RollsPack and Multi-Color Australia are the overall winners of the Flexible Packaging and Label Makers Association (FPLMA) awards, which took place in Melbourne on Friday night.

RollsPack was the standout star in flexible packaging, taking home the Best in Show Award for its Pagkarra Chickpea Puffs piece, which it entered in the Flexo Wide Web, Four Colour Process category.

Rollspack also left with two gold and a silver in Flexo Narrow Web, the former being for Line and Tone, and Four Colour Process. The company won its final gold in the Flexo Wide Web, Four Colour Process category, for its White Wings Toasted Muesli submission.

Phillip Rolls, managing director, Rollspack, says, “I want to thank our key people, and acknowledge our competitors out in Australia. It is a hard gig. There is not a lot of support for Australian made, a lot of it goes overseas, and people expect us to offer the same prices.

“After the wins, I went over to DIC Inks and Kirks to say thank you for their support, and to acknowledge their part in the Best in Show award.

“It is a competitive market, people buy globally, and I have a lot of respect for our competitors, I see them as colleagues, as we have the same situation.

“For an SME, we reach out a fair bit, and try to set a journey for the future by going out there and trying to discover what is new.

“I am off to Tokyo Pack, then the UK, then exhibiting in Labelexpo Chicago, then Beijing. We are always looking at what companies are doing, what the trends are. We want to be cutting edge.

“People should look at their business plan every six months because technology changes so rapidly.

“We thought we might win one award, and were surprised to win so many. The major speakers there spoke to our passion, one thing that is always said about us.  You get that passion through the business journey, we have been through recessions, had up and downs.

“For a public company, sometimes that passion is just in the share price, we are looking at what we are doing for the future. I give ownership to everyone to run their divisions in the company.

“There is no model that we follow, just one we created because it works.

“It is pleasing that we have won best in show two years in a row, and all these awards. It is a moment in time that everyone can enjoy, but now it is back to work, and to continue on with the job.”

Awards sponsor Kirks partnered with the Best in Show entrant, with general manager John Kapiniaris noting, “We are the supporting partner for RollsPack for their graphics and imaging, including colour strategy. We supplied the Kodak plates for the job as well.

“It is a great win for RollsPack, all partners involved, and the industry itself. The quality of work they do is global-leading, and when you align yourself with partners that share and drive the vision you get those results.”

Label House won four gold, two across Flexo Label and Tags, in Line and Tone, and Wine and Spirits, and two in Offset Labels, Line and Tone, and Wine and Spirits.

They were been narrowly beaten out by Multi-Color Australia in labels, with the latter also taking the top prize.

Multi-Color won the Best in Show award with its Empirical label, which it entered in the Combination, Wine and Spirits category.

Multi-Color Australia took home four gold, one won by its Queensland team, two in its South Australia branch, with the final gold coming from Griffith. The golds were won across Label and Tags for Line and Tone, Digital Labels, in both Wine and Spirits, and All Except Wine and Spirits, and Combination Labels for Wine and Spirits.

Andrew Kohn won two gold awards, both in Flexo Wide Web, in both Line and Tone, and Four Colour Process.

Visy left with gold in the Flexo Preprint Four Colour Process category, while Wedderburn Labels also took a single gold, in Flexo Label and Tags, Four Colour Process.

Callum Bryant of Label Makers was awarded the Apprentice of the Year award, while Graeme Kirk was inducted into the FPLMA Hall of Fame, recognising his lifetime of work and accomplishments in the industry.

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