Inkjet & Digital Printing
HelloFresh and Thimm as first movers – a success for digital
Tuesday 15. August 2017 - An unprecedented level of individualisation and customisation, completely new opportunities for brand loyalty along with dynamic processes and high flexibility are some of the service benefits now offered by Thimm in its business division Christiansen Print with the first digital HP PageWide T1100S web press in Germany.
Soon after the system was officially inaugurated in April at the Ilsenburg site the first order arrived from HelloFresh, the innovative recipe box supplier, for its summer campaign “Grill-Box”. Seasonality, sophisticated design and agility are paramount.
With the motto “we not only grill, we celebrate taste” in May the recipe box supplier launched its HelloFresh Grill-Box, a seasonal product for the summer months. Until September there are various 3-course barbecue menus on offer for two or four people which are shipped directly to the consumer. The packaging is therefore the first impression the customer has of the product and it must convey the desire for summer, barbecues as well as fresh and healthy food. This means that both the HelloFresh products themselves and also the brand image of the company have to be transported. The particular requirement here was that due to the time-limited campaign, the packaging had to look very different from the existing HelloFresh boxes.
To achieve this, a high-impact and high-quality print image was developed and produced as the very first order on the digital printing system in Ilsenburg. The result demonstrated the huge potential of digital printing technology. As the Grill-Box, which is available in two sizes, is a seasonal product with an accordingly shorter lifecycle and lower print runs, the digital printing procedure is considerably more economic than traditional printing processes. Any upfront costs, such as for printing plates, are consigned to the past. Furthermore, the technology makes it possible to adapt flexibly to the customers ordering process. In parallel, there is a wider choice of colours which deliver first-class print quality and the high standards of the print image, which combines both photo-realistic and schematic illustrations, are fulfilled. The result is an impactful brand presentation that is very cost-effective as well as fast and flexible to implement.
Nils Herrmann, Vice President Operations at HelloFresh Germany, on the successful collaboration with Thimm: “Inspiration, freshness and quality are not only to be found inside the box in this project but are also on display when consumers first see the high-quality print images on the packaging. Thanks to the digital printing technology, unique in Germany, and the use of food-safe inks, we had a lot of scope in our packaging designs by increasing the customisation of our box designs and creating them exactly how we wanted. Our customers feedback on the HelloFresh Grill-Box has been very positive – both on the content and on the attractive packaging.”
The joint development of something new and being a first mover is what makes the collaboration between HelloFresh and Thimm stand out.