Delicious coffee in beautiful package

Behind every beautifully printed coffee package lies a complex collaboration between designers, prepress experts and production teams. At Walki Westpak, this teamwork recently earned industry recognition.

When we see a visually appealing coffee package in the supermarket, we rarely think about the challenging task that got it there in the first place.

It starts with the art director at the advertising agency designing visually appealing packaging that conveys what the brand owners wants. But to make sure that the vision translates into packaging that works both on the printing machine and the packaging production lines, there has to be input from a host of different experts.

Being the bridge between the visual designer and what is possible on the production lines oftenfall on prepress team’s desks. Vesa Mäkilä is one of the two prepress experts at Walki Westpak, a leading manufacturer of flexible packaging in Finland and part of Walki since 2022. With over 20 years in the industry, he has developed a keen eye for spotting what kind of designs work on the printing machines and which don’t.

“The art directors’ job is to design a visually appealing packaging, but the beautiful designs are not always technically possible to execute on the production lines. The prepress team’s role is to be the middleman between the designer, our customers, i.e. brand owners in the food industry, and our production team to make sure that we land on the best possible solution”, he explains.

As Walki Westpak caters to the most cherished and well-known food brands, excellent prepress is particularly important. That is why the close cooperation also extends to the repro houses that create the colour proofs calibrated for Walki Westpak’s production lines and printers. Thanks to Walki’s commitment to making investments continuously, customers’ demands are guaranteed to be taken care of. Earlier this autumn, a two-part investment was finalised in the plant in Säkylä, Finland.

This new capacity, for which Walki Westpak has recruited more staff, is important in order to answer to the fast-moving world of food retail.

“The first part entailed a state-of-the-art flexographic printing line, able to print with both water-based and solvent-based inks. The second part is a new post-processing hall, which improves workflow and material logistics”, says Production Manager Joonas Sinkkonen.

“Food trends travel fast in today’s world, and brand owners expect quick responsiveness. We want to be able to deliver very swiftly”, says Sinkkonen.

And sometimes deliveries can be made within a few days, if the customer’s situation calls for it. This is made possible by the fact that everyone at Walki Westpak is working seamlessly across the value chain.

Walki Westpak’s prepress team sometimes communicates directly with the visual designer.

“Ideally, I want to be involved already in the design phase to help uncover what is possible so that we get the result we are aiming for. In this way, we can double-check that the art director’s vision is feasible right from the start”, says Mäkilä.

That was indeed the case with Meira’s Segafredo awarded coffee package. Meira produces coffee right in the heart of Helsinki, and won the first price in the prestigious Flexo Tech International Print & Innovation Awards. FlexoTech is a publishing house that organises an annual competition for the best works and innovation in flexible packaging. The packaging was designed by Marika Perätalo, with whom Mäkilä worked closely with right from the start, and the repro was done by Marvaco.

“This successful project shows the value of great collaboration between the designer, the repro house, the brand owner, our prepress and production teams”, says Sinkkonen.

Coffee lovers can now enjoy what is on the package as much as what is inside.