Tetra Pak has reported an unexpected jump in net sales to €8.95bn – an increase of 1.2 per cent over 2008 – driven by double digit growth in South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Sahara Africa.

Toppan Printing plans to cut more than ¥100bn (A$1.2bn) in costs over three years to keep expenses in line with the declining prices of its printed materials and electronic components, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Peter Eaton, co-founder of Starleaton Digital Solutions, a supplier to Australia’s wide-format signage and display market, was in Bangkok recently to attend Kodak Asia-Pacific’s annual dealer conference and has received the number one award as Best Partner for the whole region.

In recent weeks there have a number of press events announcing new products to be seen at the forthcoming Ipex exhibition in May. The following is a summary of announcements from Atlantic Zeiser, EskoArtwork and Kodak. In following weeks I will also be covering announcements from HP and Xeikon.

Digital offset supplier Presstek says it will demonstrate its new 75DI press at Ipex in May. The company says the new press will deliver the same level of quality as its 52DI press, but in a larger format size and with the ability to add additional print towers with inline coating.

Inca Digital has launched its own awards to recognise outstanding printing on Inca machines, which have been created to coincide with the company’s 10th anniversary.

Paper industry information provider RISI has announced plans for their 2010 Asian pulp and paper industry conference. The 11th Asian Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference is set to take place June 7-9 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai.

Fujifilm has launched what it claims is the world's first anti-counterfeit label which supports full colour images. The ForgeGuard system regulates light wavelengths on the nano-optic level, so those with special viewers can see hidden full-colour images.

At Ipex, Konica Minolta will highlight its bizhub PRO C6501 series with a focus on colour quality as well as the bizhub PRO 1200 series with a focus on its black and white performance.

Pentawards organisers have announced the composition of an international jury, composed of designers and marketing specialists, to judge the packaging design competition, devoted to packaging design.