International label paper manufacturers Raflatac, which has its South African head office in Durban, hosts the annual awards in recognition of the high standard of South African wine labels in two categories, namely the Best Range and an Individual award.
According to Raflatac SA's Managing Director Ian Murray, the awards highlight and promote the technical collaboration between the brand owners, designers and label printers. He believes that South African wine labels are of a very high standard and the competition between printers for the awards was tough.
Paarl Print Labels Manager Rian Moore says: "This is a very prestigious competition and winning the Best Range Award is a feather in our cap. The level of difficulty of the labels and the quality of the printing were taken into account."
Moore says the award comes at a very opportune time for Paarl Print Labels: "We are in the process of moving into our new premises adjacent to Paarl Print and are just starting to establish ourselves as a focused wine label printer. We have recently completed the installation of our new nine colour MPS label press and are already printing Golden Kaan labels on the new press."
Since 2003, KWV and a German wine company Racke co-own Golden Kaan. KWV bottles and labels the wine in South Africa for the international market. A German design company, Artelier Reiss, designed the labels.
KWV Operations Manager Gert Heunis says: "The Golden Kaan brand made an immense impact on the international market over the past few years and it is one of the fastest growing brand names in the wine industry. Every time one of our brands wins an award like this one from Raflatac, we believe it strengthens that brand. In the case of Golden Kaan, it makes it even more desirable as a quality export product, winning field for South African wines in general."
