85 newspaper titles, produced by 64 publishing and printing companies in 26 countries, including South Africa, have achieved membership for two years.
Once every two years since 1994, WAN-IFRA has offered newspapers worldwide an opportunity to demonstrate their colour printing excellence by organising a print-quality competition. Newspapers that succeed in qualifying for inclusion in the list of the world’s best printers can draw on this distinction to optimise their work processes, motivate their personnel, improve their standing among their readers and impress demanding advertising customers.
Participating in this year’s competition were 128 companies from all over the world. Club membership is offered to all companies that show they can produce high-quality newspapers consistently over an extended period.
Evaluation of newspapers is divided into two parts – an evaluation based on objective measurements made on a test element (WAN-IFRA Cuboid) that newspapers have to print every day of one week per month for a period of three months and a visual inspection by a jury of international newspaper experts. Participating newspapers must prove that they can consistently print in accordance with proven international quality standards and ensure that the newspaper copy is clean and free of quality defects.
With their successful participation in the competition, the companies have demonstrated that they can supply newspaper printing of outstanding quality and offer readers and advertisers high-quality products.
The Color Quality Club is more than a technical printing competition, since it offers participating companies the additional possibility to benchmark their printing quality against recognised international standards and improve it.
“INCQC 2016-18 was tougher than the previous editions of the competition. We asked newspapers to print the WAN-IFRA Cuboid test element every day of one week per month for three consecutive months, and we picked the date for evaluating the copies,” said Manfred Werfel, deputy CEO of WAN-IFRA. “Still, 64 companies have secured membership into this prestigious club. It is proof that quality continues to be a passionate area for printers and they are committed to produce high-quality products for their readers and advertisers.”
A brochure presenting the successful participants and their newspaper titles will be available at this year’s World Publishing Expo from 10 to 12 October in Vienna, Austria. More about the International Newspaper Color Quality Club and the World Publishing Expo can be found at colorqualityclub.com and worldpublishingexpo.com.
The following is a list of all the members of the Color Quality Club 2016-2018, in alphabetic order:
1. ABP Pvt Ltd, Anandabazar Patrika, The Telegraph, Barasat, Kolkata, India2. Advance Central Services Michigan, The Grand Rapids Press, Walker, US
3. Al Nisr Publishing, Gulf News, XPress, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
4. Alma Manu Oy, Kauppalehti, Tampere, Finland
5. Apple Daily Printing Limited, Apple Daily (Hong Kong), Hong Kong
6. Apple Daily Publication Development Limited, Taiwan Branch, Apple Daily (Taiwan), Taipei, Shin Wu, Taiwan
7. Aschendorff Druckzentrum GmbH & Co. KG, Westfälische Nachrichten, Münster, Germany
8. Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd, Maharashtra Times, The Times of India, Airoli, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kandivli, Sahibabad, India
9. Botnia Print Oy, Keskipohjanmaa, Kokkola, Finland
10. Brune-Mettcker Druck- und Verlags-GmbH, Wilhelmshavener Zeitung, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
11. Casa Editorial El Tiempo S.A., El Tiempo Bogotá, El Tiempo Cali, Bogotá, Colombia
12. DB Corp Ltd., Dainik Bhaskar, Indore, Jaipur, India
13. Delo d.d., Delo, Ljubljana, Slovenia
14. DeWeZet – Deister- und Weserzeitung, Verlagsges. mbH & Co. KG, Deister- und Weserzeitung, Hameln, Germany
15. Diario La Voz del Interior S.A., La Voz del Interior, Córdoba, Argentina
16. Druck Styria GmbH & Co. KG, Kleine Zeitung, Graz, Austria
17. Druckerei Konstanz GmbH, Südkurier, Konstanz, Germany
18. Druckzentrum Rhein Main GmbH & Co. KG, Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, Darmstädter Echo, Rüsselsheim, Germany
19. DZB Druckzentrum Bern AG, Berner Zeitung, Bern, Switzerland
20. DZZ Druckzentrum Zürich AG, Tages-Anzeiger, Zürich, Switzerland
21. El Colombiano S.A. & CIA. S.C.A., El Colombiano, Envigado, Colombia
22. El Telégrafo, El Telégrafo, Guayaquil, Ecuador
23. Empresa Editora El Comercio S.A., El Comercio, Lima, Peru
24. Empresa El Mercurio S.A.P., El Mercurio, Las Ultimas Noticias, Santiago, Chile
25. FAZ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt, Potsdam, Germany
26. Freiburger Druck GmbH + Co. KG, Badische Zeitung, Freiburg, Germany
27. Galadari Printing & Publishing (LLC), Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
28. Gráficos Nacionales S.A., Diario Expreso, Guayaquil, Ecuador
29. Heilbronner Stimme GmbH & Co. KG, Heilbronner Stimme, Heilbronn, Germany
30. Hindustan Media Venture Limited, Hindi Hindustan, Patna, Ranchi, India
31. HT Media Limited, Hindustan Times, Mint, Mohali, Mumbai, Noida, Greater Noida, India
32. Infoglobo Comunicação e Participações S.A., O Globo, Duque de Caxias / RJ, Brazil
33. J. Esslinger GmbH & Co. KG, Pforzheimer Zeitung, Pforzheim, Germany
34. Jagati Publications, Sakshi, Hyderabad, India
35. Jagran Prakashan Ltd, Dainik Jagran, Noida, India
36. Kasturi & Sons Ltd, The Hindu, Visakhapatnam, India
37. Kieler Zeitung GmbH & Co. Offsetdruck KG, Kieler Nachrichten, Kiel, Germany
38. Malayala Manorama Company Ltd, Malayala Manorama, Calicut, Palakkad, India
39. Masar Printing and Publishing, Al Bayan, Emarat Alyoum, Sport 360, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
40. Mediacorp Press Ltd, Today, Singapore, Singapore
41. Mittelbayerisches Druckzentrum GmbH & Co. KG, Mittelbayerische Zeitung, Regensburg, Germany
42. The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia Bhd), New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
43. Nordost-Druck GmbH & Co. KG, Nordkurier, Neubrandenburg, Germany
44. NZME, Chinese Herald, Auckland, New Zealand
45. O Estado de São Paulo, O Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
46. Paarl Coldset (Pty) Ltd, Burger Daily, Weekend Witness, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
47. Prensa Libre S.A., El Quetzaltecto, Prensa Libre, Guatemala, Guatemala
48. Presse-Druck- und Verlags-GmbH, Augsburger Allgemeine, Augsburg, Germany
49. Pressehaus Stuttgart Druck GmbH, Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany
50. Printing Partners Paal-Beringen SA, Gazet van Antwerpen, Het Nieuwsblad, Paal-Beringen, Belgium
51. Rheinpfalz Verlag und Druckerei GmbH & Co. KG, Die Rheinpfalz, Ludwigshafen, Germany
52. Ringier Print Adligenswil AG, Blick, Adligenswil, Switzerland
53. Russmedia Verlag GmbH, Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung, Vorarlberger Nachrichten, Schwarzach, Austria
54. Sakaal Media Group, Sakal, Pune, India
55. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd, Berita Harian, Lianhe Zaobao, The Straits Times, Singapore, Singapore
56. The Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co Ltd, Mathrubhumi, Kannur, Kochi, Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, India
57. The Printers (Mysore) Pvt. Ltd., Deccan Herald, Prajavani, Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, India
58. The Shizuoka Shimbun, The Shizuoka Shimbun, Shizuoka, Japan
59. Tiskara Zagreb d.o.o., Večernji list, Zagreb, Croatia
60. Turkuvaz Haberlesme ve Yayincilik A.S., Sabah, Istanbul, Turkey
61. Ungeheuer+Ulmer KG GmbH & Co., Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, Ludwigsburg, Germany
62. United Printing & Publishing, 7 Days, Al Ittihad, Al Roeya, The National, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
63. Verlag Nürnberger Presse Druckhaus Nürnberg GmbH & Co., Nürnberger Nachrichten, Nürnberger Zeitung, Nürnberg, Germany
64. V-TAB AB, VLT, Västerås, Sweden
