Sz. Variáns Shapes the Packaging of the Future

Debrecen-based Sz. Variáns Ltd., which has been manufacturing high added-value, premium boxes, printed products and paper-based packaging materials since 1994, has multiplied its turnover and increased its profitability by more than 60% over the past decade, the company announced in a press release.

The dynamically developing Hungarian family business, which now employs 75 people and 100 workers with changed working abilities, has a turnover of nearly HUF 2 billion.

With the support of the Sándor Demján Program, the company will commission a new Heidelberg printing machine using UV technology by the end of the year, which will enable the wider production of premium packaging from January 2026. The innovative equipment is suitable for complex printing tasks, including the printing of packaging materials made from metal-coated raw materials, and also enables the company to produce closed-surface paper and plastic sheets, which previously required the use of subcontractors.

The program is financing 29% of Sz. Variáns' total investment cost of HUF 660 million, or nearly HUF 200 million, while the company is providing the remainder from other sources.

Based in Debrecen, E Hungary, the company was the first in the country to introduce micro-corrugated natural and colored corrugated cardboard packaging and offers a full range of services from design and graphic preparation to printing, surface finishing, and packaging. Just four years after its establishment, it was already supplying 54 IKEA stores with one million micro-corrugated oval boxes per year.

Over the past decade, Sz. Variáns has multiplied its turnover and increased its profitability by more than 60%. Behind this dynamic growth lies a conscious marketing and PR strategy, regular participation in international exhibitions, professional innovation, and significant industrialization, with more than one billion forints worth of equipment purchased over the past ten years.

In addition, over the past decade, the company has focused on eliminating sources of loss in production, which can be achieved most effectively with the help and application of the LEAN approach introduced seven years ago.

Today, the company produces more than ten million premium and luxury packaging items annually at its 4,500 m² site, operating more than 30 high-tech machines.

Industry 4.0-based digitalization and advanced surface finishing technologies – lacquering and gilding – ensure the outstanding quality of the products, reinforcing the company's leading position in the market.