FROM humble beginnings in 1963, when Colpak started its flexible packaging operation with a one-colour press, to 2009 when, as a result of continuous investment in leading-edge technology, the company achieved Gold and Silver for the Best on Show in the FTASA Print Excellence Awards is cause for celebration in the Colpak ranks.

Colpak swept the board with the quality of its shrink sleeves and flexible packaging – taking Gold (Lady in Red) and Silver (Like it Lean Diced Bacon) in the Best on Show category (sponsored by Kemtek); Gold (Lady in Red), Silver (Fair Cape Spiderman Banana Flavoured Milk) and Bronze (Fair Cape Barbie Strawberry Flavoured Milk) in the Shrinkable Labels (Process) category (sponsored by Gidue/Ipex Machinery); and Gold (Like it Lean Diced Bacon) and Bronze (Enterprise Rashers) in the Flexible Packaging Wide-Web (Process) category (sponsored by Syreline Process).
According to Colpak’s business development manager, Bob Jones, much of the credit for this success must go to the founder of the Columbit group, the late Ernest Zeh (who died last year aged 98), for his foresight in recognising – and investing in – the technical benefits offered by Gidue’s UV printing technology for transparent flexible food packaging, when motivated by the Colpak management team.
This vision and investment in what was then fairly unknown technology has been vindicated; and Colpak management and staff can be proud of the results achieved in the 2009 FTASA Print Excellence Awards.
They also gratefully acknowledge the pivotal roles played by Syreline Process and the various design studios, without whose input they couldn’t have produced such spectacular results. Special mention goes to Fabienne Bain of Fab Design who provided the stunning design for the Woolworths Lady in Red shrink sleeve.

Colpack  has bought in the recent years 1 servo E-Combat 530 8 colours, 1 servo press E-Combat 370 6 colours and recently a middle web servo press Athena 730 10 colours.

(Thanks to Gill Loubser and Carla-Lee Lawrence from Packaging and Print Media South Africa for the nice article)

With sponsor Bruce Allen representing Ipex Machinery/Gidue are members of the winning Colpak team – Robert Joubert, Keith Bergset, Bob Jones, Rico Roodman and Steven Broekhuyzen (Colpak’s MD).