Inkjet printing revolutionises Beck’s beer bottle designs

The reliability and performance of the Xaar 1003 printhead utilising its unique TF Technology proved instrumental in the ground-breaking, direct-to-bottle printing operation for Beck’s beer, with over 200,000 special edition bottles produced for the UK market.

Each beer bottle was printed directly with one of nine different 360-degree designs, replacing the need for a label. This significantly reduced the amount of packaging materials required, as well as minimising turnaround time, with designs being seen on shelf just weeks after their initial approval.

This innovation was a collaboration between the world’s largest brewer, AB-InBev, and leading digital decoration printing company, Dekron, using the DecoType Performance machine with Xaar 1003 printheads to decorate each bottle before filling and sealing.

“We worked closely with Xaar to develop this innovative direct-to-container printing application for Beck’s,” said Zsolt Rozsnyai, product manager for decoration at Dekron. “Xaar’s UV inkjet technology allowed us to combine effects to both maximise the print impact on the beer bottles and significantly reduce the time taken from design to the retail shelf.”

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