Tortilla mix bags top AIMCAL honor

Edited by Editor in Chief Mark Spaulding -- Converting Magazine, 4/1/2008

The Association of Industrial Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators bestowed its 2008 Metallized Product of the Year Award last night on Grafo Regia (Monterrey, Mexico) for a 1-kg bag for Harina Tortillas Selecta tortilla mix at its Winter Management Meeting in Palm Springs, CA.

The film produced for Molinera de México S.A. de C.V. (Naucalpan, Mexico) consists of matte biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)/ink/adhesive/metallized BOPP/adhesive/2.25-mil modified low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The structure provides excellent sealability and good barrier properties to protect the shelf life of the flour-based tortilla mix. A matte finish with metallized details stands out on store shelves. The judges were impressed with both the technical and marketing aspects of the package and noted the matte finish resembled a tortilla.

Another international member, Uflex Limited (Noida, India), won honors in the competition, taking home the Marketing Award in the Packaging: Food Category for a standup pouch for tea mix from Tata Tea Ltd. (Kolkata, India). During the converting process, 12-micron polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is reverse-printed gravure in eight colors and adhesive-laminated to 12-micron metallized polyester, which provides barrier properties and extends product shelf life. This two-ply structure is then laminated to 50-micron blown LDPE.

Unifoil Corp. (Fairfield, NJ) swept the Packaging: Healthcare Category, capturing both the Marketing and Technical Awards.

The Marketing Award went to a holographic set-up box with matching promotional folder and envelope for Sarah Jessica Parker Covet perfume from Coty (New York). Unifoil converts polyester from Toray Plastics America (North Kingston, RI), which has been metallized by Celplast Metallized Products (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). The box wrap consists of gold acrylic-coated 48-gauge polyester laminated to 80-lb, coated-one-side paper. Light green raised printing adds texture. The promotional folder/envelope consist of gold acrylic-coated, metallized 48-gauge polyester laminated, respectively, to 20- and 11.4-pt coated-two-side Invercote Creato solid bleached paperboard from Iggesund Paperboard Inc. (Lyndhurst, NJ).

A barrier carton for Puffs with Vicks tissues from Procter & Gamble (Cincinnati) captured the Technical Award for Unifoil. To protect the freshness of the tissues and prevent the distinctive smell of Vicks from permeating the environment around the package, the carton consists of aqueous-printed, 20-lb Millmask stain-resistant clay-coated news from Rock-Tenn (St. Paul, MN), laminated to 36-gauge metallized coextruded PA10 polyester. The metallized polyester barrier layer prevents odor, moisture and vapor loss, protects product freshness for the duration of the distribution cycle and extends shelf life.

For the same final product, Unifoil took home both the Marketing and Technical Awards in the Nonfood Category for the role it played in a holographic security paperboard for tickets for the California Dept. of Transportation Metro (Los Angeles). Crown Roll Leaf (Paterson, NJ) receives artwork and creates the holographic design. It then metallizes polyester film from Toray and embosses the custom holographic images. A proprietary coating developed by Unifoil in conjunction with Crown Roll Leaf enables the next step, where Unifoil transfer-metallizes the holographic pattern onto 10-pt, coated-two-side solid bleached sulfate (SBS). Unifoil then ships the resulting UniLustre metallized, holographic SBS sheets to the printer for graphics in register with the holographic patterns.

In the Decorative Display Category, the Metallized Paper Div. of Vacumet Corp. (Franklin, MA) received the Marketing Award for a series of three collectible holographic covers celebrating the 40th anniversary of Rolling Stone magazine. Vacumet supplied and metallized the 100-lb, coated-two-side HoloPRISM holographic paper. After coating the paper, the reportedly world’s largest embossing machine applied the custom holographic micro-embossing. The paper was then metallized and finished with a printable top coating. Designs for the May, July and November 2007 issues were produced.

In the Industrial Category, Celplast received the Technical Award for its Reflect-Met top-coated metallized PET, which is used in AstroShield material, a low-emissivity product sold by Innovative Energy (Lowell, IN) for applications requiring reflective insulation or a radiant barrier. The coated metallized layer helps the lamination meet water-vapor transmission, strength, thermal and fire-performance requirements, while providing a brightness similar to foil. It is also significantly more machinable than thin-gauge foil because its resists the tear-outs and creasing that typically generate scrap rates ranging from 4-8 percent for foil laminations.

In the Other Category, Vacumet Corp. (Wayne, NJ) received the Marketing Award for metallizing 48-gauge white polyester, which is laminated with a water-based adhesive to a nonwoven polyester fabric for "blackout" window shades from Comfortex Window Fashions (Maplewood, NY). The metallized film makes it possible for shades to display white on the street side, one of 18 different colors on the room side. With an optical density of 4.0 and an absence of pinholes, bands and other surface imperfections, the metallized film completely blocks light transmission. In addition, the metallized polyester and cellular structure of the shade significantly improves its insulating capability, adding as much as 3.59 in R-value. The bi-laminate material, converted by Flexo Solutions (Appleton, WI), represents a cost savings and source reduction compared to tri-laminate alternatives and eliminates the need for one pass through the equipment.

Rohm and Haas Co. (Philadelphia) won the Technical Award in the Other Category for its role in the development of sailcloth material by DIMENSION-POLYANT (Putnam, CT). The colored, metallized windsurf X-PLY® fabric consists of a core of 1-mil metallized film plus high-tenacity polyester X-PLY® yarn positioned at 22-deg. angles and 0.75-in. spacing to form a diamond-shaped grid pattern, creating a multidirectional stretch resistor and an extremely rugged rip-stop. These internal layers are sandwiched between two layers of ultra-clear PET film to form a total thickness of 4-6 mils, depending on the application. The windsurf sail offers visible light transmission of 35%, providing vital transparency and enabling the windsurfer to keep an eye on surrounding traffic while still enhancing the UV properties. The metallized film imparts a shimmer to the sail when it’s observed from the shore on a sunny day.