Accraply, LLC

Séamus Lafferty, President

“ On behalf of all at Accraply, I extend sincere congratulations to Corey and the team at AWA for 50 years of stellar service to our industry.”

Sleeve labels still growing, still innovating.

With its origins traced to Japan - now over 60 years ago - the shrink sleeve label format isn’t exactly new. And yet, the levels of innovation and dynamism we see in the market today are suggestive of a technology that has anything but peaked.

Now accounting for 16.5% of the total market for labels, globally, the heat shrink sleeve label is still growing annually at rates that exceed the growth in pressure-sensitive labels, as well as the growth of the total label market, worldwide. Not only has this been the case for as long as I’ve been tracking the data, but it’s projected to continue for as far into the future as projections are being advanced.

Proven consumer appeal By any reasonable measure, the shrink sleeve label has proven its appeal to consumers.It distinguishes itself on retail shelves the world over, and has proven its value to brand-owners across all market segments where point-of-purchase decision-making is important.

As I round out my first two decades in the packaging and converting industries, and as I reflect on the extent to which the shrink sleeve has developed in its appeal and sophistication over that timeframe, I am amazed at the journey behind us, and

intrigued by the journey ahead. The shrink sleeve label that was once defined by the extent to which it allowed package designers’ imaginations to run wild with shape - and equally wild with color and graphics - has matured to a point where today we see it dress some of the most simple and classic container shapes, in muted colors, with a depth of sophistication and elegance that equally draws the eye.

Today’s shrink sleeve label contains every bit as much technical verve as high-end PS labels. Today’s shrink sleeve label packs as much punch on the virtually ‘shapeless’ craft-beer can as it ever did on the outlandishly-shaped containers that epitomized the newfound freedom of package designers of a dozen years ago.

Our Stanford brand’s launch of shrink sleeve converting equipment in the early 2000s, and our subsequent acquisition of the UK-based Graham and Sleevit brands of shrink sleeve application equipment, in 2010 and 2012 respectively, were not blind decisions. They were well-informed decisions, largely rooted in data sourced from the most reputable global source of sleeve label market insights, AWA Alexander Watson Associates.

Corey Reardon and his team at AWA have signposted our journey over the last twenty years, and have become trusted confidantes, and friends, in the process. My team and I are honored to be frequent contributors to AWA’s International Shrink Sleeve Conferences, and it is always a pleasure to welcome the AWA International Shrink Sleeve Workshop to our Minneapolis-based factory. I am also privileged to be a judge for AWA’s Annual International Sleeve Label Awards – the only sleeve-specific label awards in the industry.