Rebranded paper inventory

[George Papantoniou]

In other threads I've seen that people mention their knowledge of companies that are selling rebranded (repackaged) paper in Europe and the states. I've read that Fotospeed (or Luminos?) is (was) rebranded Kentmere and that Tetenal Vario Fine Art is rebranded Agfa MCC. I've also heard (elsewhere) that Tetenal's RC papers are rebranded Agfa and/or Ilford. I even once heard (although I shouldn't be sayng this, it was "classified information") that Ilford was manufacturing Agfa's multicontrast RC paper... I would be interested to know whether Maco and Wephota of Germany make their own paper, for example.

So, I would find it interesting if anyone that has this kind of info (correct or not should share it with the other forum members... Then we'll all be able to make our choice of paper more wisely (of the identical ones, choosing the one with the more interesting price ... .

I understand that talk like this might offend the manufacturer of the product in question, it has happened a few years ago on Ed Buffaloe's forum and it ended to a big quarrel (I prefer not to think about it). I hope that this time it will not turn bad... In any case, we're grown-ups and understand that there always is a degree of error in rumours about "industrial secrets" that come to our ears...

 

[rjr]

George,

the easiest indication that helps to check where a paper comes from is the datasheet. Compare the recommended filtration settings, they are usually identical to that of the OEM.

"I've also heard (elsewhere) that Tetenal's RC papers are rebranded Agfa and/or Ilford"

Yep.TT Vario Ultra is Agfa MCP, TT Vario Comfort is Ilford MG4. Any difference you may notice in processing is within batch variations.

The datasheets given by Tetenal proof this (and it was confirmed by a TT employee and a german retailer).

"I even once heard (although I shouldn't be sayng this, it was "classified information") that Ilford was manufacturing Agfa's multicontrast RC paper..."

I don´t think so. Agfa coats the MCP more or less 24/7 on a big line and was able to cope with demand when the Ilford plant was offline.

"I would be interested to know whether Maco and Wephota of Germany make their own paper, for example."

Nope. Both buy from a number of suppliers like Forte, Fotokemika, Agfa.
Wephota does a little bit more - they buy bulk master rolls and cut by themselves, they are placed in the former Tura plant in Wernigerode which has been used by Orwo in socialist times - it was a film coating plant (disfunct now) and a confectioning line.

"I understand that talk like this might offend the manufacturer of the product in question,"

I see no reason for that - the manufacturer rarely ever is offended, it´s usually the distributor, the guy just putting his label on it and trying to pull a marketing stunt by promising lot and demanding premium prices.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Cachet was rebranding Maco products. Cachet/Maco Expo RF was made by Efke, and now that they have stopped distributing it, J&C are distributing it.

Luminos papers were made by Kentmere.

 

[George Papantoniou]

Thanks guys for the input, hope there'll be more like this from other parts of the globe...

From a quick search through the discussions on this forum I found the following info:

1. Bergger manufactures their paper in the Forte plant in Hungary (but with their own propriatary recipes), although Bergger CB VC looks much like Forte Polywarmtone
2. Zone VI rebrands Ilford paper
3. Tetenal TT Baryt Vario = Agfa MCC and Tetenal TT Baryt Vario Fine Art = Kentmere VC select. The Tetenal paper is cheaper than the ones from the original manufacturers here in Greece, so I don't see why not buing the rebranded version... I don't know if it works the same way in Germany or the UK ...

 

[George Papantoniou]

I don´t think so. Agfa coats the MCP more or less 24/7 on a big line and was able to cope with demand when the Ilford plant was offline.

Actually, I found now the notes I took during a briefing I took part in (approx. 6 years ago) about Ilford products. We were told that Ilford made RC VC paper for Agfa for a period of two years. It was also mentioned that Delta 100 is marketed in Japan as a Fuji product (Acros ?????).... This was all confidential, of course...