Elite printing: sharper details and richer colours for your packaging

On a busy shelf, people choose in a matter of seconds. In those few moments, your package must be easy to read, visually appealing, and aligned with what your brand stands for.

Elite printing is our flexographic printing process, designed specifically for this purpose. It allows us to control detail, colour and consistency more precisely, so your packaging can communicate effectively without changing format or materials.

From next year, Elite will become our standard printing process on aseptic cartons, setting a baseline for print definition, colour control and consistency across our packaging portfolio.

What Elite printing is

Elite is our flexographic printing process for aseptic cartons, configured to deliver higher definition and more controlled colour reproduction.

It is based on the way we manage some key elements of the printing chain:

• the paperboard we print on;
• the inks;
• the printing plates (clichés);
• the anilox rollers that transfer ink to the plates.

Each material involved in this process is sourced from carefully selected suppliers, highly qualified and recognised in their field, ensuring a stable and reliable basis for the print quality we want to achieve.

By treating them as a single, calibrated system, Elite helps us:

• reproduce details more clearly;
• keep color transitions smoother;
• make colors more stable and predictable from run to run.

This translates into a printed result closer to the approved artwork and easier to keep consistent over time.

What you actually see on the finished package

With Elite, images are built from a finer dot structure and a more controlled screening pattern. By increasing dot lineature by more than 10%, we achieve higher print resolution. The impact is significantly superior in terms of:

• Dot reproduction: at standard lineature, the minimum reproducible dot sits around 3%; with Elite, it drops to just 1%, enabling cleaner highlights and finer tonal transitions.
• Detail and definition: small text, fine lines and gradients are reproduced with higher precision, thanks to tighter ink control.
• Colour uniformity: ink is distributed more evenly, reducing tonal variation in solid areas and mid-tones.
• Dot gain control: smaller dots combined with a finer anilox roll make dot gain more manageable and predictable across the print run.

Translating into visible results on the finished package:

• Sharper graphics - product images, fruit, ingredients and small graphic elements are more defined, even on smaller formats.
• Smoother backgrounds and gradients - fades, soft shadows and tone-on-tone areas look more even, without visible banding or sudden steps.
• More reliable brand colours - closer to your brand guidelines and more stable across different batches.
• Clearer small text - mandatory information, claims and usage instructions are easier to read, improving both quality perception and usability.

These improvements do not change the nature of the packaging, but they make every millimetre of printed surface work more effectively - delivering a noticeable step up in perceived quality, particularly on fine gradients, delicate imagery and detailed graphic elements.

Packaging as a communication tool for your brand

Your package is one of your strongest touchpoints with consumers. With Elite printing on aseptic cartons, you can use that space more efficiently to:

• make each product or flavour stand out clearly next to competitors;
• differentiate private‑label lines or brand extensions with consistent, recognisable visual cues;
• highlight origin, ingredients and functional benefits in a way that is easy to see and read;
• connect visual design (colour, imagery, typography) with the product promise inside the pack.

Good graphic design links the shape of the package with what is printed on it. Elite printing helps preserve that link from the design file to the finished pack on the production line.

From concept to industrial production

Elite printing is part of how we work with you along the entire packaging journey:

• During concept and design
  We can review early proposals and indicate where Elite can add value (for example, in designs rich in imagery or subtle tonal work).
   
• During artwork preparation
  We share practical guidelines with your designers or agencies, so files are built to print well within the constraints of aseptic carton production.
   
• At colour and proof approval
  Through controlled proofs and, if needed, test runs, we align on how key colours and images will look on the actual packaging material.
   
• In serial production
  Once the setup is defined and approved, we apply it consistently, helping to keep your packs aligned across formats, markets and time.

The aim is straightforward: translate your brand and product story into a reliable industrial solution that performs every day on the line and on the shelf.

A printing offer built around food & beverage needs

Elite printing is one part of a broader, differentiated printing portfolio that has grown from working closely with food and beverage producers and understanding category dynamics.

Combined with our range of aseptic carton shapes and packaging materials, it allows us to propose different print solutions depending on:

• the role of the product (entry, core, premium, specialised)
• the complexity of the design (from simple, bold layouts to detailed illustrations and photography)
• the required level of shelf impact and differentiation
• the balance you seek between visual performance, sustainability and cost

In short, our printing portfolio is structured around your needs and our experience in the market. Together with our packaging formats and materials, it gives you a set of options to meet your technical and regulatory requirements, while ensuring that your products are clearly visible, recognisable and appealing on busy shelves.

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