Vibrantly colored, metallized paper and film were hot topics of discussion at AIMCAL's 2002 Metallized or Vacuum Coated Package and Label Competition judging session, which took place January 17 at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza in Chicago. Winners were honored at a special banquet March 21 during AIMCAL's Winter Management/Marketing Meeting at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

PROMA Technologies, Franklin, Mass., took home the top honor—the Peter Rigney Product of the Year Award. PROMA was recognized for its metallized paper on a striking holographic label and matching marketing brochure for (a) Wearz 4-Ever Finishing System from Parks Corp., Fall River, Mass. The judges liked its holographic design, which reminded them of the brush strokes used to apply the wood protector. "We really haven't seen metallized labels in the paint aisle before," said one judge.

Both label and brochure use PROMA's 60-lb metallized HoloPRISM paper, litho-printed in four-color process with opaque white. The aim was to communicate that this clear wood finish is 10 times more abrasion-resistant than competing products. The labels were applied to two sizes of the container and camouflage the fact that the "cans" are injection molded plastic with friction-fit metal lids.

Oak Printing Co., Cleveland, provided the converting and contract-packaging services for the Wearz 4-Ever project, while supplier Connemara Converting, Bensenville, Ill. provided the substrate. End-user Parks Corp. designed graphics for both the label and brochure.

Three winners were recognized in the food category. The Marketing award was given to Vacumet Corp., Wayne, N.J., for (b) its rotogravure-printed, stand-up pouch for dry soup mix from Inn on the Creek Foods, Midway, Utah. Using 48-gauge metallized polyester by Vacumet, Kapak Corp., Minneapolis, converted the 48-gauge polyester/ ink/adhesive/48-gauge metallized polyester/adhesive/300-gauge linear low-density polyethylene pouch with tear notch and zipper reclosure feature. The metallized lamination not only protects the all-natural ingredients, but also serves as an excellent substrate for high-end, 175-line screen graphics designed by Kapak. The lamination also provides the anti-static and slip characteristics needed for excellent machinability/sealability on the equipment at contract packager RYT Way, Lakeville, Minn.

The judges commended Vacumet for an all-around great job. "This requires very good adhesion of the metallized layer to the polyester," explained one judge.

The Technical Award in the Food category recognized two similar, yet different susceptor packages submitted by Graphic Packaging Corp., Golden, Colo. They are (c) the President's Choice Fruit Pie Active Microwave Package and the Pepperidge Farm Pot Pie Active Microwave Package.

The President's Choice pie was packaged for Loblaw Brands Ltd., Toronto, Ont., by Weston Bakery Ltd., Mississauga, Ont. The Micro-Rite® package consists of a susceptor-equipped pie "plate" and a folding carton with a susceptor patch positioned inside over the top of the pie. Frozen pies are baked in the microwave without opening the carton, with a cooking time of approximately 15 mins, versus 60-75 mins for conventional oven baking of similar pies packaged in aluminum trays.

The press-formed pie plate construction is 48-gauge polyester/susceptor metallization/adhesive/9-micron pattern-etched aluminum foil/pattern resist coat/adhesive/24-pt solid bleached sulfate board/blue porcelain ink design/overcoat. The carton susceptor has a similar structure on 35-lb coated paper instead of printed SBS board.

Other participants in the President's Choice Package include film supplier, DuPont Teijin Films, Wil-mington, Del., metallizer CP-Films Inc., Martinsville, Va., and package designer Laurence Lai, Mississauga, Ont.

The competition judges liked the functionality designed into the package. One commented, "The susceptors convert the folding carton into a baking vessel."

The pot-pie package for Pepperidge Farm, Norwalk, Conn., relies on a rather deeply drawn susceptor tray alone, replacing a previous susceptor container, which produced an overly browned crust but a cool filling.

The Qwik Wave® "dish" consists primarily of 48-gauge polyester from DuPont Teijin Films and SBS paperboard. The difference from the previous package was that the top foil layer was eliminated in the Qwik Wave structure. Instead, the susceptor metallization is pattern demetallized in the flange area and floor of the container. This demetallized pattern gives more uniform heating by allowing more energy to bypass the crust and heat the pie interior.

In the Nonfood category, the Marketing award was given to Hazen Paper Co., Holyoke, Mass., for a holographic display carton used to launch (d) a new Glacier Shower Head from Moen Inc., North Olmsted, Ohio. Hazen, the package converter, laminated 10-pt SBS board to acrylic top-coated, 1-mil holographic polyester from Spectrateck, Los Angeles, and CFC, Chicago. "The 1-mil film prevents cracking on carton scores, especially the 360-degree top fold," explained Jim Conte, account manager at Hazen. The film/paper structure is then laminated to E-flute corrugated with a diecut window to showcase the shower head, which was contract packaged by Rock-Tenn Alliance, Winston-Salem, N.C.

The judges were particularly impressed with the printed film/paper laminate because it makes the E-flute corrugations virtually invisible.

The Technical prize in the Nonfood category went to Unifoil Corp., Passaic Park, N.J., for a new embossed, flexo-printed package for (e) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Winston-Salem, N.C., for Winston cigarette's Winston S2 line. With the goal being to produce a steel-like appearance, Unifoil transfer metallizes 12-pt tobacco-grade SBS paperboard from MeadWestvaco, Covington, Va., using metallized film from Crown Roll Leaf, Inc., Paterson, N.J. This UniLustre process transferred both metal and a print-receptive coating specially formulated to meet RJR toxicity requirements as well as functional printing and gluing considerations. RJR Packaging Div., also in Winston-Salem, provided both package design and contract-packaging services.

The judges praised the pack's superior registration and noted that the graphics remain unscuffed despite the considerable number of folding and gluing operations involved.

PROMA Technologies also won in the Healthcare, Cosmetics and Toiletries Marketing category for its trio of holographic set-up boxes designed by Elizabeth Arden, New York, for (f) Red Door, Sunflowers and Fifth Ave fragrances. Using a 60-lb paper supplied by ITW Holographics, Chalfont, Penn., PROMA metallized the paper, which was then laminated to board by converter Hazen Paper. Each fragrance box appears in a different tint to separate one from another.

"The label really pops," said one judge. "It looks embossed, but it isn't," marveled another.

The Technical Award in this category went to a metallized carton from Graphic Packaging designed by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Co., Skillman, N.J., to replace a foil-stamped carton for (g) First Aid Advanced Care pads. This new carton was designed to provide greater shelf impact with an upcharge of less than 10 percent. To produce the carton, Graphic Packaging took 1-mil polyester film metallized by Vacumet and adhesive-laminated it to unmetallized polyester. The two-ply film structure was laminated to SBS board from Georgia-Pacific, Naheola, Ala. Graphics were flexo-printed with water-based process printing using seven colors, one base coating and in-line UV coating. Diecutting, including stability feet, was followed by folding and gluing across one seam so the carton blanks could be shipped flat to the customer.

"It's very good for flexo, especially considering the metallic base," noted one judge.

In the Labels-Retail category, FLEXcon Co., Inc., Spencer, Mass., took home the Technical Award for an extended, pressure-sensitive film label for (h) USanimals from Usana Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, Utah. The label replaces less durable p-s paper and p-s metallized paper labels and unwraps to provide space for additional product information. It can be rewrapped and resealed to store neatly. The structure, converted by FLEXcon, consists of printed graphics/2-mil hard silver metallized polyester/permanent acrylic adhesive/44-lb natural kraft release liner. It was combination printed by Best Label Co. Inc., Cerritos, Calif., with silk-screened white opaque letters and rotary letterpress graphics. UCB Films PLC, Smyrna, Ga., supplied the film and Dunmore Corp., Newtown, Penn. metallized it.

Judges liked the use of repositionable adhesive, which permits the label to be opened and then reattached to the bottle. Extra credit was given for attention to detail, which incorporates the words, "These vitamins belong to" in the label design along with an ink-receptive block where a name can be written.

A Motorway Fee Sticker (i) for OSAG Osterreichische Autobahnen- und Schnellstraßen Aktiengesellschaft, which shows road use fees have been paid, earned Hueck Folien GmbH, Baumgartenberg, Austria, the Technical prize in the Labels - Industrial category. The complex structure consists of top coat/60-micron white oriented polypropylene (OPP)/metallization/adhesive/60-micron white OPP/top coat. The OPP from ExxonMobil Chemical, Films Europe, Inc., Luxembourg, was top coated, metallized and laminated by Hueck. After curing, it was slit into small rolls and sent to the converter, Schreiner Prosecure, Oberschleiss-heim, Germany. Schreiner printed the material by letterpress with conventional and UV light-sensitive inks, added bar coding and sequential numbering via an ion-deposition process, then applied p-s adhesive and a polyester release liner. A hot-stamped eagle, the national emblem of Austria, stresses the official nature of the document. In the final converting step, each label was diecut in a special pattern.

Once applied to a windshield, the sticker cannot be removed without tearing. It provided the opacity needed so that printing on both sides of the label was visible and didn't show through from inside or outside the car.

Hueck Folien also took home Marketing and Technical Awards in the Decorative/Display category for its holographic canister made for (j) Bailey's Irish Cream for R&A Bailey & Co., Dublin, Ireland. Pronounced as "extremely well done" by the judges, the promotional canister consists of a co-lamination of strip steel and holographic film developed by Hueck. It consists of scratch-resistant coating/aluminum metallization/ holographic image embossing/ embossing resin/primer/12-micron polyester thermally sensitive adhesive from DuPont Teijin Films, Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Once the film and steel were laminated, the material was slit, sheeted, printed, embossed, stamped, shaped and fabricated to form the canister and its friction-fit lid.

Sharing the Marketing Award in the Decorative/Display category was Unifoil for (k) its specialty gift bags made for Converters Connections, Sea Bright, N.J. Unifoil laminated the 3M Radiant Film from 3M, St. Paul, Minn., to 50-lb paper supplied by Stora Enso and sent the film/paper material to Talco/Bonita, Dallas, for conversion into handled bags. The color-shifting filmnot only changes colors, but also imparts strength to the bag.

Judges for the 2002 competition were Jim Reinke, instructor, Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, Wis.; and Chicago-based converting experts Paula Record, CPP, senior development engineering mgr., Packaging Hair Care, Unilever Home & Personal Care-USA; Panos Kinigakis, CPP, senior technology principal R&D Quality, Kraft Foods; Laura McCluskey, senior editor, Converting; Yolanda Simonsis, associate publisher/editor, Paper, Film & Foil Converter; Arnie Orloski, vice president/editor, Packaging World; and Awards Committee Chair Steve Sedlak, product mgr.-metallizing, Wacker Ceramics, Inc.

More information from:

AIMCAL, 803/802-7820, fax: 803/802-7821, www. aimcal.org

PROMA Technologies, 800/343-6977, fax: 508/541-7777, www.promatechnologies.com Enter 260

Connemara Converting, 877/937-4338, fax: 630/521-1215. Enter 261

Vacumet Corp., 800/422-6456, fax: 423/586-3308. Enter 262

Graphic Packaging Corp., 800/677-2886, www.graphicpkg.com Enter 263

DuPont Teijin Films, 800/635-4639, fax: 804/530-4867, www.dupont.teijinfilms.com Enter 264

CPFilms Inc., 888/273-4567, fax: 276/627-3500, www.cpfilms.com Enter 265

Hazen Paper Co., 414/538-8204, fax: 413/533-1420, www.hazen.com Enter 266

Spectratech, 866/731-3018. Enter 267

CFC Intl., Inc., 708/891-3456, fax: 708/758-5989. Enter 268

Unifoil Corp., 973/365-2000, fax: 973/365-0924, www.unifoil.com Enter 269

MeadWestvaco, 800/418-0397, www.meadwestvaco.com Enter 270

Crown Roll Leaf, Inc., 800/631-3831, fax: 973/742-0219, www.crownrollleaf.com Enter 271

ITW Holographics, 978/462-7300, fax: 978/462-0831, www.ITWholographics.com Enter 272

FLEXcon Co., Inc., 508/885-8243, fax: 508/885-8382, www.flexcon.com Enter 273

UCB Films, Inc., 800/822-3207, fax: 770/333-6980. Enter 274

Hueck Folien GmbH, 43/7269-75700, fax: 43/7269-6616, www.hueck-folien.com Enter 275

ExxonMobil Chemical, 800/459-7050, fax: 315/966-1075, www.mobil.com Enter 276

3M, 800/452-4540, fax: 612/733-4302. Enter 277

Stora Enso, 847/627-3500, fax: 847/627-3550. Enter 278

Flex Products, Inc., 707/525-7163, fax: 707/525-7953, www.ColorShift.com Enter 279

Toray Plastics (America), Inc., 401/294-4511, ext. 2500, fax: 401/294-1480, www.toraytpa.com Enter 280

Applied Films Corp., 610/565-0961, fax: 601/565-0297, www.appliedfilms.com Enter 281