Italian packaging provider appreciates wide range of weights and excellent results with offset and flexo, soon also available for digital post-print
With Italian company LIC Packaging, Sappi has gained a renowned packaging manufacturer as a new customer. The company uses the brilliant white double-coated fresh fibre Fusion Topliner, as well as the recently launched uncoated version, Fusion Uncoated. Both products are being printed exclusively with post-print processes. Depending on the run length and quality requirements, the company uses either offset or flexo print. Digital printing will be added shortly, once a new HP C500 digital printer for direct corrugated board printing is installed in June 2018.
“One of the reasons we chose Fusion Topliner is its comprehensive weight range. It enables us to fulfil any requirements across the different types of corrugated board,” says Piero Bertoldo, president of LIC Packaging. Other criteria driving the decision included the brilliant white appearance, strength values and the absence of cracking Fusion Topliner offers. An additional benefit of this fresh fibre liner is that it has been approved for food packaging, since Fusion Topliner complies with all key regulations for food contact in Italy and across Europe. From a geographic perspective, LIC Packaging benefits from a location that is close to Sappi’s Ehingen production site in Germany, ensuring fast delivery of paper to Northern Italy.
The range of applications for Fusion comprises primarily food packaging, including corrugated cartonboard for frozen food, pizza boxes and carrier packages (trays) for fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as displays and cardboard packages for glassware, electronics and other consumer goods. LIC Packaging uses Fusion in weights ranging from 90 to 160 g/m2. An innovative application of Fusion is its use on G/N fluting for offset post-print at a flat weight of 90 g/m2. Fusion has successfully proved its stability and surface quality during lamination on mini-fluting and subsequent offset printing.
This successful implementation is no accident. “We were impressed with the open-minded approach and desire for innovation LIC Packaging applies when developing new packaging ideas,” explains Andrea Riva, Sales Manager Italy, Iberica and Global Key Account Manager at Sappi. “LIC Packaging is an important reference customer for Sappi in Italy and presents an unique example of the versatility that a high-quality fresh fibre topliner can offer packaging converters. This is confirmed by the excellent results that have been achieved in all common printing environments, from offset to flexo and digital.”
About LIC Packaging
LIC Packaging Spa provides comprehensive packaging solutions, from simple boxes to innovative displays. Its customer base comprises mainly food manufacturers, followed by the glass industry, household goods, cosmetics and consumer goods. The company was founded in 1952 by the Bertoldo family in Verolanuova (Brescia, Italy), operating initially as a classic print shop. Paper and cardboard packaging were added in the 1960s for the booming shoe industry in Northern Italy. In 1991, the company entered the corrugated cardboard market. At the time, LIC Packaging produced its own corrugated cardboard boxes. In 2001, international Saica Group, based in Spain, obtained a 20% share in the company and raised the capital stock, providing new momentum. LIC Packaging employs about 240 staff and achieved a turnover of 88 million euros last year.