Business News
2008 Sappi Printers of the Year awards – 36 finalists set for Hamburg
Tuesday 08. April 2008 - The independent panel of judges of the 2008 Sappi European Printers of the Year competition has selected 36 finalists for the gala awards ceremony in Hamburg on 31 May. Sappi received 1,484 entries to the nine award categories from printers in 36 countries throughout Europe and the Middle East.
As the winner of Sappi’s ‘Be There’ contest, German printer Matthias Echelmeyer from Lechte GmbH in Emsdetten has also been invited to the gala ceremony. Mr Echelmeyer’s estimate of 1,500 entries was closest to the actual number of entries received.
The judges for this year’s awards were print and training consultant Carlos Alvarado from Mexico, technical consultant and applications engineer Hubert Justine from France; multiple European and International Printers of the Year award-winner Giuseppe Musmeci from Italy, print buyer Elaine Pooke from the United Kingdom and finishing expert Ronald Widdershoven from The Netherlands.
The quality of the entries was again very high. An increasing number used drip-off or UV spot varnish, many entries contained CD-inlays and references to websites, and some packaging projects were very complex. There is a trend towards larger calendars and a large number of entries in the Printer’s Own Promotion category showed remarkable levels of skill.
Entries for next year’s 2009 Sappi European Printers of the Year competition must be printed on, or mainly on, Sappi paper during the course of this year, with a final deadline for entries of 31 January 2009. Sappi, therefore, reminds printers to start setting aside exceptional projects for the 2009 awards. Further details of both the European and the International competitions can be found on the Sappi website at: www.sappi.com/PrintersOfTheYear.
Sappi is the worlds leading producer of coated fine paper. Its brands include Magno, HannoArt, Tempo, Quatro and Royal graphic papers, as well as Algro, Leine and Parade speciality labelling and packaging papers and boards. Customers in more than 100 countries worldwide specify these for the highest quality publishing, promotional and packaging applications. The papers are produced in mills accredited with ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and EMAS certification and Sappi is the first paper company in Europe to hold chain-of-custody certification for its entire European operations under both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes.