Guala Closures has developed MAGNEX, a closure for premium spirits that uses electromagnetic forming technology to support product protection and brand differentiation in the spirits market.
The development comes as brand owners continue to address risks linked to counterfeit and illicit alcohol. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 25% of worldwide alcohol consumption is unrecorded, meaning it is not taxed and falls outside the usual system of government control.
MAGNEX is manufactured using EMF, or electromagnetic forming, a process that applies high-velocity magnetic pulses to form aluminium directly around a mould. Guala Closures said the process enables complex geometries, micro-engravings and three-dimensional textures that cannot be reproduced through conventional aluminium forming technologies.
The company said every closure is co-designed with the brand, allowing the closure’s visual and tactile features to become part of the protection system. This approach moves the closure beyond its conventional role as a functional and decorative packaging component.
“Most anti-counterfeiting measures fight on the same technological ground as the counterfeiters. EMF changes that equation. The geometries and textures we achieve with MAGNEX are physically impossible to reproduce through standard embossing or metallisation, which means the design itself becomes part of the protection mechanism,” said Andrea Tassisto, Group Industrial & Technical Director at Guala Closures.
The closure combines an EMF-formed aluminium outer shell with an inner component that can also be produced using recycled plastics. It can be paired with anti-refilling valves and tamper-evident systems to provide multiple protection features in a single closure.
Production takes place at Guala Closures’ Gartcosh facility in Scotland, which has industrial-scale EMF lines for closure manufacturing..