Closures come in all shapes and sizes – shiny, matte, 3-D embossed, silkscreen, utilitarian, wood and plastic. Some are aluminum, decorated with digital printing and metalized with a coating in the color of your choice. Closures can define a brand and target demographic, boost shelf appeal and differentiate brands from one another. With recent innovations and a bevy of options, in today’s market packaging solutions are no longer an afterthought.
Functionality matters
Closures are a major, and functional, design feature of modern packaging. They protect the spirit from spillage and contamination and are designed to show any evidence of tampering, all while providing beverage producers with space for branding and advertising. Creating a unique closure system requires expertise and resources to perfect.
Closures also provide the functionality to ward off counterfeiters. Counterfeiting is everywhere, and the numbers are staggering. According to INDICAM (Instituto di Centromarca) an anti-counterfeiting institute based in Italy, seven to nine percent of goods produced worldwide are counterfeit. The spirits industry is slightly higher, estimating that 12 percent of total manufactured products worldwide are fake.
Companies like Guala Closures Group, an industry leader in the research and development of anti-counterfeiting closures, offer closure designs with varying levels of protection, such as non-refillable valve and tamper evident systems.
Examples of closures in Guala’s portfolio:
- Devices with bridges: The closure is perforated at intervals around its circumference, forming a series of “bridges.” When the closure is unscrewed for the first time, the bridges break and leave a small plastic ring around the bottleneck. When the bottle is resealed, the small ring remains detached from the closure, proving that the container has already been opened.
- Automatic external band: This is usually a visible band external to the closure. When the closure is correctly unscrewed, the band breaks and falls off, in a single piece or two pieces depending on the model. When the bottle is resealed, a space is evident in the area where the band originally was.
- Automatic internal band: Similar to the external band but usually not visible to the consumer until the bottle is opened. When the bottle is resealed, the colored band is visible around the circumference of the closure, giving the consumer indisputable proof that the bottle has already been opened.
- Tear-off band: This device has an external band, usually with a tab to facilitate tearing. To open the bottle, the consumer has first wholly to remove the band. Once the band has been removed, the closure can be unscrewed, and the band cannot easily be replaced.
- Cap cover with tear-off band: This device in an external cap cover that fits over the non-refillable closure. To open the bottle, the consumer must first remove the cap cover, destroying it, thus providing indisputable proof that the bottle has already been opened.
Non-refillable systems
Systems with valves or internal devices are designed to make it difficult to refill a bottle for resale. The design consists of one or more valves that guarantee easy and linear pouring, but only one-way. The one-way valve controls the flow of liquid and stops the product from dripping down the neck of the bottle. For those markets which experience counterfeiters attempting to siphon spirits back into the bottle, this can be an effective deterrent.
Tecnocap Closures offers the Espritbonnet spirit closures. This sleek, elegant and sophisticated screw cap combines the functionality of a plastic cap and the appearance of metal. The three-piece design is made from a metal shell, a plastic insert and a liner. The cap shows no visible threads, has a flat top shape with a fashionable appearance and is suitable for printing or embossing. The tamper-evident band is not visible, and there is a non-refillable fitment available.
New Closure Technology
Closure technology has seen a groundbreaking year in 2018.
“We’re at the forefront of two-way communication on the cloud,” said Simon Yudelevich, General Manager of Guala Closures North America. “We introduced ‘Wireless Smart Closures,’ allowing companies not only to track where their products are but communicate with the end consumer. The possibilities are endless.”
Near-Field Communications (NFC) is a revolutionary cloud-based technology that has a multitude of possibilities.
A microchip is embedded in the bottle cap, that, when activated by tapping a smartphone to the cap, will turn on communication with the distiller. The corresponding smartphone app will allow beverage producers one-on-one interaction with consumers. The NFC system can also locate a bottle in a warehouse anywhere in the world, allowing better warehousing and dispatching to stores. It will provide authenticity certification to the consumer, and can tell the supplier if the bottle is opened. It will even allow producers to offer reviews of their product.
The NFC transcends industries; Guala believes that not only will distillers benefit, but olive oil producers and wineries as well. Wineries may use this technology to communicate with wine club members, VIPs and the general consumer. They will be able to disclose details about the grapes, the vineyards they come from, temperature, what happened during that vintage and more. Everything is stored in the cloud, allowing the possibility of immediate changes in customer relations.
Electro Magnetic Forming
Recently Guala Closures North America has incorporated a ground-breaking new piece of technology into their aluminum closures. They now have the potential to make these closures in almost any shape. Using Imagic or “Electromagnetic Forming” (EMF), a state-of-the-art decoration technology, they can create practically any form in any size or color, including round, pyramidal and precisely decorated.
Guala achieves the effect by placing an aluminum shell over a plastic skeleton. Using EMF, the shell takes the shape of the mold to create the desired shape. High intensity pulsed magnetic fields form a conductive metal workpiece in milliseconds. The force shapes the aluminum shell so that it adheres perfectly to the inner skeleton. The finished product is resistant to and avoids denting both during the production process and transportation to the shelf.
Opéra, Luxury Collection
For luxury brands, Guala’s Opéra, 2018 Collection has also been unveiled. A combination of closures and state-of-the-art decoration techniques provide a luxury look and feel. These timeless collections of one-of-a-kind closures follow the latest trends and use a variety of different materials, such as Gravitas, a luxurious plastic that feels like metal and is cool to the touch. Other options are wood combined with metal and embossed finishes.
As a result of these new technologies, the European Aluminum Foil Association awarded Guala Closures the 2018 Alufoil Trophy. The EAFA represents companies engaged in the rolling and rewinding of alufoil and the manufacture of aluminum closures. Judges agreed that Guala’s technologies are highly innovative. “Clever and original complementary technologies have been used to bring a new dimension to the closure sector. The marketing possibilities for aluminum closures have just been greatly expanded,” the judges wrote. “We believe this can have a strong impact among designers in the highly competitive drinks industry.”
Sustainability
Today’s buzzword is sustainability, and Guala Closures has committed to social, economic and environmental areas of sustainability. They started with their Italian production facilities and later expanded to other locations. They created a six best practices program called “ComOp” representing all departments. The goal is to identify new areas where they can become more sustainable and then facilitate the implementation of different systems.
“We’re even experimenting with leather and feathers,” said Yudelevich. “In the Mexican Tequila market, we are using the unused leaves from the Agave plants and introducing 30% of the by-product into the plastic bottles. It looks really nice, feels great and you can even smell it.”
Endless Possibilities
Discover the endless possibilities of a new generation of smart closures. With the potential for more direct consumer engagement, marketers will be able to let their creative juices flow and create engaging marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness. Bottle designs will become more beautiful and unique, and counterfeiters should be checkmated. Consumers will be able to get to know the product they have purchased on a whole new level and will have the security of knowing that they are drinking a safe product that is what it says on the label.