Limited-edition beer cans and packaging mimic the unique eye and saddle patches of killer whales Keywords: beer cans, beer packaging, British Columbia companies, Canadian beer, craft breweries, folding cartons, Great Little Box Company, killer whales, One Twenty Three West, orcas, packaging, Vancouver Island, Vancouver Island Brewing, Victoria Gaitskell, killer whale markings, whale watching, whales

1. PM40065710
PRINTACTION
PRINTACTION.COM / NOVEMBER 2019 / $7.50
CANADA’S PRINTING AND IMAGING MAGAZINE
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TM
A DIVISION OF THE MPI PRINT GROUP
LARGE FORMAT
PRINTING
LARGE FORMAT
PRINTING
I N T R O D U C I N G
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- heatset web -
- digital - Scodix -
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www.delphaxsolutions.com
+1-855-404-0026
Introducing the Elan 500HD
Asia Pulp & Paper Canada (APP)
The Industry’s Most Extensive Paper Portfolio
• Coated Text and Cover
• Uncoated Offset and Opaque
• Office /Bond and Digital Paper
• Packaging Grades & Custom
Sheeted Board Products
www.appcanada.com/sales@appcanada.com
+1 905 450-2100 +1 800-446-3336
Asia Pulp & Paper Canada (APP)
The Industry’s Most Extensive Paper Portfolio
• Coated Text and Cover
• Uncoated Offset and Opaque
• Office /Bond and Digital Paper
• Packaging Grades & Custom
Sheeted Board Products
www.appcanada.com/sales@appcanada.com
+1 905 450-2100 +1 800-446-3336
Celebrating 20 years in Canada
PLUS
KILLER
PACKAGING
Limited-edition beer cans and packaging mimic
the unique eye and saddle patches of killer whales P.16
Leadership
Print executives share how
they stay successful P.14
Spotlight
Ward Stewart, Director of
Production Operation,
StickerYou P.26

2. 16 PRINTACTION · November 2019 PRINTACTION.COM
Limited-edition cans and
packaging mimic the unique
eye and saddle patches of
killer whales
By Victoria Gaitskell V
ancouver Island Brew-
ing of Victoria, B.C.,
recently raised greater
awareness for the
population decline of
British Columbia’s
southern resident
killer whales (SRKW)
and its own company
brand through an eye-catching, lim-
ited-edition promotional pack of beers.
Unlike other resident communities, the
SRKW is only one clan that consists of
three pods or family groups. Dubbed the
Pod Pack, the mix pack consisted of four
different beers, each one created in collab-
oration with a different local brewery on
Vancouver Island and named after a
specific animal inthe critically endangered
SRKW population.
The four specialty brews in the Pod
Pack are: Mystic, a dry-hopped sour beer
from Ile Sauvage Brewing named after
L-115, a male born in 2010; Deadhead, a
hazy session India pale ale from Land &
Sea Brewing named after K-27, a female
born in 1994; Ocean Sun, a double India
pale ale by White Sails Brewing named
after L-24, a female born in 1928; and
Rainshadow, a blackberry-raspberry sour
beer fromTwin City Brewing named after
K-37, a male born in 2004.
Available the last week of July in British
Columbia and Alberta until it sold out,
proceeds from sales of the Pod Pack went
towards the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s
effort to preserve the wild B.C. salmon
stocks, an important food source for killer
whales, also known as orcas.
Each Pod Pack beer is housed in a 16-oz
tall can decorated with reproductions of
the unique eye- and saddle-patch mark-
KILLER
PACKAGING
COVER
Proceeds from
sales of the Pod
Pack went towards
the Pacific Salmon
Foundation’s effort
to preserve the wild
B.C. salmon stocks,
a critical food
source for killer
whales.
PHOTOS
COURTESY
OF
ONE
TWENTY
THREE
WEST

3. 18 PRINTACTION · November 2019 PRINTACTION.COM
APP Canada is celebrating 20 years of growth and success in
a market segment that has undergone significant transforma-
tion. To mark this milestone, the company looks back at its
strategy of evolution and its ability to respond to more informed
consumer choices especially with a growing trend of moving
away from plastics. In our conversation with David Chin-Bing,
president of APP Canada, we track the company’s journey and
innovative products that will guide its future.
A BRIEF TIMELINE OF APP’S EARLY YEARS IN CANADA:
Two decades ago APP Canada, an independent subsidiary of an Asian company
operating in Canada, was established with one small location in Mississauga, two
sales offices in Montreal and Vancouver, and the strong hope that the printing industry
would respond favourably to its offering.
During the early years, the company focused on sales of coated and uncoated
Riviera paper, photocopy paper and stationery and in 2005, APP introduced its coated
paper and board products to the Canadian market.
“Twenty years ago, the industry was somewhat resistant to Asian paper, with con-
cerns over its quality and how it will affect the machines and the finished products,”
said David Chin-Bing, president of APP Canada. “But the printing industry soon real-
ized the benefits of paper from Asia and how competitive it was with North American
or European alternatives.”
In 2007, APP Canada moved to its current location on Hereford Street in Brampton
for added space to accommodate its 50-person staff and the need for a larger
warehouse for its expanding product lines that now also included Paperline photocopy
paper. The company also opened additional sales offices in Calgary, Winnipeg and
Edmonton.
“The market became more competitive with the merger of vendors and several key
acquisitions. There were also newer players, like ourselves, looking to service wide
customer segments and meet demands for faster turn- around times, online function-
ality and the desire for collaboration, ”said Chin-Bing.
ADAPTING TO NEW MARKET DYNAMICS THROUGH PRODUCT INNOVATION:
Over the next decade, APP Canada continued to reach new milestones. It received
PEFC certification, introduced thermal paper and stationery products to the market and
expanded its sales network nationwide.
The company invested in increased support for the paper packaging segments for
consumables, household items and logistics.
In 2019, APP Canada is known for far more than photocopy and printing paper.
With a looming ban on single use plastics in Canada, the company is leading the way
in innovation with the recent announcement of a completely biodegradable foopak line
of disposable cups and food containers. This year, it also announced the production of
one of the first paper straw alternatives on the market fully capable of performing as
well as its plastic alternatives.
Today’s market is also prioritizing sustainable development at the local level and
once again, the company is at the forefront. In Indonesia and China it focuses on best
practices for training, education, poverty alleviation for famers working and living
within their forests. Pay-it-forward programs integrating community engagement,
NGOs and local governments are as much a part of APP’s business strategy as the
technology invested in the paper production itself.
About Asia Pulp & Paper
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is a trade name for a group of pulp and paper manufacturing companies in
Indonesia and China. APP is responsible for delivering quality products to meet the growing global
demand for tissue, packaging and paper, with an annual combined pulp, paper, packaging product and
converting capacity of over 19 million tons per annum. On any given day, APP’s products find their
way into the hands of consumers in various branded forms from all over the world.
Ensuring supply chain integrity and commitment to the
Sustainable Roadmap Vision 2020 are crucial to APP’s
operations. Learn more about APP’s path to operational
excellence by reading our Sustainability Reports and Forest
Conservation Policy at www.asiapulppaper.com.
APP celebrates 20 years in Canada
Leads with innovation to address current market needs
Asia Pulp & Paper Canada (APP)
The Industry’s Most Extensive Paper Portfolio
• Coated Text and Cover
• Uncoated Offset and Opaque
• Office /Bond and Digit
• Packaging Grades & C
Sheeted Board Produc
www.appcanada.com/sales@app
+1 905 450-2100 +1 800-446
Asia Pulp & Paper Canada (APP)
The Industry’s Most Extensive Paper Portfolio
• Coated Text and Cover
• Uncoated Offset and Opaque
• Office /Bond and D
• Packaging Grades
Sheeted Board Pro
www.appcanada.com/sales@
+1 905 450-2100 +1 800-4
Celebrating 20 years
David Chin-Bing
PA_Oct19_APP_Advertorial_LAZ.indd 1 2019-09-19 11:28 AM
ings of the beer’s titular orca. Differ-
ences in the shape of these markings,
located above and behind an orca’s
eyes and behind its top or dorsal fin,
help researchers identify each orca
individually.
“The markings form such beauti-
ful patterns that it was a no-brainer
to use them in the package design,”
says Eric Seymour,Art Director and
Designer at OneTwentyThreeWest,
based in Vancouver, B.C., who con-
ceived and designed the Pod Pack.
He first fell in love with orcas during
frequent childhood trips with his
parents toVancouver Island and the
nearby Gulf Islands. “The first
second you see an orca is an awe-in-
spiring, life-changing experience,”
he recalls.
Westkey Graphics of Burnaby,
B.C., which produced the labels for
the cans, applied a soft-touch lamin-
ate to the labels after they were
printed on a Nilpeter flexographic
press.BobAdams,NationalAccount
Manager at Westkey, explains the
laminate gave the labels a tactile
quality that made the cans feel rub-
bery, similar to the skin of a living
marine mammal. As well, Great
Little Box Company of Richmond,
B.C., which produced the Pod Pack
cartons,worked closelywith the One
TwentyThreeWest team to create a
finish for the carton that would rep-
licate the labels.
“For a packaging project, we al-
ways do a competitive analysis up
front to make sure we are not step-
ping on any competitor’s toes and
that our packaging will stand out
from everyone else’s on the shelf,”
Seymour continues. “The dorsal fin
on top of the Pod Pack carton is a
unique feature that definitely makes
it stand out.” He recounts that one
of the biggest challenges was to en-
sure the structural integrity of the
carton.
Shari Guest, Packaging Specialist
– Folding Carton at Great Little Box
Company notes that figuring out
how to shape the fin to mimic the
orca’s anatomy while also being a
functional closure was a challenge
that required multiple mock-ups
andtests.Finding a suitable solution,
Seymour explains, took at least four
or five trial runs of walking around
the office carrying a mock-up carton
full of beer cans.The earliest of these
experiments ended with the cans
dropping all over the floor.
“Vancouver Island Brewing’s
brand involves being part of and
supporting the Vancouver Island
community and lifestyle.People love
the whales and the locale and were
attracted bythe compelling storythe
Pod Pack tells,” Seymour says. Re-
search finds the SRKW population
has declined over 20 percent, from
98 orcas in 1995 to only 73 orcas in
2019, a 30-year low. Resident killer
whales are only one of three distinct
ecotypes of killer whales found in
Canadian Pacific waters and are
further subdivided into northern
and southern populations. It is not
all killer whales but only the specific
SRKW population that is endan-
gered.Historicallythese endangered
whales spend from May to October
feeding on salmon in the waterways
off the coast of British Columbia and
Washington, but scientists fear these
animals now face nutritional and
health challenges and are not re-
turning to their summer residence
because of too much vessel traffic
and sound pollution and not enough
fish.Accordingly,one dollar from the
sale of every Pod Pack was donated
to the Pacific Salmon Foundation
(PSF),a non-profitVancouver-based
charitable organization dedicated to
protecting, conserving and restoring
wild Pacific salmon and their natural
habitat in British Columbia and the
Yukon.
The goal of the Pod Pack was to
raise $20,000 for PSF, but public
support for the cause proved to be so
high, the team doubled its produc-
tion run.
“The orca is a majestic mammal
and an iconic symbol of Vancouver
Island, so it’s vitally important for us
to do what we can to keep the popu-
lationthriving. We hopethatthis Pod
Pack collaboration will not simply
raise funds, but also help raise aware-
ness for our B.C. resident killer
whales,” says Chris Bjerrisgaard,
Marketing Director of Vancouver
Island Brewing.