Sealed Air Hamilton cleaned up at the recent Pride in Print, claiming wins in both the Flexible Packaging and Flexographic Process categories, along with being named the overall 2025 PrintNZ Business Award winner.
The company received the PrintNZ Business Award for what the judges called several “impressive initiatives in the area of sustainability”, which directly led to Talley’s mussels packaging work being brought back from overseas.
“The combination of the sustainability benefits achieved, and the repatriation of print into New Zealand for an iconic Kiwi product, made this a standout entry in the PrintNZ Business Award category,” the judges said.
Damion Robinson, printing/laminates and prepress group performance leader at Sealed Air Hamilton, said the award is a great recognition to receive for all of the time and development the company had put into this work.
“We have been working on sustainable and recycled materials for the last few years – everything from protective products like courier envelopes, to this submission for Talley’s mussels – we have various sustainable products including recycled material ranging from 20-80 per cent recycled content,” Robinson explained.
“This material, while not only being made from a more sustainable plastic, also reduced the customer’s production waste from an existing product they were importing – approximately 50 per cent of the imported film was being thrown out due to various issues in production.
“We were able to come up with a film, made locally, reducing the carbon footprint, and that suited their process to deliver a 97 per cent yield in production.”
Robinson added that a key benefit of working with customers and suppliers over sustainable material was the flow-on effect of “changing the public perception of plastic protective packaging”.
“We are able to help our customers’ end users see plastic protective packaging in a better light than what is usually portrayed in the media,” he added. “That being, that the industry is going to great lengths to ensure what we do is sustainable – reducing the carbon footprint and leading to less waste packaging and food ending up in landfill.”
Both the Flexible Packaging and Flexographic Process top spots were awarded to Sealed Air Hamilton for what the judges called its “stand out printing” of the Pams Finest Peking Spiced Whole Duck packaging.
Judges described the job as delivering a combination of “fantastic detail, great contrasts and nice clean print” resulting in “an extremely-realistic rendering of food dish imagery”.
“A great design has been brought to life in execution of a print process not normally associated with top-of-the-line reproduction. Colours were solid, with great contrast ensuring the food dish reproduced actually looks real,” they said.
According to Robinson, by utilising the latest technology available in the market, his team was “able to achieve a result that allowed it to compete in the same market as gravure-printed packaging”.
“We used Vortex technology on Kodak plate supplied by R3 which enabled us to print what was an already outstanding design at 175lpi – creating a spectacular and detailed looking image along with helping to lay down a very deep black,” he said.
Andrew Rae, Foodstuffs Own Brands’ lead brand and communications manager, said the Peking Spiced Whole Duck is considered a “premium/best offering” for the Pams brand.
“The packaging features bold, mouth-watering photography that makes the product look irresistible. Deep, luxurious colours and exceptional print quality help give it a strong ‘yum status’ and makes it stand out on shelf,” he said.
“Bringing this packaging to life took careful planning and expert printing. Special details like metallic ink, precise alignment and balanced colour tones required a skilled print partner.
“The final result is packaging that not only looks impressive but also reflects the high standards behind the product.
“Winning these awards is a great example of the strong collaboration between our supply partner, design team and print partner. It reflects the care and attention given at every stage, from the initial concept through to final production.”
Well over 500 print industry individuals attended this year’s gala print event, which was held at the Cordis Auckland, and MC’d by New Zealand television and radio personality Jason Gunn.
