The Martens brewery in Bocholt (Belgium)—the second biggest brewery in Belgium—is selling its beer in PET plastic bottles. But now, in addition to directly printing onto the bottles, the company is an adding augmented reality twist.

Equipment for its PET bottle decoration was developed by filling equipment specialist KHS and its project management subsidiary NMP Systems. The printing process, which combines dedicated low-migration UV-curable inks from Agfa Graphics with the first industrial scale Direct Print Powered by KHS technology. The system prints color images at PET line speeds, creating unprecedented speed-to-market and variable image decoration capability.

Martens Beer decided to fully exploit the newest interactive technologies available to promote a special flavor of the beer for a popular Belgian TV sitcom, FC Kampioenen.

"This interactive promotion campaign could be achieved thanks to innovative changes in the brewery manufacturing site, introducing technologies from different world leading suppliers," explains Danny Dresselaerts from the Martens brewery. "Bottling beer in PET bottles and printing images of TV show characters directly on the bottle are unique