This summer 2021 was the end of an important productive year for everyone, difficult and delicate, between light and shadow. Certainly unforgettable, globally speaking. For us it was a fundamental year, because it marked the beginning of our journey, giving life and development to Packstyle. 

It is precisely in the name of the uniqueness of this epochal year that we think it is right to look back now and think about the challenges faced, the objectives achieved and the obstacles overcome. To celebrate the small and big victories achieved and adjust ourselves to the future with new energy and proactiveness, determined and aware of how much, from here and now, we can still create and grow.

How the story of Packstyle begins

In every field, the real innovation is not evolving according to the trends and directions already traced by the market, but rather knowing how to predict the latent needs, not yet expressed but already in nuce; being able to imagine them and therefore being able to anticipate them.

The story of Packstyle starts from the observation of a need not yet aware: the one of the wife of Robert Keane, president and CEO of the Cimpress group, of which Packstyle belongs. She was the owner of a small but flourishing craft production of cupcakes and she was looking for a flexible and customizable packaging with which to pack her cakes, but she wanted to purchase it in small quantities.

The extreme difficulty of finding the solution to this need in the existing market is the spark that starts everything: so for this reason Packstyle began.

A new need in the packaging market

From the initial input, a team was created to dedicate itself primarily to the study and analysis of players and to the possible applications of flexible packaging.

It was clear that, in 2020, there was a huge audience of small and medium-sized companies - especially in the food sector, but also in the cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, clothing and objects - that offered excellent products without being able to match a graphically customisable packaging, able to represent them at their best and make the product recognisable and appealing to the consumer.

The main reason is that, unlike large companies, small companies need to print packaging for their products in very short runs and in a short time, without giving up quality.

These requirements cannot be achieved by traditional technologies such as rotogravure or flexographic printing, which guarantee high quality results but with very long lead times and high set-up costs.Low print runs are also a requirement not only for startups and SMEs, but also for companies that need to launch test on the market; they are also perfect for limited editions and in the case of products with packaging with different and customised graphics: there are an excellent solution to give as much space as possible to the creativity of brands.

Soluzioni e partnership

The ideal, smarter and more sustainable solution for these needs is therefore identified in the innumerable possibilities offered by digital printing technologies, to be better understood and implemented thanks to the fundamental contribution of qualified and highly specialised partners.

This is how our partnership with HP Indigo started, providing the most efficient printing technology to produce packaging suitable to come into contact with food thanks to low migration inks, as well as giving the possibility to print also on large pouches with a very high quality.

The second close partnership, no less important, is with Karlville, which provides Packstyle laminating machines capable of hot rolling the materials then proceed immediately to the packaging of pouches, thanks to small and compact pouch machines characterised by fast set-up with a reduced waste of material: ideal for small print runs that often require numerous material and format changes, optimising processes and saving resources.

As far as corporate compliance is concerned, we can count on the authoritative support of the Istituto Italiano dell’Imballaggio (Italian Packaging Institute), which guarantees the absolute correctness of procedures and compliance with international standards in every action taken by Packstyle.

Packstyle first Digital Pouch Factory in Europe

We faced so many steps in this first year of life, we overcame the obstacles and achieved the victories: there are 13 employees that make up our team, which is united, motivated and optimally aligned; 4 new suppliers of accredited materials and 2 of accessories.

As for the materials, we tested more than 15 different materials to evaluate the efficiency of function and aesthetic performance: today we have 5 types of selected materials and offers - including film, paper and aluminum - two recyclable and 3 different finishes, glossy, matt and soft touch.

We have obtained two certifications, ATICELCA, which guarantees the recyclability of the paper used, and FSC, which attests that the raw materials of the paper products on which we print meet the standards of responsible forest management.

Finally, in this first year, Packstyle has reached over 250 new customers, not only in the italian market, but also in the english, french and spanish-speaking markets, confirming as the first Digital Pouch Factory in Europe.

New year, new goals

The start of a new year of activity means for us new goals to achieve and increasingly challenging challenges to face: the Packstyle team will grow significantly, with the introduction of 20 new resources in the commercial and production departments.

We aim to obtain new certifications, including that on food safety, quality, environmental and safety certification at work, while the range of flexible bags will be larger with new compostable and recycled materials.

Our growth targets for the New Year include opening up to the German market and doubling current production capacity to ensure that an ever-wider audience of high-quality customers, products and services can be assured in the shortest possible time.The last and important goal that we set for the new year, is the exceeding of 5 million turnover: a target that will be a further confirmation of how Packstyle, which started from the intuition of a latent demand in the market, is able not only to meet the needs of customers, but to overcome and anticipate them, leading to a real innovation in the flexible packaging market.