Strand Paper & Board is a specialty merchant based in Yorkshire, UK, who has an interesting approach to the market. They match a paper machine to a brand owner’s requirements. We talked to their business development manager Ian Mackay.
You are trading under the name of Strand Paper & Board in the UK but do not represent the usual paper merchant. How would you describe your core business /activities?
Strand Paper was established in 1989 by our current MD/Owner Mr Julian Jackson. Over the past 28 years the business has focused on speciality paper and board products in markets such as greetings cards and envelope conversion, combined with an ability to source bespoke speciality products for various end use applications. Our focus is not necessarily to offer branded product but to find a paper machine that best fits the end users’ requirements.
In 2010 we rebranded as Strand Paper & Board to better reflect what we were offering as a business. In addition to this, we saw a step change in how speciality materials were being used within the premium/luxury packaging market, in particular the Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey markets but also food, tobacco and health & beauty applications. Brand holders began looking for ‘shelf appeal’, with many of the brands seeking out what would make them stand out against the competition regarding primary and secondary packaging.
Given Strand Paper’s background in supplying speciality paper and board products we found the transition less complicated and many of the grades we offered could naturally fit into these new emerging trends/markets.
Today in 2017, we continue to supply product into our core markets but are also now covering a wide range of products that are aimed at labels (wet-glue/self-adhesive), tube and box wrap liners, metalized paper and board, rigid boxes (greyboard), and over the past couple of years, developing a new product area (with the help of KAPAG...) of “pre-laminated” board for spirits carton application.
We are also exporting some of our product to countries such as France, Benelux, Italy and Turkey.
You are Scottish and have a passion for whisky but these are surely not the only prerequisites that make Strand Paper & Board successful in this market. Why do customers come to you for the packaging material of this premium spirit?
It certainly helps speaking the local dialect and drinking the stuff…. However in all seriousness over the past 5-6 years, through our creative paper solutions approach, we have developed an ‘anything is possible’ approach to the market.
Working in conjunction with brand holders, designers, converters and printers we have developed a reputation as a business who can deliver cost effective solutions on both new and redesign projects.
We’ve been fortunate to be able to develop some amazing bespoke products over the past few years with various brand holders/designers and converters from inception to completion scenario. This has helped give an insight into market trends and new products that might be of interest to them.
What is really interesting for me, we are now seeing not only whiskey/whisky pushing the boundary on packaging design concepts but also applications linked to gin, vodka, cognac, sparkling wine, and recently, we’ve been involved with our first project in France with one of the leading champagne houses.
The popularity of whisky/whiskey is constantly growing, leading to new flavours and resulting in new brands from non-traditional whiskey producing countries, such as Italy, Sweden, New Zealand and China. How do the UK brand owners react to this trend in terms of packaging their premium drinks?
Personally I believe the Scotch whisky market welcome these newcomers to the “world of whisky”. It shows clear evidence regarding the demand globally for whiskey/whisky.
Since 2013, there have been 15 new distilleries opened up with a further 9 projects in the pipeline in Scotland alone. In addition to this we’ve seen a revival in other key whisky markets such as North America, Ireland and Japan.
There are three key areas in terms of UK packaging trends:
The rise of rigid boxes – Many of the leading premium Scotch Blended Whisky/Single Malts (18yrs +) have changed from using traditional cartons to use of rigid boxes.
Rigid boxes offer the end product a more premium look/feel, whilst at the same time give the brand holder the desired shelf appeal. Volumes offered in this area allow for a change from carton to rigid boxes.
Board to board to pre-laminated board – If you look back 15 years ago many whisky/spirit brands would have been presented in single ply 700mic carton or not at all. Since 2010 the spirits industry, whether that be whisky, gin, cognac or champagne has seen a tremendous increase in new brands and brand extensions.
As a result, the production run length is not as big as before and combined with more complex print/finishing designs for the end application being used. Therefore, we have seen brand holders and printers increasingly use board to board construction.
In the past 18 to 24 months, to maintain an ever increasing demand and service level, we are witnessing a change from board to board lamination to increasing use of “pre-laminated” board for use within the wine and spirits sector.
Strand Paper, in partnership with KAPAG, are helping lead this change through introduction of coated, uncoated and silver metalized pre-laminated boards in the wine and spirits market.
New start-up distilleries – This is one of the most interesting areas. Many new start-up companies struggle to compete with larger brand holders when it comes to secondary packaging.
As a business, Strand Paper have focussed on this area to make some of the products we offer more accessible to the market place, through a combination of local stocking and lower minimum order quantities. Growth trends on this are very encouraging!
You expressed earlier that Strand Paper’s focus lies on finding the right paper machine or converter that best fits the end users’ requirements. Can you give a recent example whereby you have succeeded in fulfilling your customers’ demands?
From a brand protection/security viewpoint, in partnership with speciality paper marker Favini S.r.l, we are taking the bold step of launching a new paper-based material for protecting brands against counterfeiting: “Mont Blanc Secure-Zap”, an engineered uncoated SBB board contains tagging that reacts to a portable reader emitting a sound at the point of contact. This allows the brand ambassador to check if the product on the shelf is a genuine article. The board is perfect in terms of the area of brand protection, in particular for carton box design.
Another new product responding to the requirement of ‘shelf appeal’, in partnership with Italian speciality paper converter ICMA, is our new “Woods” collection, imitating the beautiful wood grains of trees. The ICMA Woods series is available in various paper and board weights and many natural colours. It addresses the luxury brands’ request for naturalness while offering a touch of artistic interpretation.
There are three key areas in terms of UK packaging trends:
The rise of rigid boxes – Many of the leading premium Scotch Blended Whisky/Single Malts (18yrs +) have changed from using traditional cartons to use of rigid boxes.
Rigid boxes offer the end product a more premium look/feel, whilst at the same time give the brand holder the desired shelf appeal. Volumes offered in this area allow for a change from carton to rigid boxes.
Board to board to pre-laminated board – If you look back 15 years ago many whisky/spirit brands would have been presented in single ply 700um carton or not at all. Since 2010 the spirits industry, whether that be whisky, gin, cognac or champagne has seen a tremendous increase in new brands and brand extensions.
As a result, the production run length is not as big as before and combined with more complex print/finishing design for the end application being used. Therefore, we have seen brand holders and printers increasingly use board to board construction.
In the past 18 to 24 months, to maintain an ever increasing demand and service level, we are witnessing a change from board to board lamination to increasing use of “pre-laminated” board for use within the wine and spirits sector.
Strand Paper, in partnership with KAPAG, are helping lead this change through introduction of coated, uncoated and silver metalized pre-laminated boards in the wine and spirits market.
New start-up distilleries – This is one of the most interesting areas. Many new start-up companies struggle to compete with larger brand holders when it comes to secondary packaging.
As a business, Strand Paper have focussed on this area to make some of the products we offer more accessible to the market place, through a combination of local stocking and lower minimum order quantities. Growth trends on this are very encouraging!
You expressed earlier that Strand Paper’s focus lies on finding the right paper machine or converter that best fits the end users’ requirements. Can you give a recent example whereby you have succeeded in fulfilling your customers’ demands?
From a brand protection/security viewpoint, in partnership with speciality paper marker Favini S.r.l, we are taking the bold step of launching a new paper-based material for protecting brands against counterfeiting: “Mont Blanc Secure-Zap”, an engineered uncoated SBB board contains tagging that reacts to a portable reader emitting a sound at the point of contact. This allows the brand ambassador to check if the product on the shelf is a genuine article. The board is perfect in terms of the area of brand protection, in particular for carton box design.
Another new product responding to the requirement of ‘shelf appeal’, in partnership with Italian speciality paper converter ICMA, is our new “Woods” collection, imitating the beautiful wood grains of trees. The ICMA Woods series is available in various paper and board weights and many natural colours. It addresses the luxury brands’ request for naturalness while offering a touch of artistic Interpretation.