Holographic Tapes Aid In Anti-Counterfeiting
European Label Market Prepares For Upswing BY GREG KISHBAUGH
Filtrona Tapes has developed a new holo- graphic tape solution called Prism, part of the company’s Supastrip range of tear tapes. The root of the idea stemmed from listen- ing to what converters, brands, and consum- ers want from packaging, said the company. And trends show there is an increased de- mand for holographic and metallized content around the world. Holographic materials bring more aesthet- ic benefits to the table than simple aesthetic benefits and offer many security benefits that can be used to protect a brand’s image and deter counterfeiters. This is hugely important in today’s market, as some estimates indicate as many as 10 per- cent of all branded goods may be counterfeit. The global trade in fakes is now worth $600 billion every year, dwarfing many legitimate industries and around 80 percent of consum-
In the fourth quarter of 2023, labelstock demand in Europe increased by 2.1 percent compared to the same quarter in 2022. This was the first increase after four quarters of double-digit decline that started in Q4 2022, as the toxic mix of subsequent post-Covid excess demand, raw materials shortages, stockpiling, supply chain disruptions, cost increas-
es and economic decline hit hard on the label industry throughout the year 2023. After first signs of a slowing of the decline emerged in the summer of 2023, the industry is set for continued recovery in 2024. Compared to 2022, European consumption of self-adhesive label materials decreased by 25.8 percent, the sharpest decline in a single year recorded since FINAT started the collection of statistics in 2003. According to the latest FINAT Radar published in February, the pat- tern of decline in labelstock consumption was similar across major end- use segments including food, beverages, and health and beauty care, all sectors that showed promising signs of recovery in the final quarter of 2023. The decline of European labelstock demand was more prominent and prolonged than outside Europe and compared to other sectors in the labeling and packaging domain. One important explanation is the excessive stockpiling effect that was triggered by the prolonged paper industry strike in Q1 2022, resulting in battle for raw materials (nota- bly paper-based release liners and label facestock materials) and lead times of 3-5 months. When raw materials availability finally returned
ers are estimated to have come into contact with fake goods, whether knowingly or not. Nearly half of Gen Z consumers – now on the brink of becoming the world’s leading spending power – say they have lost trust in a brand after buying a counterfeit, while 27 percent demand that brands take more effec- tive action on the issue. Supastrip Prism is a holographic tear tape, designed to combine the aesthetic and security benefits of holo- CONTINUED ON PAGE 36
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April 1, 2024
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