latest PKN has landed at Ball & Doggett's Braeside office: Courtney Newman, brand curator and Zaidee Jackson, national BDM Sustainable Packaging, enjoy the read.
    The latest PKN has landed at Ball & Doggett's Braeside office: Courtney Newman, brand curator and Zaidee Jackson, national BDM Sustainable Packaging, enjoy the read.
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PKN’s latest issue for 2023 is hitting desks and as always is packed full of the latest news and in-depth features. In this edition, we look at the winners of PIDA 2023, report on key takeouts from the AIP Australasian Packaging Conference, and cover the latest developments in sustainable materials, pharma and cosmetic packaging, coffee packaging, and pack and label printing.

Hot off the press, the PKN Packaging News May-June 2023 issue is on its way to you in the mail, and available online for your convenience.

In our Cover Story on page 10, PKN reports on Australia’s largest distributor of printable materials and consumables, which is aiming to drive the conversation for sustainable packaging with its newly launched online educational resource, ecoporium by Ball & Doggett.

In our review of PIDA 2023, we take a look at all the packaging industry winners (page 14) and individuals (page 20) who were recognised at this year’s awards, and unpack what went down at the long-awaited in-person gala dinner presentation in Melbourne.

In the realm of Sustainable Materials, UPM Raflatac is expanding its wash-off portfolio with new paper label materials that it says enhances the recycling of PET and HDPE packaging (page 22); Amcor places its first commercial order of certified-circular polymers leveraging ExxonMobil’s Exxtend technology for use in packaging for the ANZ market (page 22); Dr Ross Headifen makes his case for adopting landfill biodegradable materials to complement the circular economy (page 24); Sanofi and Haleon will be joining PA Consulting and PulPac as part of the Bottle Collective, developing dry moulded fibre bottle solutions (page 26); and Avery Dennison has launched AD XeroLinr DT, its direct thermal linerless portfolio for variable information printing (page 26).

Next, to the Pharma & Cosmetics feature, where Quadpack’s Marcia Bardauil shares five top consumer trends that are forecast to impact the development of cosmetic packaging solutions in the next few months (page 27); and we take a look at the machinery innovation from Nupac's partners that was on show at Interpack, featuring enhanced flexibility, safety and changeover speed. (page 30).

Then to Coffee Packaging, where Coffee Galleria has boosted productivity by 50 per cent following the installation of the Goglio G21 VFFS coffee packer from Jet Technologies (page 32); and PKN speaks to Australian-owned business EcoBarista’s founder Zac Fryer about standing out in the sustainable packaging space (page 34).

In our comprehensive review of this year’s AIP Australasian Packaging Conference ‘2025 & Beyond’, we cover ideas put forwrad by industry leaders on forging a sustainable packaging future (page 36). We also highlight the PKN Women in Packaging panel, held during the conference, and which saw three inspirational women discuss the challenges they have faced in this traditionally male-dominated industry (page 44).

And finally, in Pack & Label Printing, HP has launchedthe new HP Indigo 200K Digital Press, which it says is designed to give digital flexible converters the competitive edge (page 46); ePac Flexible Packaging has launched its in-house design services to support brands of all sizes to optimise packaging design and branding (page 48); and we take a look at the 2023 Women in Print Breakfast Series roadshow, which was a sell-out success (page 48).

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE…

Rounding out the issue are our regular sections: Industry Insight, where we unpack APCO’s 2025 National Packaging Targets review; People in Packaging, where we speak to Planet Protector Packaging’s Lars Ljung, winner of the PIDA Young Packaging Professional of the Year Award; and What’s On, where ahead of the upcoming foodpro expo, the show organiser asks the food and beverage manufacturing industry what its priorities are for the year ahead.

Then in our News section, we cover Mars Wrigley’s $28.8m plant upgrade (page 6); REDcycle being $5m in debt post-collapse (page 6); the start date for CDS Vic (page 7); saveBOARD’s new facility in Qld (page 7); the strides the NPRS is making with soft plastics (page 8); and the partnership between Yates and O F Packaging for a 60% rPE pouch (page 8).

AND THE CHERRY ON TOP…

Our regular Machinery Matters supplement, brought to you in partnership with the APPMA, keeps you updated on the latest trends, technology and company news from the packaging and processing machinery sector. Companies and organisations featured include: IPPO, UCIMA, PMMI, Interpack, Foodmach, PE Labellers, APCO, GS1, Fibre King, SMC, Krones, Multivac, KHS, Beaumer, Bosch Australia and Packserv.

Food & Drink Business

Entries are now open for the annual Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards. Open to commercial food producers of all sizes, it is one of the largest programs of its kind. 

Victorian brewery, Bodriggy Brewing Co, is the first brewery in the state to achieve carbon-neutral certification and only the second in Australia to do so. The independent Abbotsford-based brewery achieved certification under the federal government’s Climate Active program.

According to Rabobank data, Australian consumers are facing higher chocolate prices heading into Easter, with retail chocolate prices up 8.8 per cent on the previous year as global cocoa prices soar.