ADELPHI MASTERFIL ACQUIRES KARMELLE
Karmelle has joined the Adelphi
Group of Companies, an award-
winning, family-owned UK
manufacturer and supplier of
packaging machinery and equipment.

This strategic step reflects Adelphi’s
ongoing commitment to delivering
the very best in British engineering
and customer service.

Part of the Adelphi Group since
2007, Adelphi Masterfil designs and
manufactures high-performance
liquid filling and capping machinery,
and complete turnkey production
line management for full-scale
manufacturing. The company is best known for
its highly regarded Masterfil range
of filling machines and Mastercap
capping machines, which offer
reliability, precision engineering, and
robust performance.

Karmelle has earned a strong
reputation over the last 35 years
for precision-built machinery,
reliability, and long-standing
customer partnerships, which will
complement and enhance Adelphi’s
existing capabilities.

Karmelle’s former owners are
working closely with the Adelphi
team to ensure a seamless
transition for employees,
customers and ongoing projects,
with uninterrupted service.

Chris Wilson, Managing Director
of Adelphi Group, said: “Karmelle’s
acquisition marks a significant
milestone for the Adelphi Group.

Adelphi Masterfil and Karmelle
share a deep commitment to
UK manufacturing excellence,
engineering innovation, reliability,
and long-standing customer
partnerships. By bringing the
teams and technologies together,
Adelphi and Karmelle will offer
customers more comprehensive,
end-to-end solutions.”
REQUALIFICATION AS A STRATEGIC
OPPORTUNITY FOR SUSTAINABLE
PHARMACEUTICAL PACKAGING
Requalification is often viewed
as a critical though inconvenient
disruption in pharmaceutical
operations, essential for ensuring
product quality, consistency, and
safety. But beyond its compliance
function, this planned downtime
presents a strategic opportunity
to rethink packaging processes and
implement innovative solutions
that enhance sustainability and
efficiency, explains Ian Chapman,
Strategic Manager - Digital Coding
at Domino Printing Sciences.

Pharmaceutical companies are
facing mounting environmental
pressure. According to American
Pharmaceutical Review it is
estimated that pharmaceutical
manufacturing contributes roughly
52 million tonnes of CO 2 annually
via packaging and operations.

The implications are not only
regulatory and financial; consumer
and investor scrutiny is also driving
change. Consumers are increasingly
assessing companies’ environmental
performance and approximately
70% are willing to pay more for
sustainable packaging options.

waste and unused resources. The
use of pre-printed materials, risk-
averse stock levels, and inefficient
changeovers remains widespread.

Even worse, when regulators
change requirements or artwork
evolves, entire batches of packaging
often become obsolete overnight.

Together, these factors are driving
soaring demand for sustainable
pharmaceutical packaging, with
the market set to soar from
$92bn in 2024 to $372bn by 2034,
at a CAGR of 15%. This surge
underscores that sustainability is
no longer optional - it’s essential.

Volatility within supply chains also
adds to the challenge: pharma
manufacturing increasingly
demands agile models that support
small batch sizes and late-stage
customisation. Embracing inline
digital printing systems lets
manufacturers print on demand,
eliminating stockpiles and mitigating
wastage. For example, using blank
foils with inline digital print not
only removes the need for pre-
printed stock but also reduces
inventory complexity. Many
The challenge for pharmaceutical
manufacturing goes beyond a shift
towards sustainable packaging
materials: long-standing packaging
practices contribute to excess
16 CHP PACKER INTERNATIONAL update