At the first-edition MPS Label Awards held September 25 during Labelexpo Europe 2019, German printer InForm Etiketten was announced as the Gold Award winner. Their Snow White Gin label was selected for its exceptional print quality and original design.

To commemorate printing excellence of unique label applications, MPS invited customers to submit their finest labels printed on their MPS presses for a chance to win an award. A total of 32 nominated labels were received from MPS customers around the world.

A selection of winners in different categories was made by an independent jury consisting of Dirk Goethals (Business Unit & Sales Manager of Athena Graphics), Gregory Bentley (Global Primary Packaging Director, Global Innovation & Technology Department of AB InBev), and Hans Poortinga (MPS Manager Technology & Expertise Centre).

Alternating label wins gold
InForm Etiketten’s Snow White Gin label, produced for Eichenberg Manufaktur GbR, was declared gold winner during the MPS Label Awards ceremony.
An image of Snow White gazing into a mirror was skillfully created using alternating front and back label technology, with a die cut mirror-shaped hole on the front label and Snow White printed on the reverse side of the back label.

About the winning label, the jury said: “This label speaks for itself. A true combination of smart design, beautifully considered and executed. The backside printing is both simple and impactful. A highly original label with great shelf-appeal.”

Dr. Benjamin Rüdt von Collenberg, COO of InForm Etiketten said: “Winning the MPS Label Award is a great achievement which makes us proud and confirms we are on the right track. I am very happy for the entire InForm Etiketten team, who performs at a high and efficient level every single day.”

In addition to a golden star-shaped award, InForm Etiketten also won a free year of the Summum Service Level Agreement for their MPS EXL-Offset press, worth €7.500.

Offset and flexo combined in one process
The award-winning Snow White Gin label was produced on an MPS EXL-Offset press that combines offset with flexo printing technologies. With this hybrid solution, the best suited technology was applied to each part of the label. Flexo was used to print on the glue-side of both the front and back label, with offset printing on the label’s front side combined with hot-foil embossing and relief varnish.

“To make this special label, the MPS rotary offset printing press is perfect because it combines high offset resolution – particularly necessary to achieve the fine wood grain and texture, together with flexographic printing for register accuracy and printing on the front and back label’s adhesive side in the same working process,” said Rüdt von Collenberg.

The Snow White Gin label was printed on ‘Martéle Blanc’ material from Avery Dennison, at a speed of 30 meters per minute.

Silver awards for ASL and Takara Pac

Also announced during the MPS Label Awards were two silver awards, presented to Takara Pac from Japan for their Nori Body Scrub label (flexo category winner) and the US location of ASL Print FX for their Unsorted Wine label (hybrid category winner).

Hans Poortinga, jury member and MPS Manager Technology & Expertise Centre said: “We are very impressed with the beautiful applications our customers are producing. All nominated labels for the MPS Label Awards had very unique features and were elegantly constructed. I congratulate our first and deserving award winners InForm Etiketten, Takara Pac and ASL Print FX, and look forward to future editions of the MPS Label Awards!”



1. The independent MPS Label Awards jury with Gregory Bentley, Global Primary Packaging Director, Global Innovation & Technology Department of AB InBev, Dirk Goethals, Business Unit & Sales Manager of Athena Graphics and Hans Poortinga of MPS with the winning Snow White Gin label
2. Snow White Gin, the winning label from InForm Etiketten
3. Dr. Benjamin Rüdt von Collenberg from InForm Etiketten with Martin Vogel, MPS representative in southern Germany, at the MPS Label Awards ceremony
4. Snow White Gin bottles accompanied by the Gold award won by InForm Etiketten