For a company to stay in business for 83 years, it has to continually adapt and evolve. At Innovia Films, a Cumbria, England-headquartered global supplier of in-mold label materials, metalized substrates and pressure-sensitive films, the company is doing just that.

“As innovators, we are original and creative thinkers driven by a determination to continually push current boundaries, creating new ways to develop, test and manufacture products that meet changing standards, expectations and applications,” the company, which was founded in 1933, states on its website.

“Innovia has grown as films have been introduced into pressure-sensitive labels,” says Stephen Weber, market leader for labels at Innovia Films, which employs 850 employees worldwide and has additional manufacturing locations in Australia and Belgium, sales offices in the United States, Brazil and Mexico, and offices throughout Europe and Asia. “Innovia has been there at the start of that and has grown with it, and is now a market leader.”

In April, Innovia announced that it had agreed to sell its cellulose film business, Cellophane, to Futamura Chemical Co. in order to further focus on and invest in the biaxially oriented polypropylene films business. The deal was completed in June, and terms were not disclosed.

“The BOPP business was – and now is – the larger part of the Innovia Films business,” Weber says. “The Cellophane films, that market has been declining over many, many years as it’s been replaced by polypropylene films amongst others.”

Today, the company offers a range of coated and uncoated BOPP specialty films for labeling applications and has a longstanding reputation as a market leader in pressure-sensitive labels, Weber explains.

Innovia’s trademarked Rayoface NB films, for example, are designed to work with company partner Ravenswood Packaging’s Nobac label dispensers. The linerless label applications are often used for labeling packages of meat, fish and ready meals, and can reduce label waste and weight by more than 30 percent.

“Our film labels can offer increased tear and moisture resistance, and improved branding over paperboard sleeves and standard (pressure-sensitive) labels,” says Weber, adding that film labels offer dimensional stability and conformability, durability, chemical and water resistance and high-quality graphics as opposed to paper ones.

Weber says he sees linerless labels as “a small, but growing part of the pressure-sensitive label market” due to retailers and brands wanting to reduce packaging materials, save costs, increase productivity and boost sales through enhanced shelf appeal.

“Labeling’s primary focus is … to decorate products, to be part of the brand image and carry the brand logos, designs,” Weber says. “It’s communicating with the customer what the brand is offering, so I think that’s where a lot of our developments are focused.”

Innovia’s BOPP films can also be used for lightweight, durable bags and pouches, which offer a high level of stability and durability, barrier protection from water vapor, gases, aroma and mineral oils, anti-static, easy-open options and more. The company’s flexible films, such as the trademarked Propafilm, are also used in various segments of the packaging market, such as bags, overwrap, flow wrap, VFFS and HFFS. Markets include biscuits and bakery, beverages, confectionery, dried foods, fresh produce, meat, home and personal care, among others.

The Propafilm specialty product range also offers solutions to a variety of challenges, including clear and glossy films, barrier films, high-speed films and shrink-tightening films.

This past September, Innovia featured a number of its labeling applications at the 2016 Labelexpo Americas in Rosemont, Illinois, such as pressure-sensitive label films with oxygen- and water-vapor barrier that helps maintain food freshness when used for reclosable packs, and new digitally printable films for in-mold applications.

“Our product range is focused on delivering market-leading performance, value and ease of use throughout the value chain,” Weber says. “Brands will receive labels that maximize and showcase their products. Converters will receive materials that work through their processes super efficiently time after time. Using Innovia Film’s label substrates, you can be assured of maximum performance for your products.”

Innovia Films
www.innoviafilms.com