Hubergroup launches water-based inks and varnishes for direct food contact

Whether it is elegant touches for premium chocolates, playful elements for children’s snacks, or bold branding on takeaway boxes, Hydro-X Contact offers maximum design flexibility and brilliant print quality across every surface. At the same time, it supports recyclability and contributes to more sustainable packaging solutions.

With Hydro-X Contact, hubergroup adds a powerful new dimension to its Hydro-X system. Optimized for flexographic printing on central impression and stack presses, Hydro-X Contact integrates easily into existing press workflows – fast, efficient, and consistent.

Designed for tomorrow’s packaging – safe, smart, sustainable

Hydro-X Contact also plays a pivotal role in the transition from film-based to paper-based packaging – both in terms of functionality and design. By eliminating the need for additional plastic barriers in certain applications, it simplifies packaging structures and frees up more printable space for bold visuals, branding, and creative storytelling.

Together with hubergroup’s wider range of sustainable technologies – including barriers against grease, water, vapor, and oxygen, as well as heat-sealable overprint varnishes – Hydro-X Contact helps unlock packaging concepts that are both highly functional and recyclable. Water-based printing inks and varnishes such as Hydro-X can reduce VOC emissions, promote recyclability and thus support the transition to a circular economy for packaging.

“Hydro-X Contact combines food safety standards with practical advantages for printers – it is easy to process, with excellent colour appearance and reliable results,” says André Garber, Head of Business Development Water Based Systems & UV Coatings at hubergroup. “It is also a future-proof solution that aligns perfectly with evolving EU packaging regulations.”

More space for creativity

“Hydro-X Contact is a real game-changer for printers, enabling them to offer packaging solutions that surprise and delight. From unique interior prints to bold design accents, it opens up entirely new ways to differentiate products on the shelf and enhance the unboxing moment,” adds Alessandro Sabbatini, Product Manager Hydro-X at hubergroup.