Amorim debuts personalisation service for Top Series corks

In response to growing demand for personalised packaging, natural cork producer Amorim has launched what has described as a “revolutionary” new printing technology for its Top Series range of capsulated stoppers – Freedecor – enabling any design or image to appear on the stopper.

Freedecor enables any design or image to be printed on a capsulated stopper, taking an existing design and transferring it to the stopper.

“Until now, the range of design options for capsulated stoppers has been largely based on uniform or predominant colours, determined by the type of materials used, for example wood or metal, semi-precious stones, or moulded plastic,” explained Amorim.

“Complicated patterns could only be produced by painting the stopper. If a special mould was required for the stopper it could take 10-12 weeks for it to be produced. But with the new Freedecor solution any finish can be applied to the stopper, with a very fast turnaround, thus enabling limited editions on tight deadlines to be produced.”

Initially, Freedecor will be available for Amorim’s plastic topped stoppers, but it is planned to be made available for other segments with materials ranging from metal or glass in the near future.

The new service makes it easy for spirits manufacturers to produce limited edition bottle designs, extending to the stopper.

One of the earliest adopters of the technology, Windspiel Premium Dry Gin, was recently awarded a “Special Mention” in the Excellent Communications Design category of the German Design Awards – is sealed with Top Series’ pioneering “Whitetop” stopper, a capsulated cork stopper specifically designed for white spirits.

Amorim also believes there to be significant opportunities for the application of Freedocor for the premium Scotch whisky category, with leading premium whisky brands including The Glenlivet, The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, The Balvenie and Laphroaig using cork capsulated stoppers.

“Amorim TopSeries has been able to capitalize on this premiumisation trend in the whisky trade, given its in-depth knowledge of its clients’ requirements, local presence in key markets, use of more noble, ecologically-friendly materials, and its one-stop-shop approach that ensures that the stoppers’ design is tailored to the clients’ overall packaging objectives,” said Amorim.

“Given that attractive and sophisticated packaging is essential to building the market share of high-end whiskies Amorim TopSeries foresees significant further growth of its provision of stoppers to this segment, including the development of increasingly innovative solutions in order to satisfy customer demands.”