For a good two decades, a partner-like relationship has existed between the companies Alfa Brewery and DELBROUCK. Around one and a half years ago, Mr Harry Meens, owner of Alfa Brewery, expressed the wish to replace the crate which had been on the market since 2001 with a new one. After many discussions, meetings, technical tests, etc., the companies Alfa Brewery and DELBROUCK concluded the contract to supply the new crate at the trade fair booth of DELBROUCK during the Brau Beviale 2010 in Nuremberg. Parallel to designing and producing the tool, a large number of meetings were held regarding the design of the label. The result is a beer crate with a totally new style produced using the seamless in-mould labelling process. The Alfa crate is the perfect further development of the beverage crate for Rheinfels-Quelle (2009, presented with the Environment Award) and Apollinaris (in 2010), both products of DELBROUCK. With this novel technology, four in-mould labels are inserted in the injection moulding machine in such a way that the rounded corners of the crate have a label applied to them without any abutting edges, and the four individual labels thus assume the appearance of a single, uninterrupted all-round label. The options available to the designers are now much greater than with the classical beverage crate. The effect of beverage crates in this design is extremely striking and promotionally effective. Alfa Brewery is very satisfied with the new crate. According to the owner, the investment, which is high for a medium-sized brewery, has more than paid for itself. In addition to pleasing increases in sales, the brand has been given a new impulse and succeeded in gaining new consumers. As well as updating the crate, Alfa Brewery has also adjusted and developed the design of the crown caps, bottle labels and other aspects which support the product. The cooperation between Alfa Brewery and DELBROUCK is based on an excellent foundation, and the two companies look forward with pleasure and pride to a joint future.
Leave the “crate” behind: turn to sophisticated brand packaging. Under this slogan, DELBROUCK GmbH in Menden in conjunction with Alfa Brewery from Limburg (NL) has developed a novel, innovative process for in-mould labelling technology and now introduced it onto the market.
In principle, this involves encircling a beverage crate completely and seamlessly with a high-quality, scratch-resistant in-mould label.
A crate was developed especially for this purpose which provides a large radius at the corners to permit the decorative foil (in-mould label) to be curved perfectly.
On the basis of the experience gathered with the beverage crate introduced for the mineral spring industry (e.g. Rheinfels) in 2010, DELBROUCK has now created another technical highlight.
The investments in the new technology are not inconsiderable; work on the new crate took over one year, and the mechanical systems for high-speed series production were developed further.
The new crate’s label design was devised at Alfa, with a significant contribution being made by the owner Mr Meens. At the corners, it features a foaming beer which basically froths around the corner, thus conveying the idea of freshness and liveliness. Overall the look of the crate is extremely high-quality and modern. The effect of the colours is unusually striking in this form and stands out markedly from the competition at the POS. Naturally the new crate satisfies all the relevant requirements for internal and external logistics in the Benelux states. Great effort and care were taken to integrate all aspects relating to washing, filling, sorting and transport (stackability).
The new process opens up a wide range of new options for crate design.
In the past, only the sides and ends could be used, but now brand names and type descriptions can be written in straight lines or diagonally “round the corner”, just as required. The product and packaging designers can now set to work with totally new approaches to improving the advertising effectiveness of beverage crates. The new process offers enormous potential.
One further very important advantage concerns trademarks. The new in-mould label technology enables the crate to be protected as a three-dimensional brand and is therefore an important additional component of brand management. The path from the “boring” crate body to perfect brand design has now been smoothed.