WZ Packaging is a UK-based converter of flexible packaging, with a wealth of industry expertise and a rich legacy in premium aluminium-based materials. After operating in various forms since the 1930s, in 2015 the company moved to Telford, the birthplace of industry. Ever since, it has continued to expand its portfolio of products for high-profile customers with well-known brand names. Hannah Barnett spoke to Senior Business Development Manager Amanda Willepotte to learn more.
WZPackaging has been converting aluminium foil for over 50 years. This means the company is adaptable to the inevitable changes in the market and is always evolving. Producing high-quality aluminium foil-based packaging for the confectionery and dairy sectors remains the field where WZ Packaging is best known. “Aluminium foil is an extremely efficient packaging material, even a very thin layer of aluminium foil is effective in protecting the product because of its excellent barrier properties,” explained Amanda Willepotte, Senior Business Development Manager. “It means that customers can quite often cut out any secondary packaging, and about 75 per cent of the aluminium ever produced is still in use today.”
An overview
Decades of experience, including periods as part of large aluminium rolling groups l ike Alusuisse and Novelis, have equipped
WZ Packaging with technical know-how. These days, it combines that capability with agility in the marketplace and the development of new products.
The company mainly supplies the confectionery sector, converting foil for items like chocolate bars and eggs, hollow chocolate figurines, truffles, chewing gum and other similar products. It also works in dairy, and the more general food sector, including producing coated aluminium foil for ovenable food containers and pie cases.
Growth has remained steady over the last half-decade, averaging 10% per year. This is supported by the company’s strong production capacity of 400 million square metres, which allows it to supply over 4,000 tonnes in a luminium and other flexible packaging products annually. It is a leading supplier of flexible packaging for consumer products globally .
WZ Packaging is also one of few specialist converters that can print to a high standard on very thin aluminium foil and
other substrates. “We offer very highquality gravure printing,” said Ms Willepotte. “We can print up to eight colours. At our warehouse we have thousands of cylinders and 23 machines in the plant offering a range of different production systems, including printing, laminating and embossing.”
Reinvestment and innovation
One of the ways WZ Packaging stays ahead of the pack – and maintains its agile and innovative reputation – is by reinvesting 5% of company turnover into research and development. And it does so with considerable success.
“The R&D team have really gone the extra mile,” Ms Willepotte said, “and achieved the extraordi nary in ultra-thin rotogravure printing and laminating technologies. This is for the
development of our Enviro range, which we launched recently.”
The WZ Enviro Ultra-Laminates range is designed to suit products like butter wrap, cheese foil or chocolate foil. It meets most strict recycling requirements with up to 95% dominant recyclable substrate, such as paper from 10gsm or aluminium foil from five micron, combined with ultra-thin film layers of BOPP film from three micron and PET film from two micron.
“It’s quite uncommon to go as low as five micron for roto gravure printed aluminium foil, so we really are talking very thin structures,” Ms Willepotte explained. “And the whole Enviro range was developed to reduce packaging waste and minimise the materials used. These laminate structures also meet current recycling requirements because the film is so thin.”
The company has also developed various coatings in partnership with its suppliers, including ovenable, BPA-free, PVC-free and PFAS-free coatings.
“These sorts of specialised coatings are very much in demand at the moment, and a requirement in today’s marketplace,” added Ms Willepotte.
Latterly, WZ Packaging has begun moving towards low-temperature sealing lacquers, PVC free lacquers and organic ink systems. Is all this R&D a response to new regulations and legislation ? “Yes, it is,” Ms Willepotte agreed, “but it’s also more than that: the consumer now has a genuine desire for more sustainable products. There’s pressure from lots of different areas to move in a more sustainable direction and reduce packaging materials – particularly to provide materials that can be recycled.”
Within the company’s most well-known sector, confectionery, an environmental
awareness is now paramount too. “We’re grateful to work with customers who are the best in their field. From some of the niche producers, to blue-chip multinationals,” said Ms Willepotte. “And currently everyone, from the smallest player to the largest, is striving to become more sustainable. For our customers that is the key to the future. So we’ve been working in partnership with them on downgauging products and converting to more recyclable structures.”
A tangible experience
Interpack 2023 took place in May in Düsseldorf and hosted WZ Packaging as one of its exhibitors. True to form, the company brought an innovative, novel idea to the respected industry trade show.
“We made brochures and put actual product samples inside – some of which weren’t even on the market yet,” Ms Willepotte explained. “A lot of people commented on how much they liked that slightly retro approach. Everything’s so digital these days, you don’t really get things that you can touch and feel.”
The long break in industry events due to Covid also brought into focus how important trade shows like Interpack are, for networking opportunities and showcasing new products. “I do think the best thing about the show is the face-to-face contact,” said Ms Willepotte. “You can really connect with people when you talk directly to them.
That gave us the opportunity to have meetings with existing customers and bond with them again. It also gave us the chance
to meet new prospective customers and show them our products and capabilities.
“Teams meetings and the digital age are great: communication has become very convenient and easy, but we feel that nothing beats getting out there and seeing people, talking to them, and actually touching and feeling products.”
Long-term partnerships
The company values long-term relationships with both customers and suppliers, built on honesty and trust. A proactive perspective is vital when working with major blue-chip companies. “We have a can-do attitude,” Ms Willepotte explained. “We work closely with all our partners to meet their needs, as well as our own business goals. If a relationship is mutually beneficial,
then it’s much more likely to work and last longer. That’s why most of our partnerships are long term.”
Looking ahead, WZ Packaging faces two main challenges in the industry: environmental pressures and economic uncertainty. Consumers are seeking value for money, but do not want to compromise on quality or environmental responsibility.
“So we are working side-by-side with our key accounts and customers to develop packaging solutions which meet these needs,” concluded Ms Willepotte. “Things
like down gauging and using innovative functional coatings and ultra-thin lamination techniques all provide more sustainable solutions whilst also maintaining quality and managing costs.”
