Graham Packaging received the highest accolade, the Diamond Award, for its ThermaSet® Blow Molded PET Container for hot-fill, pasteurized food. ThermaSet® offers consumers a shatter-resistant, easy-to-hold, safe, recyclable container that significantly reduces shipping, breakage and other manufacturing costs for the brand owner. Among the first to commercialize the container is the Rochester, NY, Wegmans chain of supermarkets for an store-brand pasta sauce.
The newly inaugurated Diamond Finalist award, given to six companies, acknowledges the growing number of packaging innovations that excel in all three categories: technological advancement, responsible packaging , and enhanced user experience. As a result of ground-breaking, cutting-edge excellence in the packaging marketplace, judges awarded a new Leadership in Innovation Award to MGI, which was recognized for its digital spot UV and hot foiling technology for next-generation digital package decoration, with advancements in customization, personalization and cost-effectiveness.
The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is the industry’s longest running, global, independently-judged celebration of innovation and collaboration throughout the value. The international competition honors innovations in packaging design, materials, technology, and processes. An independent panel of packaging experts evaluated nearly 200 entries from more than 25 countries. In addition to the awards noted above, the judges awarded five gold winners and nine silver winners based on “excellence” in one or two categories.
“Ascending to new heights in packaging innovation, this year’s winners show how collaboration, innovation and packaging excellence converge to generate game-changing solutions that positively impact our lives,” says Dale Outhous, VP of DuPont Ethylene Copolymers. “We are inspired by the breadth of advances, including interactive user experiences, clean labeling, advances in safety and sustainability, and expanded manufacturing options and lower production costs, especially with digital printing.”
“Noticeable this year was a strong commitment to the greater good, with a focus shift from just package functionality to more solutions-based packaging, which provides consumers greater access to products that make their life better,” says Lead Judge David Luttenberger, CPP, global packaging director of Mintel Group LTD. “We also are seeing a real demand from consumers for on-pack communication that is authentic, not overwhelming.”
