United Caps highlights breakthrough closure designs at ProPak Asia

18 Jun 2018 --- International manufacturer of caps and closures United Caps exhibited a range of “breakthrough” designs at this years ProPak Asia. The designs tap into key trends such as sustainability and digitalization and include their Nestle metallic coffee cap, greener closures and closures that prevent counterfeiting

A golden moment
“People have moments in their lives that they look back on as golden,” says Benoit Henckes, CEO of United Caps.

“It might be a seemingly impossible challenge conquered, a successful collaboration or maybe an event that touched them deeply. Companies, too, have those Golden Moments, and our creation of the new Nescafé closure was one for United Caps. We faced significant challenges, and many would have given up. But we persevered, and the result was rewarding for Nestlé and for us. At the show, we will be sharing with visitors how we were able to achieve the classy brushed metal look for the new Nescafé closure. It required a 100 percent metallic material to be wrapped around the skirt of a closure, something that had never been done before.”

Greener Closures
In collaboration with Braskem, a leading Brazilian petrochemical company, United Caps has introduced a line of greener bio-sourced plastic caps and closures made from sugar cane.

Green polyethylene begins its life as sugar cane, a renewable resource that replaces itself in a single year and is designed to have the same characteristics, quality and properties as conventional PE, sharing the same production route.

That, combined with the fact that sugar cane consumes a significant amount of carbon dioxide, gives green polyethylene a negative carbon footprint. Its use reduces greenhouse gases and it is 100 percent recyclable. “As more Asian countries look to increase environmental sustainability,” Henckes states, “we believe our greener caps and closures will receive a warm reception during the show and beyond.”

Preventing Counterfeiting
With an estimated US$460 billion in counterfeit goods worldwide, counterfeit prevention has significant economic benefits, including protection of jobs. Also, it is estimated that there are some 3,000 preventable deaths per year due to counterfeit goods. Counterfeiting can also damage a brand’s reputation since 45 percent of consumers will avoid a brand for at least two years after a bad experience and they share that bad experience on social media as well.

“At United Caps, we have developed smarter closures that feature new security technologies making it easy to identify a genuine product quickly,” Henckes explains. “This includes QR+ technology, a combination of a QR code and secure fingerprint that help brands enhance consumer confidence. This is especially effective when these technologies are printed onto a non-removable in-mould label. Brands, consumers and others in the distribution chain can quickly and easily validate whether a product is genuine using a mobile app.” United Caps has partnered with Verstraete In Mould Labels in the development of this unique approach to anti-counterfeiting. Verstraete IML, a Multi-Color company, has more than 28 years of experience in offset-printing labels on polypropylene for injection-molding, blow-molding and thermoforming.

At Propak Asia, United Caps will also demonstrate how holographic engraving integrated into a closure forms an intrinsic and irremovable security feature, providing immediate verification with no need for additional scanners or other equipment. “The added value of these easily-integrated solutions delivers increased consumer confidence and peace of mind for brands,” Henckes comments. “Counterfeiting in Asia is a significant problem, and we look forward to sharing our anti-counterfeiting innovations with show attendees.”