Malt liquor shines through

Associate Editor: Laura McCluskey -- Converting Magazine, 3/1/2001

Before launching its Boomerang flavored malt liquor, Labatt Brewing Co. decided to go with a unique label to stand out from the rest. Brad Mahood, national purchasing mgr. of packaging materials for Labatt, says, "The brand manager was looking for an innovative, unique solution for the new product."

Labatt went with PROMAr Technologies' HoloPRISMr paper, a metallized paper used to create unique graphic designs. "Despite the premium, the paper was selected resulting in a dynamic label for the product," says Mahood. By using a recognizable holographic image of a boomerang, Labatt was able to reinforce the product name through the graphics.

The imagery for the HoloPRISM was custom-designed. "In addition to the patented process used to create HoloPRISM paper, this print-to-register project relied on a unique, patented process for the final appearance," says Joseph Formosa, technical manager at PROMA.

The final product required wet strength resistance and proper wash-off removal properties. PROMA designed K145 grade paper for the beer label industry. Labatt supplied the artwork with the boomerang and PROMA created several different holograms for mockups. "These demonstrated a range of holographic techniques including different amounts of brightness, motion and color," says Formosa.

The paper is embossed on a custom-designed embossing master with 56 labels to a press sheet sized at 26 x 40 in. The master included registration marks to align the holographic imagery with the subsequent print graphics. The embossing was done on paper webs at 80 in. wide. Three cuts from its Valmet Atlas slitter were taken from each web to generate the final sheeted product.

After embossing, the paper was metallized by its General Vacuum Equipment metallizer, then coated with a print primer on a Black Clawson coater, and physically embossed. The final embossing process provided the look and feel necessary for the final labels. This was done to ensure proper performance on high-speed labeling equipment as well as proper "drop-off" times in bottle washing operations. The stack of finished sheets was then shipped to Aluglass Packaging for printing.

Aluglass reverses out the hologram on its plates to have the graphics and copy surrounding the holographic image already embossed on the paper. Aluglass then offset printed the labels in six colors on an eight-color press.

With the attention-getting graphics, customers are sure to welcome this new malt liquor into the beer industry.