Germark installs EcoLeaf metallization unit

Despite the pandemic, the EcoLeaf unit was safely and successfully installed on an existing Omet 410mm (16in) wide flexo press and is expected to deliver additional opportunities to bolster the company’s service offering. These include the ability to provide new silver metalized labels for the cosmetics market, as well as overprint capabilities that leverage an extensive range of metallic colors, including gold.

‘March and April saw us enjoy record months supporting supermarkets to meet demand, but the pandemic has since put a huge pressure on the local Spanish economy and our internal sales. However, thanks to its unique and cutting-edge capabilities, EcoLeaf will be a key tool in enabling us to meet this challenge and increase our export business in new and previously out-of-reach markets,’ said Iban Cid, president of Germark.

‘More widely, innovation and export underpin our wider company vision and strategic roadmap, and EcoLeaf is a great fit for both. In terms of innovation, EcoLeaf now allows us to produce sustainable high-quality labels, something that all brands are looking for to support their environmental objectives, and one that will significantly reduce or potentially remove hot and cold foil from our production process in the future,’ added Cid.

Currently, 50 percent of Germark’s label production is focusing on for the health and beauty industry and 50 percent on the beverage market. Typical applications include shampoo labels, printed flexo onto film, perfume labels produced using a mix of silkscreen and flexo techniques, and a wide range of labels printed using digital presses.

‘I often describe our products as being the essential oil in our customers’ engines,’ commented Cid. ‘We work hard to ensure that our customer labels best represent them and increase sales, which in turn drives loyalty and lasting relationships.’

Jan Franz Allerkamp, managing director of Actega Metal Print added: ‘Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our partners in Spain who were able to safely install EcoLeaf in the midst of a huge crisis with significant travel barriers. Secondly, it must be said that Germark is a great business with innovation running through its core – this makes them an ideal beta candidate for us. We anticipate EcoLeaf to be a transformative technology for them and we look forward to working closely with Iban and his team over the coming weeks and months.’

EcoLeaf unit has been also recently installed by the German label converter Volherbst Druck and Barthel Gruppe’s facility in Bünde in Germany. Actega Metal Print has also signed an agreement with A B Graphic International, which will manage direct sales, marketing and customer service for this new metallization technology.

Click here to read more about EcoLeaf in L&L Issue 3, 2020.