As of 2 July 2025, we are now closer to 2050 than 2000.
With so much having happened over the previous 25 years, it’s easy to lose sight of how far we have come as an industry. The applications for labels and packaging have grown, printing technologies have evolved, and sustainability has become an all-encompassing requirement.
As a quick call back, our business came into being in the spring of 2001.
Blast from the past
Around that time, the Nokia 3310 was the mobile phone to be seen with, allowing you to switch covers to personalise your device, send long SMS messages for the first time, and offering voice dialling of selected numbers.
On TV, Friends was in its heyday, Coronation Street (UK) and Survivor (US) dominated viewing figures, and Big Brother was broadcast for the first time. Blockbuster was still building a strong presence on the high street, while Netflix existed as a mail-order DVD rental service that was making a loss (if you can imagine that).
At this time, the label printing industry was experiencing the first signs of some of the big changes that would come over the next 25 years.
Influenced by changing consumer demands, growing product variety, and significant technological developments throughput society, the industry was racing to stay ahead.
The late 1990s saw widespread use of pressure-sensitive labels (PSL) and growing demand for shrink sleeves for full-body decoration on bottles and jars. The ability of shrink sleeves to conform to complex shapes was a novelty, but their uptake was limited by higher production costs and the need for steam or heat tunnels to apply them. On the other hand, PSL were growing in popularity due to their versatility and ease of application.
These labels were used across food, beverage, personal care, and pharmaceutical products. Predominantly printed on paper or film, they helped fuel flexo’s further growth and cement the technology’s position as the dominant label and package printing technology.
By 2000, flexo had cemented its position as a dominant printing process in the packaging industry. Advances in technology meant flexo was able to rival gravure in terms of quality and efficiency. Major industry players began acquiring printers and investing heavily in flexo operations, as evidenced at the editions Labelexpo in Europe and the US around this time.
Anilox roll technology was evolving with finer line screens and improved cell structures that improved ink transfer and print consistency. Ink formulations underwent changes, with enhanced drying inks allowing for improved pigmentation and ink transfer, and reducing problems from dot gain and bridging. UV-curable inks were an increasingly popular choice due to their fast drying times and durability. Expanded Colour Gamut (ECG) printing started to gain ground and offered a wider range of colours without the need for additional spot colours.
As already mentioned, we formally entered the market in 2001 as a challenger to incumbent flexo ink manufacturers and their “pay and spray” business model. By combining the technical skills and commercial nous of our founders Gary Seward and Dave Whelan, we quickly built a reputation as a supplier of solutions formulated to the needs of flexo printers, such as our PureTone® high-strength, single-pigment inks that have gone on to become the benchmark for high-quaity flexo label printing.
As flexo grew, so digital began to gain traction in labels and packaging. Although far from a new printing process, the formal acquisition of Indigo by HP in 2001-2 laid the groundwork for that technology’s growth over the years since. At the same time, short runs, variable data, and personalisation started to be talked about in selected circles.
Today’s solutions
Since then, the industry has continued to evolve at pace. While flexo remains the dominant print technology for labels and packaging by value and volume as of 2025, it has far from stood still. The flexo market has responded to heightened demand for efficiency and sustainability, ensured its suitability for increasingly sophisticated applications, and risen to the challenge of digital.
As a result, it is now a more precise process that is highly versatile and can achieve higher quality. While improvements in the build quality and extension of the capabilities of presses accounts for some of this change, the parts and consumables that run on them make the most impact.
Water-washable plates, enhanced anilox roll engraving, flexible dies, etc, all support the advancement of flexo. Similarly, the growing use of LED curing has allowed UV printing to transition into a process suitable for modern-day manufacturing that is aligned with the needs for efficiency and sustainability.
To allow this to happen at scale, inks have evolved. This includes dual-cure inks such as our PureTone® DC series, which can be cured using both mercury UV and UV LED. This provides operational gains and supports label printers with their transition to more sustainable printing.
Printers are also switching on to technologies that allow them to maximise their existing hardware and squeeze very last square inch of print volume off of their presses.
From the MIS/ERP software that feeds their business to automation tools and AI, all are looking for an edge in a competitive market.
The Monolox fixed anilox printing system for spot colours is a solution that boosts throughput and improves production efficiency. Based on the concept of a single set of low volume aniloxes used to print any spot colour imaginable – when paired with PureTone® inks and a bespoke mixing database – this solution simplifies complex steps in the flexo printing process and standardises operations.
Tomorrow’s world
By 2050, the label printing industry will likely have undergone further transformation.
Labels on bottles, cans, and jars will look and behave very differently compared to what we know and see today.
Driven by technological innovation, sustainability mandates, and shifting consumer expectations, packaging will connect us, communicate with us, and be customised for us like never before.
No longer just showing printed graphics, smart and interactive labels will be the norm. Labels will integrate printed electronics, NFC, and RFID technologies, and make greater use of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI). This will enable real-time interaction between brands and consumers via smartphones or smart glasses.
Scanning a label will reveal product origin, expiry status, carbon footprint, or personalised offers, all dynamically updated through Cloud platforms. This is already becoming accepted practice, as Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and Sunrise 2027 require today’s brands and retailers to evolve and adopt. By 2050, this will be the accepted norm.
While digital will continue to make inroads, flexo is likely to remain at the forefront of the label printing industry, as a highly automated, AI-enhanced process. Inks will need to be UV LED curable or perhaps water-based and engineered for minimal environmental impact. Who knows, perhaps some innovative new combination of chemistry and curing will reveal itself between now and then.
Regardless, our inks, varnishes, and coatings will continue to evolve and provide flexo label printers with solutions that work for them and empower better and more profitable business.
PureTone® and Monolox are available today and already deliver on this promise, as well as being technologies for tomorrow. They help unlock hours of machine utilisation, feed efficient throughput, and empower flexo label printers to be more productive and profitable.
This will help ensure flexo maintains its position for the next 25 years.
To discuss our solutions for today and tomorrow, visit us at Labelexpo Europe 2025 on Stand 3G93 and connect with us.
