Fres-co System USA, Inc. Wins Four Golden Cylinder Awards

Fres-co System USA’s recognitions include three category awards for gravure printing and a “Best of Best” distinction, further positioning Fres-co as a flexible packaging leader in the industry.

The Fres-co Team is honored to announce that we were recently awarded four Golden Cylinder Category Awards, including a “Best of Best” recognition, by the Gravure AIMCAL Alliance (GAA) for our superior gravure printing across the categories of Film Lamination, Packaging Innovation, and Image Carrier Preparation.

The Golden Cylinder Awards: The Top Tier of Gravure Printing Innovation

The Gravure AIMCAL Alliance (GAA) is the premier professional organization for those who work in or with gravure printing. The organization conducts the Annual Golden Cylinder Awards Competition to promote the rotogravure printing process and to provide peer recognition for technical achievement. This annual international competition is designed to identify the best gravure in each segment of the industry and to distinguish technical innovations.

“The Golden Cylinder Awards represent the top tier of gravure printing innovation, and we are honored to be a recipient of three category awards and a ‘Best of the Best’ distinction,’” said Rod Sosa, Director of Operations at Fres-co System USA, Inc. “These accolades affirm the quality work we produce throughout our facilities and reflect our commitment to innovation.”

Film Lamination Category Award & “Best of Best” Recognition

The Film Lamination category award, alongside a “Best of Best’ distinction, was presented to our team for our visually impactful printing for Target’s Good & Gather™ Signature Organic Coffee line. The unique CORNERSEAL® packaging features bold, yet whimsical watercolor artwork that showcases the geographical origins of the Good & Gather coffee, which was brought to life on film using the gravure printing process. 

Gravure print offers superior tone quality and effectively highlights the artwork’s subtle textures. The Good & Gather Signature Organic Coffee packaging by Fres-co features a reverse-print on clear polyester in six spot colors, including a registered pattern white and a surface printed registered matte that is then laminated to foil, dull side out. It also features a registered Easy Open Pattern that is reverse printed on the interior side. 

Developed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face graphic approvals were not possible as corporations worked to minimize potential exposure. We reframed this challenge as an opportunity and leveraged virtual communications to keep production in progress. As a result, the carbon footprint for press approvals were virtually non-existent for this award-winning Good & Gather Signature Organic Coffee packaging.

Packaging Innovation Category Award

Our team earned a second award for our plastic-reducing, tube-like stand-up pouch, designed for John Frieda’s Sheer Blonde hair care line, in the Packaging Innovation category. The gravure print provides a brilliant full spectrum of highlights to the packaging, which complements the product inside. The packaging is reverse printed in seven colors on clear polyester and is then laminated to foil with a surface printed, registered matte finish, which provides a soft, tactile feel. 

Equipment forms the tube-like package which is then filled with product. This innovative package uses 50% less plastic compared to a typical hair care tube. The flexible, stand-up pouch also optimizes product dispensing, allowing consumers to effectively use up the product completely with minimal waste. 

“This groundbreaking beauty application serves our consumers’ desires to transform their hair, while also reducing their impact on the environment,” stated Aaron Woodard, Packaging Engineer at Kao USA, Inc.

Image Carrier Preparation Category Award

Finally, our team also won top honors in the Image Carrier Preparation category for our imaging of Walmart’s Great Value™ Ground Coffee line, which incorporates Digimarc Barcoding with gravure printing. The packaging design moves “beyond the barcode” by utilizing a sophisticated digital watermarking technique that prints industry standard GTIN numbers, also found in UPC barcodes, across the entire packaging artwork. Digimarc barcoding is nearly invisible to the human eye but can be easily scanned with machines and is more efficient than traditional visual barcodes.

“The application of Digimarc involves making precise adjustments to the intensity of colors in the package artwork, resulting in a unique machine-readable identifier,” noted Digimarc Corporation. “The artwork is the barcode, easily scanned, and providing brand managers with more space on the product to promote their products and marketing communications.”

Our high-quality gravure printing is a superior method for incorporating Digimarc Barcoding. The Walmart Great Value™ Ground Coffee pouches are reverse printed on clear polyester, in seven or eight colors, and laminated to foil, dull side out. Its Peel Seal Sealant also produces an easy-open package on top of its innovative scannability and sharp appearance.

For more information on our gravure printing capabilities, visit fresco.com.

For more than 40 years, Fres-co System USA, Inc. has manufactured high-performance flexible packaging systems and invented dozens of innovative breakthroughs including degassing valves, modified atmosphere technologies, and reclosure systems.

Topics: Package Design, Package Printing

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