Antalis South Africa (Pty) Ltd is now a distributor of UPM Raflatac, one of the world’s leading suppliers of self-adhesive label materials.
The distribution partnership between Antalis SA and Raflatac is a mutually beneficial one said Michael Rushworth, Product Manager, Paper for Antalis. ‘Over the past few years, Raflatac has expanded its product offering and presence in rapidly growing markets, while for Antalis, it made sense to make Raflatac a preferred supplier as the group is already a major supplier to Antalis worldwide.’
UPM Raflatac label stock products are used for consumer product and industrial labelling in industries such as food and beverage, pharmaceutical, retail and logistics. Raflatac is a global operator with sales operations in 67 countries and production in 17 countries. They are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange.
Raflatac is also a cost effective grade and their overall marketing backup is very good. ‘Throughout negotiations last year and since starting our relationship, they have been tremendous and their willingness to assist is phenomenal,’ Rushworth added.
Raflatac sees being present in the South African graphics and sheets market as a great opportunity. Andoni Rodriguez, Marketing Manager Sheets, EMEA, Area Sales Manager, Sheets Business: Africa and Latin America said, ‘UPM Raflatac has a long partnership with Antalis in Europe, and South Africa represents an exciting step forward for all of us.’
He believes the relationship with Antalis SA will allow UPM Raflatac’s sheets solutions to meet the needs of printers and end-users for quality, reliability, innovation and environmental performance in this high-demand market.
‘We strive to become a perfect labelling solution provider for the South African printers in their daily self-adhesive labelling and are proud to put our 20 years of experience in the sheets business to work for them,’ he said.
‘Raflatac sheets come out of their Spanish plant in Barcelona, with most of the paper face sheets coming out of their own mills. This is important, as it means they have control over the quality of their paper,’ said Rushworth.
Raflatac’s chain-of-custody system tracks certified material from the forest to the final label construction. It provides third-party verification that the wood used in labelling products originates from responsibly managed forests. UPM takes part in all major forest certification programmes, including FSC® and PEFC™.
A holistic approach is followed when coming to creating its products and assessing the environmental impact of its products through its in-house expertise, technology and capabilities. It uses an advanced technology production processes and through the creation of new label products has reduced its use of nonrenewable materials. It also treats waste as a valuable resource.
It uses a framework it has developed to source raw materials globally, which is based on the company’s code of conduct and corporate responsibility principles.
Whether a gloss, matt, clear, opaque, textured, holographic, coloured or metalised visual effect product, they are all suitable for all printing technologies, whether, flexo, digital, high resolution and contrast, thermal or other.
All its labelling for complex shapes and squeezable packaging will remain useful for the lifetime of the labelled goods. Its products are cost-efficient and sustainable and meets all relevant industry and regulatory requirements in terms of safety.
