Package printer grows brand owner base with Flexcel NX

UK package printer Primopost has said it will target more brand owners after recording continued success with Kodak’s Flexcel NX plates.
 
Primopost lists Tesco, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Weetabix and Fox’s Biscuits among its end user clients, and won the EFIA Gold Award in March and the FlexoTech International Print and Innovations Award for Best Use of Flexo within Single Forme for its Cemoi Dark Chocolate packaging.
 
Primopost began using Kodak Flexcel NX plates two years ago via trade supplier Miller Graphics.
 
John Callion, Primopost’s print development manager, said: ‘We wanted to improve the quality and impact of our work and increase the potential for jobs traditionally produced using gravure. We saw it as a clear growth opportunity that most other flexo printers were not looking to move into. In our industry if you get a two-year lead on anything it is a good advantage. We were already working with Miller when they became Kodak’s beta site and we have stuck with them ever since, as it is people that make a difference as well as the product.’
 
Austria’s Repro Busek recently reported that its use of Kodak’s Flexcel NX system was allowing it to produce flexographic print quality that rivals gravure, even bettering it in some instances. This, Repro Busek said, has played a part in it growing its brand owner client base.
 
Primopost is planning similar results from its use of Kodak Flexcel NX plates, with Callion saying: ‘Flexo offers a lower cost base, and Kodak has a lead on this higher screening technology. The Kodak plates gave us an edge in the market and continue to do so. In fact, we have just converted Alpen Weetabix from gravure to the Kodak plate and we will be entering the result in the next phase of awards.
 
‘The work for which we won [the FlexoTech International Print and Innovations Award for Best Use of Flexo within Single Forme] is the tip of the iceberg. The ability to offer an extended tonal range through a wider color space that we get from using this technology will help us win much more work. We are building up our portfolio and will be talking to a lot more brand owners.
 
‘In the past two years Primopost has moved from a £12m turnover operation to £17m. Largely that is through producing high-quality work, part of which is through this technology.’