In India, mouth freshener products are a bit different than in the U.S. The Shudh Plus Pan Masala brand, for example, is sold in and consumed from packets, or sachets, and contains ingredients such as areca nut, catechu, and natural fragrances. As in the U.S., however, the mouth freshener category includes numerous product brands. That means packaging can help deliver point-of-sale impact and differentiation.
For its Shudh Plus Ultra Mouth Freshener brand, which includes no tobacco or nicotine, Uttar Pradesh, India-based Wizard Fragrances entrusted package artwork to Uflex. The flexible packaging supplier’s film manufacturing arm, FlexFilms, executed package decoration for Shudh Plus Ultra-Sparkling Tactile Sachet with 3D Embossing for Mouth Freshener product. The result: an FPA Gold Achievement Award for Technical Innovation and a Silver for Printing and Shelf Impact.
The brand stands out by creating a stunning package design. Uflex/FlexFilms brainstormed design elements and came up with a print reproduction that employs the effects of tactility, glitter, embossing, and a combination of gold and silver anti-counterfeiting 3D-embossed effect bearing the end user’s logo. All of these elements were achieved with a combination of gravure, flexo, and electron beam coating using a surface-printed registered application on paper with the combination of gold and silver hot foil stamping.
Inks and adhesives for the process are supplied by the company’s chemicals business, with the gravure cylinder made on the company’s automatic robotic laser engraving line, which ensures printing consistency and high-definition image reproduction.
Surface printing of the base design was done on coated paper using a combination of gravure and flexo print transfer technologies. A special laser-engraved cylinder with specially developed engraving cell configuration was used to transfer the higher solid content and glitter pigment onto the surface. The printed substrate was processed through electron beam coating in register to create the embossed effect on the brand name. The final processing entailed the transfer of the 3D-embossed effect of the logo using what’s described as a “special-purpose” machine utilizing hot foil stamping.
The result is that one side appears in gold, the other silver, with the embossed effect aimed at deterring counterfeits. The uniqueness of the design is that the printing uses high solid-content ink imparting the tactile effect with a combination of glitter, enhancing shelf impact where the product packaging presents a shimmering effect on the string of mouth-freshener packs hung at the POS.
“Being a world-class mouth freshener brand, we had always wanted Shudh Plus’ packaging to truly represent the grandiosity of the product. We engaged Uflex to come up with a packaging solution commensurate with the product quality. Uflex exceeded our expectations by providing tactile and glitter effect coupled up with a Gold and Silver embossing effect bearing our logo [to] make our packs stand out at the point of sale. Owing to its technological prowess and innovation quotient, Uflex has done full justice with our brand persona. The packaging solution that they offered to Shudh Plus is simply outstanding,” states Amar Tulsiyan, the owner/proprietor of Wizard Fragrances and Managing Director of K.G. Pan Products Private Ltd., the franchisee of Wizard Fragrances.
