NZ Dairy Winter 2021

| 31 nz dairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Bella Vacca Jerseys Ascent Print is a specialist glassware, bottle and ceramic print company. They print bottles for milk companies, wineries, and spirits companies, among others, many of which are small boutique companies whose volume requirement are below the minimums for o shore printing. “That’s the niche that Ascent Print now base our business around, “explains owner John Woodyear-Smith. “We also print glassware for bars, restaurants, pubs and clubs as well as candles and jars. On the ceramic side we print a variety of items including plates and co ee cups but glassware and bottles are the biggest part of our business.” When they started back in 1996 they used to import co ee mugs and print them for companies running promotional campaigns, but in 2012 they did a 180 to change their focus more towards hospitality which evolved into the glassware and bottle printing business. “We’ve now bought specialized equipment that no-one else in New Zealand has,” says John, “In order to do the unique boutique branding that a lot of the companies are now wanting.” Milk companies are now a large and increasing part of the bottle-printing side of the business. When John looked back on the irst print job they did for Bella Boutique companies a niche market Vacca organic milk bottles he was surprised at how small it was. “We’ve been printing their bottles for four or ive years now. They started very small with a irst run of only 40 bottles,” says John, amazed. “Now we’re doing orders in the thousands on a regular basis, and we have recently started printing their trim milk and cream as well. We have a very labour intensive process but that’s how we get the durability on the bottles.” Those bottles are a testament to the work at Ascent Print who bring their A game to every job they take on. “It’s a comprehensive manufacturing process for them as an industry because of the need for durability. If the bottles are being used at the farm-gate we know they’ll be having multiple washes and the colour has to be durable enough to last the distance. It took us a long time in the early stages to re ine the process for this application but we’ve got our ink and print systems extremely robust now,” says John. John’s proud of his company’s attitude to any job, no matter how challenging. “We’re a very small company with only ive of us and we have a lot of experience of di erent sides of printing across the board. We approach jobs from a “How can we do that?” point of view, and we try methods and techniques until we ind a solution that works for our clients.” 09 570 1865 | sales@ascentprint.co.nz 12D Homestead Dr, Stonefields, Auckland BOTTLES | GLASSWARE | CERAMICS Proudly supporting Bella Vacca Jerseys Photos: Jody milks the Jersey herd while Gavin, Jackson and Bella check on the cows. Insert: Beautiful cow milk. Talk to us about all your Farm & Building Supplies 8-16 SHI Kawakawa 0800 185 500 • 09 404 0043 kawakawafarmcentre@xtra.co.nz kawakawafarmcentre@xtra.co.nz STOCKFEED TO POLE SHEDS Farm& Kawakawa Proud supporters of Bella Vacca Jerseys Ltd Covering Northland Freephone 0800 696693 Maintenance, upgrades and complete installations Water supply and all pump and equipment servicing On site welding and repairs Complete daily shed solutions Dairy shed systems and programming