Record number of Sappi gold awards for ANZ
Drago Zoric of D&D Printing in Melbourne followed up his National Print Award with a winning Gold Award in last week’s Sappi Trading’s Australasian Finals. Zoric (pictured right with Simon Doggett , who supplied the Sappi Paper.) is one of a select band of Australian printers who this year absolutely re-asserted the region’s high level of printing expertise and quality.
Apart from Zoric’s gold for Printer’s Own Promotion; Western Australian company Scott Print won in the Packaging and Label category; Offset Alpine Printing took out the top honours in Magazines with its Australian Geographic entry, while Penfold Buscombe, the nation’s largest sheetfed printer won the General Print award for its M&C Saatchi 10 Year Book.
In addition there were ten silver and bronze awards including a bronze for a New Zealand company, the Finnish-owned Huhtamaki, which won in the Packaging and Labels category.
For Tim Shaffer, managing director of Sappi Trading in Australia, the victories were a vindication of his belief in the ability of local printers to compete with the best in the region. “The standard of entries has never been higher. I am very pleased with the manner in which the Australian industry has come back from last year when we did not win gold. The Sappi Trading division produces some of the best printing of the four geographical regions and for us to win four out of nine categories is a great achievement,” he said.
In support of printing
The Sappi Printers of the Year awards make no bones about the intention to promote printing around the world as a forward looking, high quality medium of communication. The prestigious competition has increasingly become the focus of printers who recognise that a win confers a standing not only in their own locale but around the world. More printers realise that there is no easy path to a Sappi award, but for those who put in the extra effort the results are well worthwhile.
Photo caption: the winning Sappi printers at last week's awards event at Luna Park , Sydney.
According to Hugh Martin, managing director of Sappi Trading, the competition is the premium showcase for the finest printers. “As a global market leader in the manufacture of coated fine paper, we are proud to recognise and honour these printers for their excellence in print achievement.”
He was also pleased with the efforts put in by Australian printers. “We were struck by the sheer range and quality of the work submitted all the printers in the region. The winners particularly impressed us with work that continues to demonstrate the power of print as a marketing and communications medium.”
Discovering the Best of the Best
The Sappi Printer of the Year is a complex and difficult competition. In attempting to discover and honour the best printers in the world across nine categories, the South African-based paper company has put in place stringent rules to ensure the credibility and veracity of the process. In taking a global approach the company has split up the world in four main geographical division: USA, Europe and Africa – where Sappi has paper mills – and the rest of the world, or the Sappi Trading division comprising Australasia, Asia, Central America and South America.
The competition, which has only one essential requirement – that the entry must be printed on Sappi paper – has nine categories;
- Annual reports
- Books
- Brochures
- Calendars
- Catalogues
- General Print
- Magazines
- Packaging and labels
- Printer’s own promotion.
A jury of international judges, which for the past three years has included our own Greg Grace, Fellow of the LIA, separates the wheat from the chaff in all four regions awarding gold silver and bronze in every category when compared against entries from that region. The gold winners then go on to compete in the world final.
This year Australia has four gold entries in the world final, which will be judged in Budapest in October. The winners receive one of the coveted Sappi Elephant trophies. In the five years since Australian printers became eligible to enter the competition none have won the trophy.
This is our best shot. Good luck to the gold award entrants.
Gold awards
Drago Zoric of D&D Printing in Melbourne followed up his National Print Award with a winning Gold Award in last week’s Sappi Trading’s Australasian Finals. Zoric (pictured right with Simon Doggett , who supplied the Sappi Paper.) is one of a select band of Australian printers who this year absolutely re-asserted the region’s high level of printing expertise and quality. 
The Sappi Printers of the Year awards make no bones about the intention to promote printing around the world as a forward looking, high quality medium of communication. The prestigious competition has increasingly become the focus of printers who recognise that a win confers a standing not only in their own locale but around the world. More printers realise that there is no easy path to a Sappi award, but for those who put in the extra effort the results are well worthwhile. Silver awards
Bronze awards