Avery Dennison, a global leader in labeling solutions, predicts a potential boom in the market for pressure-sensitive labeling solutions in China as Chinese consumers increasingly favor products that use brand-appealing packaging and the national labeling industry matures.

Speaking at LabelExpo Asia 2009, Dagang Li, vice president and general manager, Roll Materials China, Avery Dennison, said: “Consumers in China today want safe, convenient, high-quality products that are highly functional and, increasingly, environmentally sustainable. What is not well understood, however, is that most consumers make decisions about these product attributes in just a few seconds, while perusing the store shelves.”

Shelf-Appeal Strongly Influences Sales

Industry research showed that about 80% of Chinese consumers make their purchase decisions in the store while they shop, scanning the shelves for an average of 20 seconds or less. This means that packaging has a tremendous impact on sales.

“Packaging has become a silent salesperson, with pressure-sensitive packaging delivering a high-value premium image for consumer goods. Pressure-sensitive materials allow for more flexible packaging design and more innovative applications, and consumers associate them with higher value products,” Li said.

Some prestigious household brands are already taking advantage of pressure-sensitive labels to enhance their products’ functionality and shelf appeal:

• Kingway Beer changed the look of Kingway Draft with pressure-sensitive labels in 2003.
• Great Wall Wine Co., one of China’s largest wine producers, is transitioning all of its white wines to self-adhesive labels after using them on its high-end wines since 2008.
• Nivea revamped its bottle design last year with a curvier look and a more functional, firmer grip. The new design, with an enhanced brand image, has been well received by consumers.
• Pulmuwon, one of the biggest companies in the Korean food market, applied pressure-sensitive labels to its egg products, which created a sensational response from consumers. Since then, Pulmuwon has switched almost 30 different egg products to pressure-sensitive label packaging.

Pressure-Sensitive Industry Becomes More Professional

During its 15 years in China, Avery Dennison has participated in the development of the local label converting industry. It feels this industry is now prepared to take a substantial leap forward, becoming more global, customer-centric, and innovative.

“The industry is reaching a critical mass in China. With our good relationships with converters, we are leading the way to a more customer-centric approach to applications development. By staying close to the market, we are helping our partners and end-users adopt international best practices and create more innovative solutions for use in China and overseas,” said John Quinn, vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific Roll Materials Group, Avery Dennison.

Avery Dennison believes in expanding the local labeling market by helping participants work more efficiently. It set up the Avery Dennison Self-Adhesive Label Converting College in 2000 to provide professional training to label printers, converters and end-users. To date, it has graduated more than 2,000 students from China and the Asia Pacific region. Avery Dennison also provides free consultation services through the college, introducing new technologies, innovative applications and advanced operational knowledge to China to advance the industry as a whole.

Recent Avery Dennison innovations include:

• Re-sealable labels, tamper-evident labels and freshness-preserving valves for the food industry.
• Anti-counterfeiting technologies and packaging applications for the pharmaceutical industry.
• Eco-friendly products such as paper made from readily renewable sources including corn, bamboo, and sugar cane, as well as printed bamboo fabric labels, organic cotton woven labels, and water-dissolvable garment tags.
• New RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) solutions, such as the one adopted recently at Hong Kong Airport for baggage tracking.

Avery Dennison showcased these applications and other solutions at its booth at LabelExpo Asia 2009.

Pressure-Sensitive Market Ready for Substantial Growth

“With consumers demanding more, and an industry increasingly capable of delivering more, China’s pressure-sensitive market is ready for substantial growth. We are already seeing the market here picking up and, given the current strength of China’s retail sector, we foresee remarkable opportunities for the local pressure-sensitive industry,” Li said.

The pressure-sensitive industry is considered a leading economic indicator, changing in advance of the economy. The pressure-sensitive market in China is now slowly gaining momentum alongside economic growth that saw retail sales reach $1,153.8 billion in the first eight months of 2009, a 15.1% increase over the same period in 2008, as revealed by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Overall, retail sales are expected to reach $3.2 trillion by 2013, doubling the 2007 figure, according to BMI Forecast Modelling.

“At Avery Dennison, we will continue to steadfastly support the growth of China’s packaging industry and partner with local brands seeking to gain market share as the local, regional and global economies rebound,” said Quinn. “Our strength is that we provide solutions rather than just products, leveraging our advanced technology, deep customer knowledge and more than 70 years of global experience.”

About Avery Dennison Roll Materials

Avery Dennison Roll Materials manufactures Fasson^® self-adhesive roll labelstock. It has a dedicated regional presence in Asia Pacific, North America, South America and Europe. Roll Materials Asia Pacific carries out new research into material sciences, polymers, precision coating and printing processes at its Philip M. Neal Research Center in Kunshan, China. It also trains its partners and label printers from the region at the Self-Adhesive Converting College it established in Kunshan, providing professional training in self-adhesive label printing and converting technologies. For more information, visit www.ap.fasson.com.

About Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison is an industry leader that develops innovative identification and decorative solutions for businesses and consumers worldwide. The company’s products include pressure-sensitive labeling materials; graphics imaging media; retail apparel ticketing and branding systems; RFID inlays and tags; office products; specialty tapes; and a variety of specialized labels for automotive, industrial and durable goods applications. A FORTUNE 500 company with sales of $6.7 billion in 2008, Avery Dennison is based in Pasadena, CA, and has employees in over 60 countries. For more information, visit www.averydennison.com/en.