Sharper text, dimensional stability and distinctive whiteness
Algro® Thermo Base Paper for premium quality direct thermal printing
Sappi Europe announces the European launch of Algro Thermo™, its new premium quality base paper for the direct thermal printing market. In weights from 100 – 193g/m², Algro Thermo offers a superior optical appearance for tickets, labels and other thermal printing applications. Algro Thermo is aimed at converters who add a thermal coating layer to its surface. With the option to pre-print text and images on both sides of the substrate with high levels of consistency, Sappi’s Algro Thermo bright white paper raises the bar on quality for applications such as tickets, vouchers and labels, enhancing parameters for this type of printing to support converters and printers alike.
“Sappi continues to develop the highest quality papers and to reach out to different markets,” says Kerstin Dietze, Marketing Manager for Sappi Speciality Papers. “The Algro Thermo base paper for specialist thermal coating is an additional product we have developed for the niche market of on-demand tickets. It is well suited for a wide range of applications, including point of sale systems and vouchers as well as labels for shipping and product identification. This outstanding paper enables sharper text, a smoother surface and dimensional stability for the ticket and labels sectors.”
Technical advantages for the converter and the printer
Algro Thermo is a unique base paper designed to be coated with a water-based thermal coating for direct thermal printing and excellent print results. A specially designed oil absorbing pre-coat layer enables the paper to show text and images with a sharpness not achieved with most other thermal substrates. It provides a no-bleed effect from the dye and no residue on the thermal print heads. By applying a reverse side special coating for the option of offset and other printing technologies, Algro Thermo can be pre-printed on both sides. Features which distinguish Algro Thermo from other papers are its superior optical appearance with its distinctive whiteness and smoothness. This paper has excellent die-cutting properties and significant dimensional stability.
First happy customer
Dietze continues, “Sappi continues its ongoing support of packaging converters with the development of this speciality paper for the ticket and label market, and we are happy to say we have our first customer in Germany. This customer had requested a special base paper for thermal coating and we have been working with the converter to develop the Algro Thermo solution to meet that requirement. The customer is now using Algro Thermo on a regular basis and feedback is very positive. They are delighted with the paper’s performance. The customer particularly mentioned the trouble-free thermal coating process and the sharp, clear print results. We know at Sappi that there are other papers on the market for this sector, but Sappi’s research has enabled the development of a very innovative paper in what has been a fairly static market with key quality enhancements designed to give the converter an easy-to-use, added-value high quality product with the benefit of efficiencies in production. Other companies in Europe are already testing the paper for a variety of projects.”
Sappi is a global leader in the development of innovative solutions of speciality papers. With this launch, Sappi has now extended its paper portfolio into base paper for thermal printing applications. Thermal printing applications are a necessary part of life for travel, sporting events, concerts, lotteries, coupons, vouchers and VIP passes. Converters will now have the opportunity to choose the Sappi Algro Thermo solution, expanding their range of offerings to an easy-to-produce product with optimum optical appearance that can both increase opportunities with existing customers and help them gain new ones.
For more information about Algro Thermo or other Sappi Europe products, kindly contact Lutt Willems.
Ingo Kaiser, Marketing Communications Specialist
