Luxe Pack Monaco 2024: Packaging industry collaborates with academia to “push boundaries on label design”

Sustainable labeling solutions provider UPM Raflatac is collaborating with Eurostampa on the Envelope 2024 innovation project aimed at “pushing the boundaries of label design” by experimenting with new and existing technologies, materials and printing solutions. 

This year’s project showcases “cutting-edge” design and sustainable materials, highlighting the “synergy between technology and creativity.” After being printed using various innovative techniques, the labels are now being showcased at Luxe Pack 2024 in Monaco.

“Our label materials act as a canvas for these beautiful designs. This collaboration allows us to showcase our commitment to sustainability and innovation, and we look forward to presenting the creative solutions that emerge from this partnership,” says Stefano Pistoni, senior manager, Business Development, Wine & Spirits and Beverage, UPM Raflatac.

“At Eurostampa, we are committed to fostering innovation and creativity through our partnerships. By involving students in real-world projects, we are advancing label design and providing valuable educational opportunities to ensure that our labels meet the expectations of Generation Z consumers,” adds Riccardo Sauvaigne, marketing and innovation director at Eurostampa.

Crafting with textured bio-circular materials

The Envelope cohort worked with a series of innovative label materials, such as UPM Raflatac Hipster WSA PCR-FSC and UPM Raflatac Forest Film PP Clear.

The Hipster WSA PCR-FSC offers a “warm, elegant white shade” with a “textured, felt-marked surface.” It is made with 100% recycled fiber in the face paper.

Stefano Pistoni, senior manager, Business Development, Wine & Spirits and Beverage, UPM Raflatac.Meanwhile, Forest Film PP Clear, marketed as the world’s first certified wood-based plastic label material, is a bio-circular solution that reduces reliance on fossil-based plastics. Made with bio-naphtha derived from wood-based crude tall oil, it maintains the “same quality, performance and recyclability” as traditional plastic labels.

Eurostampa specializes in labels for wine, sparkling wine, spirits, chocolate, food and cosmetics packaging and has been collaborating for several years with students from the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy and the DAAP (Design, Architecture, Art and Planning) Program of the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, US.

In this year’s project, the students have worked in two groups, each one managing a different part of the process. 

The Pollenzo group played the role of marketing, working to develop a creative brief that followed the brands’ guidelines. The Cincinnati students acted as the graphic agency, creating label designs that expressed the unique personality of each brand in relation to the brief.

The students have worked with Eurostampa’s designers to develop seven labels for Bacardi, Nutella, Jose Cuervo, Fior di Sole and Perrier Jouet, which would “meet the expectations of Gen Z consumers.”

UPM Raflatac brought its expertise to the collaboration by offering life-cycle assessment data calculated by using the company’s Label Life by UPM Raflatac life cycle assessment service.

In recent developments, UPM Raflatac and fiber-based product and services provider Sustana teamed up to recycle “underutilized” release liner waste. Release liner is often overlooked and dismissed as unrecyclable due to its silicone coating, highlights the company.

Packaging Insights caught up with Robert Taylor, sustainability director at UPM Raflatac at a Pentawards Meet in London about challenges with sustainable packaging design. In a video interview, he discussed these challenges, including the impacts of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and its impact on the UK’s industry.