Enabling its customers to take innovative approaches and become more efficient and sustainable – this is at the heart of Henkel’s packaging and labeling adhesives business. Henkel’s guiding topic for this year’s drinktec, a trade show for the global beverage and liquid food industries, is “Smart labeling, smart savings – Henkel adhesives will turn your numbers around,” highlighting the impact of its technologies has on brands and production processes. The company will present its portfolio of Aquence and Technomelt adhesives. As an additional highlight, Henkel will introduce its smart packaging solutions

Labels make the difference – in more than one regard: They are “the face” of the product and carry crucial product information – printed on them or included digitally via smart labels. They have to be optimized for the storage conditions of the product. And last but not least, labels have implications for the bottling or packaging as well as the recycling process. At the key trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry, drinktec, Henkel will therefore present innovative and smart adhesive solutions for labeling of glass, plastic and metal.

In line with its message “Smart labeling, smart savings – Henkel adhesives will turn your numbers around” the company will prove the beneficial properties of its adhesives with specific figures: Depending on whether the packaging is made of glass, plastic or metal, Henkel’s clients can, for example, reduce their water consumption by up to 20%, have a PET recyclability of up to 100% due to wash-off features or can reduce their waste by up to 30% by using Henkel’s smart adhesive solutions for labeling. This figure-based approach will demonstrate the extent to which its solutions help improve efficiency and reliability of labeling operations. Additionally, it shows how they improve sustainability of packaging on the entire spectrum of machines and applicators including high-speed machines.

Smart labeling solutions Aquence XP and Technomelt series
At drinktec 2017, a special focus will be given to Henkel’s water-based Aquence XP adhesive solutions series. Its casein-free formulation offers independence from the dairy industry and its price fluctuations. The in-house polymer has been tailor-made for the Aquence XP product line. It is characterized by a unique combination of performance benefits such as superior label stability, wash ability, as well as ice and condensation water resistance. “Our customers have also reported improved cost in use compared to standard casein grades with significant savings in consumption. A further boost to resource efficiency is given through formulation stability and prolonged shelf life”, states Goran Plazonic, Market Segment Manager Labeling Adhesives Europe.

Henkel is also showcasing its powerful range of Technomelt adhesives for labeling of PET, glass and metal packaging. These hotmelts deliver superior cost-in-use and efficiency and they are trusted for reliability, quality and proven results. Technomelt EM 132-22 for PET labeling helps companies improve their sustainability as it is composed of 60% renewable materials, has a higher efficiency with a 10% higher mileage and, due to the lower application temperature, uses 15% less energy in the process. Further, it ensures the recyclability of the PET bottles, as it can be completely washed off.

Consumer goods enter the Internet-of-Things 
But at this drinktec, Henkel’s goes beyond presenting its high performance adhesive range: The company is introducing its new turn-key smart packaging solution that allows consumers to engage more directly with brands through their products.

Consumers today demand more information and functionalities from packaging. When Near Field Communication (NFC) tags are integrated into the label or packaging, they can use a NFC-capable device such as a smartphone to communicate with the product. These NFC tags can be used for a wide range of applications: customer engagement, targeted marketing, anti-counterfeiting, e-commerce, logistics and more.

In response, Henkel Smart Packaging provides a full-service program to ensure that brands keep up with this trend. Henkel aims to be the one-stop shop to connect brands to the right people and building blocks for an end-to-end NFC solution, including software platforms, analytics, and hardware components. This will enable them to take full advantage of the potential of the Internet of Things.