This article appeared in the March 2025 issue of Australian Printer, authored by Vista Australia’s Marcus Marchant

2024 was a great year for Vista. We saw strong and continued demand for our products and received a great response from customers to the new products that we launched.

Some of the highlights for the business last year included expanding our product offering by 20 per cent – we plan to double our offering over the next 12 months.

We invested in new machinery that will allow us to continue to innovate on behalf of customers and bring new products to life where there is a customer need. Importantly, we also reinvested in Australian production. We grew our workforce last year and made significant investments in equipment at our Derrimut facility in Victoria.

Looking at the industry more broadly, a notable highlight was the innovation that we witnessed across the sector. We want to see our fellow print businesses innovate and drive creative solutions for customers, just as we try to do each day at Vista.

However, the industry was presented with challenges as well. The challenges for us were the same as everyone else. The costs of raw materials increased as the Aussie dollar weakened against the US dollar, and as a result, we saw the emergence of the battle to keep costs competitive for customers.

This challenge still lingers till today.

Moving forward, Vista has several plans in place to boost business. In 2025, we are focused on a few key areas, including:

• Custom printed packaging, which will be a key area for us as we grow our mailer box range and double down on paper bags and other packaging solutions.
• Signage, which has been a big focus for the business. We will continue expand in this area as we see our customers asking for more. There are some great gaps we are filling in adding some great value premium offerings.
• Our continued expansion in our stickers and labels category as it was highly successful in 2024 – and customers want more.
• Sustainability, which is also another key area of focus. We are introducing an eco-friendly paper across multiple products that will elevate our eco- offering and provide a well-rounded solution for consumers wanting a more sustainable option.
• As we look to do more for our customers, quality is always top of mind so developing new ways to offer better quality for customers remains a big focus.

More broadly, when looking at growth areas, there is no uniform strategy to suit all – it differs from business to business. Our role at Vista is not to push where customers should look to grow, but to listen to feedback as to where they want to grow and develop offerings to support them.

As their custom print partner, our role is to help them maximise exposure in the market.

Looking at industry trends for 2025, I predict we will see a continued, and strong, demand for customised printing. It is of growing importance how you can tailor your brand and stand out to connect with consumers individually.

Another trend is premiumisation. Customers understand the fact that their custom print products – whether it be business cards, t-shirts, flyers, A-frames, all the way to mugs – they all represent a business. As such, we’re also seeing a growing demand for more premium products to reflect on this trend.

We are also expecting to continue to see a strong demand for packaging as consumers look to add a personal touch to how they engage with their customers. We, at Vista, are expanding in this segment and look to provide some amazing value for our customers to bring their brands to life.

We also expect to see continued demand for customised apparel. This segment has been performing well across the industry and has been put in the spotlight within our business as a strong focus, as we add ranges to our offering. We will look to ensure we can meet both individual consumers as well as large multinational business requirements in this category. Finally, my message to the industry for 2025 is this: Continue to innovate and put the customer first.

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