DuPont names 2015 Awards for Packaging Innovation winners

The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is the industry’s longest-running, global, independently judged celebration of innovation and collaboration throughout the value chain. An independent panel of packaging experts evaluated nearly 140 entries from more than 25 countries, and this year awarded one diamond winner, five gold winners and seven silver winners based on excellence in one, two or all three categories covering technological advancement, responsible packaging and enhanced user experience.

‘This year’s winners stand out as leaders in packaging innovation,’ said William J. Harvey, president of DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers. ‘They exemplify how collaboration, innovation and packaging excellence converge to generate game-changing solutions that positively impact our lives.’

Gold award winners included the squeezable mascara tube from AmorePacific from Korea, Axe and Lynx aerosol cans from Unilever, MiiSTS flat travel size bottles, slider technology from Pactech Packaging and Reynolds Presto Products, and the EnVeo R TAVI catheter medical packaging from Medtronic CardioVascular and Prent Corporation.

Silver award winners included Mix Pak System’s Oral Rehydration Salt package, the resealable BelGioioso Mild Provolone package from Bemis, the Gillette Venus Swirl package from The Gillette Company, think4D and Placon, Kübox from Compadre, a conditioner container from Godrej Consumer Products and Classy Kontainers for premium Indian salon chain BBLUNT, a single-use lipstick sampling product from Grupo Boticario and Ycar Artes Gráficas, and a moisture-proof bag, Flex SafePack, developed by Uflex to protect cement produced in India.

Print formed a central component to a number of the winning entries.

In developing Flex SafePack, Uflex had to address two conflicting requirements in providing de-airation holes required for air to escape during filling and prohibiting moisture from entering into the bags during transportation. Uflex was able to achieve this through optimized nano-embossing over a flexible extrusion layer. This technological achievement also allows high definition graphics in up to 10 colors to be printed on the bags, giving a premium look to a commodity product.

The Gillette Venus Swirl package is printed with think4D technology, and the thermoformed lid features a multi-dimensional silver ball printed and formed in precise detail to showcase the new Flexiball design of the razor. The think4D process adds depth and shape to words and images using a patented process to create and reproduce three-dimensional objects, surfaces and textures for use in advertising, promotional materials, corporate communications and artwork reproduction. The arched bottom tray reflects the razor’s own curves. With this package, the judges said Gillette and think4D have taken thermoforming of a printed substrate to a ‘whole new level’.

The sampling lipstick features a single dose of lipstick ‘printed’ on coated cardboard through a process similar to graphic printing, and to test the consumer simply removes the plastic film, folds the cardboard in half and applies the lipstick directly to their lips, without needing to use fingers to spread the lipstick on. Each sampling lipstick is used once and then disposed.

Canada-based IPL claimed the Diamond Award, the program’s highest honor, for SkinnyPack, which is a mono-material package that combines flexible and rigid packaging to create a thin, light and strong structure that uses less material, enables recycling and allows more message space.

IPL’s new hybrid container is allowing Ana’s Foods to standout on store shelves. Through collaboration with IPL, Ana’s Foods replaced its rigid salsa containers with the SkinnyPack container that combines the advantages of thin, flexible film that is lightweight, flexible and printable, with the advantages of a strong, rigid frame associated with sturdy, structural components.

Yasmin Siddiqi, DuPont Packaging Awards program leader, said: ‘The winners demonstrated the power of integrating precision engineering, design and technology in a way that brings multi-sensorial yet functional packaging to delight consumers.’

‘The novelty this year lies in the fact that we saw packaging designs that added intuitive functionality in a way that was both simple and meaningful for the user,’ added David Luttenberger, CPP, global packaging director at Mintel Group, and lead judge. ‘There’s frequently a lot of technology behind seemingly simple designs, but when you can design packaging in a way that resolves an issue and is intuitive to use, that’s value.’