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PKN’s May-June issue, sporting a stunning cover that showcases embossing and foiling at its finest, is a bumper edition demonstrating how the packaging industry is stepping up sustainability action in innovation and design, food packaging, and pack and label printing.

Hot off the press, the PKN Packaging News May-June 2021 issue is on its way to you in the mail, and available online in digital format for your convenience.

Starting with the Cover Story on page 32,  PKN speaks to Stephen Pratt, managing director at Kurz Australia, about how to design packaging with impact using embossing. He says that whether a product is successful in the market often has much to do with its packaging design, and embossed packaging, which appeals to the sense of touch, is currently in vogue in the industry.

In the realm of sustainability, we unpack the inside story on Australia’s first recycled soft plastic food wrapper prototype developed for Nestle’s KitKat range (page 16); hear about how Labelmakers, in partnership with EnviroFlex, is creating a local circular solution for liners harnessing RecuLiner tech (page 18), as well as learn about Heritage Brands adoption of rPET packaging for its Oil Garden range (page 21). We also hear from APCO CEO Brooke Donnelly (page 20) how the National Plastics Plan is providing positive growth and strategic direction for Australian businesses.

In our food packaging feature, we kick off by talking to Tetra Pak Oceania managing director Andrew Pooch about how the company is shaping the future of food and beverage as it marks its 60-year milestone (page 40); we speak to KM Packaging’s business unit director John Shipley who highlights significant challenges for the space in the next century and beyond (page 42); report on Nestle’s switch to recyclable paper packaging (page 44), Result Group’s FreshTag time temperature indicator labels (page 45), and Riccardo the Pizza Artisan’s freezer thaw back method and recyclable packaging (page 46). We also highlight the recent virtual site tour from Zipform Packaging (page 48), as well as speak to Heat and Control’s business team member of packaging Robert Marguccio about all things weighing (page 50).

We also cover the latest in pack and label printing, first on how hybrid and digital flexo is opening new opportunities for flexible packaging production (page 52), followed by HP’s recent launch of its new presses supplied by Currie Group (page 54), Epson installing Australia’s first high-productivity SurePress (page 56), Arlo + Coop’s major investment in Zund flatbed cutting units and robots supplied by Starleaton (page 57), and Jet Technologies adding to its labelling solutions portfolio (page 58).

And in other packaging news, Jamestrong celebrates 30 years in operation with a 2.7bn can production milestone (page 22), and we look at Integrated Packaging Group’s latest installation of a 7-layer co-extrusion line for flexibles (page 23).

Finally, a special addition for this issue, we release our annually published Industry Directory resource, which will help B2B connection across the packaging supply chain. With almost 600 companies listed across an extensive number of categories, you can be sure to find what you are looking for from businesses large and small nationwide.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE…

Rounding out the issue are our regular sections: Industry Insight, where Innova Market Research and PackagingInsights highlight the top packaging trends in the post-Covid world; The Bottom Line, where Paul Allen examines what can produce a ‘monster moment’ in margin recovery; and People in Packaging, where PKN speaks to Emma Townsend, who was recently appointed CEO of AGITO Group.

Also, in for this issue’s Tech Speak, we announce exactly who made the cut for this year’s Australasian PIDA Awards.

AND THE CHERRY ON TOP…

Our regular Machinery Matters supplement, brought to you in partnership with APPMA, keeps you updated on the latest trends, technology and company news from the packaging and processing machinery sector. Member companies featured include Schmalz, Foodmach, Thermo Fisher, SMC, Krones, Nupac, Fromm, and Australis.

Enjoy the read.

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.