Distell brand Savanna is one of the world’s largest selling ciders and South Africa’s leading cider export, available in more than 60 countries. After 18 years the pack, which was decorated with applied ceramic labelling (ACL), required an upgrade.
Constantia Flexibles in South Africa were tasked with converting the bottle decoration to a pressure sensitive label (PSL), while maintaining the same level of tactility.
Initially, the manufacturer’s challenge was to achieve the correct tactility while maintaining a consistent roll profile, in order to accommodate high-speed applicators. After extensive testing, the technical team were able to identify a suitable tactile height, combined with high-quality visuals.
‘The move from ACL to PSL improved the overall tactility of the label,’ comments Tania Kotze, Distell’s global marketing manager. ‘The green ink also appeared to be much fresher when compared to ACL inks. Furthermore, PSL application allows the brand to be more flexible within the supply chain and in terms of promotional designs.’
The Constantia team was closely involved with the label development. A single label was proposed for the front of the bottle, but after research and development two labels were favoured. The main front label is refined with a clean finish. The small, lower base label isolates the variant name, which allows it to stand out.
Distell also tasked Constantia with migrating its Hunters brand from paper labels to PSL. Eight brands were moved to PSL without inconvenience to the products’ manufacturers.
