European printers sweep the Sappi Awards

Offset Alpine fails to capture one of the prized elephant trophies in the final of the prestigious worldwide printing competition in Boston.

 

The much-fancied Bob Armstrong magazine printed in Sydney was favoured to break the drought for Australian/NZ printers in the Sappi Printers of the Year Awards. It was pipped at the post by a strong European entry, part of a winning spree that saw six of the nine world titles go to European printers.

Tony Bristow, Offset Alpine operations manager, was philosophical about the result, commenting that the Australian entry was a run of press commercial printing job with inline coating, while other entries were obviously prize-driven. "You could see the better result, " he said. "The best entry won."

The highly-regarded Sappi Printers of the Year Awards were announced at a gala event in Boston. The Offset Alpine entry was the only one from our part of the world, but the Trading Region (in which we are included) won a prize for the Mexican entry Andrea Edición Especial 2007.

A notable feature of this year's awards is the success enjoyed by Italian company, Fontegrafica, which won two Elephant trophies in the general print and printer's own promotion categories. This takes to four the number of awards the company has won over the years - truly the best printer in the world.

Tim Schafer, managing director Sappi Australia is encouraging local printers not to give up but to redouble their efforts for next year. The only stipulation is the work must be produiced using Sappi Paper. Entry details can be obtained from CPI and K W Doggetts.

Despite missing out on a Sappi Elephant trophy the Australian contingent in Boston found time to say "Cheers" at the famous bar. Left to right: Tony and Edith Bristow, Kerry Cassell, Bev Schafer, Bernard Cassell and Tim Schafer.