Leader in materials science Avery Dennison

US-based Avery Dennison is a specialist in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labelling and functional materials, delivering intelligent solutions with the utmost respect for the environment. Romana Moares reports.

LEADER IN MATERIALS SCIENCE

The original Avery company was founded in Los Angeles in 1935 by Ray Stanton Avery, the inventor of the world’s first selfadhesive label for object merchandising. Fifty-five years later, in 1990, the company merged with Dennison Manufacturing to form Avery Dennison.

Over the past eight decades, the company has grown from a single bright idea into a global Fortune 500® corporation that continues to advance quality and innovation in materials science. Today, Avery Dennison employs over 35,000 employees in more than 50 countries. In 2021, the company achieved $8.4 billion in sales.

Avery Dennison’s products include pressure-sensitive materials for labels and graphic applications; tapes and other bonding solutions for industrial, medical, and retail applications; tags, labels and embellishments for apparel; and radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions serving retail apparel and other markets.

The company’s labelling and functional materials enhance branded packaging, carry or display information that connects the physical and the digital and improve customers’ product performance. They are used in nearly every major industry worldwide, including home and personal care, apparel, e-commerce, logistics, food and grocery, pharmaceuticals and automotive. Sustainable solutions – strategic priority

Innovation focused on sustainable solutions has long been a key strategic priority of the company. In its 2030 Sustainability Goals, Avery Dennison announced that 100% of its standard products will contain recycled or renewable content by 2030. The company is also working toward a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Last year, the company intensified its focus on sustainability and development of eco-friendly materials. Innovative launches include Avery Dennison’s WB0030 wash-off adhesive that has been approved by bottle deposit systems Returpack in Sweden and Infinitum in Norway for recycling PET bottles.

The label performs like any other conventional PP label and offers resistance against water whitening as well as printing performance with TC7007 topcoat. However, the adhesive washes off in a 65 0C caustic bath and leaves no residue behind. Any adhesive that remains on the label does not reactivate at lower temperatures.

Another product, C4500, has achieved BioPreferred Certification from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture). This new hot-melt adhesive offers brands new opportunities to promote sustainable packaging to their customers by replacing petroleumderived products with renewable agricultural resources. Engi-

neered for cold temperature performance, the new adhesive is suitable for a broad range of food and beverage applications, including cold packaging, fresh meats, weigh scale, cheeses and functional beverages.

However, it is not only about new product development – Avery Dennison’s environmental activities have a far wider reach: early this year, the company launched AD Stretch, a first-in-the-labels-industry programme aimed at partnering with start-up innovators to solve key challenges and create new opportunities within sustainability, customer experience and value chains.

The programme will be launched by regional cohorts starting in Asia Pacific and Latin America, then rolling out in Europe and the US later this year. The core themes will focus on connecting consumers to brands through new experiences, creating sustainable, responsible and efficient (SRE) value chains and the development of materials and packaging 2.0.

Growing in challenging times

In addition to new product development, the company has also invested heavily in business expansion – during 2021 Avery Den-

nison deployed $1.48 billion for acquisitions. New companies acquired include Vestcom, a market-leading provider of pricing and branded labelling solutions; TexTrace, an innovator in integrated RFID products; and Rietveld, a leading full-service provider of embellishment solutions and application and printing methods for performance brands and team sports in Europe.

All through 2021, the company continued to manage a dynamic supply and demand environment and to leverage its global scale and work closely with customers and suppliers to minimize disruptions caused by materials, freight and labour availability constraints.

These efforts were reflected in outstanding financial results. Mitch Butier, Chairman, President and CEO of Avery Dennison summarised the company’s performance: “2021 marked the company’s tenth consecutive year of strong top- and bottom-line growth. We delivered 19% revenue growth on a constant currency basis and 25% adjusted earnings per share growth, while generating record free cash flow.

“Our strong performance comes at a challenging time as the global health crisis continues, supply chains are tight and significant inflationary pressures persist.

“2021 marked an important milestone for the company, as the final year of measurement for the five-year financial targets we communicated in early 2017,” he added. “I’m pleased to report that we achieved our long-term goals for this period. I want to thank our entire team for their tireless efforts to keep one another safe while still delivering for all our stakeholders.”

He further affirmed that for 2022, management expects to again deliver strong top- and bottom-line growth and is targeting continued progress toward the company’s 2025 goals. n