First European Carton Excellence Award finalists revealed
Pro Carton and ECMA, associations representing the European carton packaging supply chain, have revealed the finalists for their rebranded European Carton Excellence Award competition, including the new ‘Public’ and ‘Save the Planet’ awards.
Pro Carton is an association of European cartonboard and carton manufacturers, and ECMA is an association for European carton makers. The awards were first presented in 1997 under the name of Pro Carton ECMA Award, and are now known as the European Carton Excellence Award. The inaugural European Carton Excellence Award winners will be confirmed during the ECMA Congress 2017, taking place September 21-22 in Salzburg, Austria.
The awards are divided into nine different categories, Save the Planet, Most innovative, Beauty & Cosmetics, Food & Beverages, Confectionery, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Drinks, Non-food and Volume Markets. The winners of each category further compete to claim the overall ‘Carton of the Year’ award. In addition, for the first time, consumers will be able to cast their votes to select the winner of the ‘Public’ award. Vote here. Public voting closes at midnight on September 13. The finalists are detailed below, with an image gallery of all the entries at the bottom of the page.
Fox’s Tin Replacement Project
Description: The cartonboard pack is a sustainable replacement for the brand’s original tin design. The carton is delivered flat packed to reduce pallet requirements and enabling Fox’s Biscuits to minimize logistics and inventory, which in turn reduces its carbon footprint. The carton design features a double wall lid, providing a print area when opening the pack. Added value features are ease of opening and a tear away part of the pack doubling as an effective marketing space (linking to a consumer competition).
Carton producer: Graphic Packaging International
Brand owner: Fox’s Biscuits
Structural designer: Graphic Packaging
Graphic designer: SGS
Cartonboard manufacturer: Metsä Board
HAL Allergy Venomenhal, carton + interior
Description: This new design of the interior has been developed for an existing outer carton pack, which now can be glued and set-up using a semi-automated packing line. This new set replaces the completely manual set-up of the old design and removes the need for a dedicated transport pack. The printed colors on the back of the interior are intended to assist in filling the cartons correctly with the vials having corresponding cap colors. The reduced amount of material used is said to have a significant positive environmental effect.
Carton producer: Intergrafipak
Brand owner: HAL Allergy Group
Structural designer: Intergrafipak
Graphic designer: Intergrafipak
Cartonboard manufacturer: Iggesund
Lipton Earl Grey 100g carton
Description: The carton was designed to be a replica of a metal box. The main objective was to maintain the look – in the design and layout – when switching to a more sustainable packaging concept. The metal effect was replicated by using a metallized substrate onto which a combination of effect gloss and matte varnish is applied. The entry states that the result is packaging that is more attractive on the shelf, and more sustainable and functional than the previous version.
Carton producer: Duran Dogan Printing and Packaging
Brand owner: Unilever
Structural designer: Duran Dogan Printing and Packaging
Graphic designer: Duran Dogan Printing and Packaging
Cartonboard manufacturer: Metsä Board
Schnitzel Joker currywurst pommes kombibox
Description: A one-piece, pre-erected dual compartment box for food service, where the content is separated into two compartments to prevent the chips being soaked with sauce from the curry sausage. The compartment for the curry sausage has no holes and therefore the sauce is kept inside, whereas the chip compartment has several holes to keep the chips crunchy and to allow water vapor to escape. The packaging can be produced on a standard high-speed erecting line (with some modifications) and is claimed to have not been seen in this segment before.
Carton producer: A&R Carton Kriftel
Brand owner: Premium-Verpackung.de
Structural designer: Martin Zelosko/Carolin Spahlinger/Marco Vierling
Graphic designer: Andreas Beilharz
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
Cupholder
Description: This drinks cupholder for stadium and concert standing areas can attached to a railing with the cup with the drink placed inside. The drink is protected against tipping, spilling or contamination as it does not stand on the floor. The cupholder has been used by the main sponsor of German football team Hannover 96.
Carton producer: Siemer Verpackung
Brand owner: HDI
Structural designer: Siemer Verpackung
Graphic designer: Marion Münch
Cartonboard manufacturer: WestRock
Pago fruit juice carton sleeve
Description: This new marketing idea highlights the new Pago ‘Love life’ slogan. The cardboard sleeve has been designed to entice the target group, call for interaction and increase in-store awareness of the Pago brand. The cardboard heart is intended to be used for making photos to participate in a prize draw to win a trip around the world. The heart can also be used as a gift to others.
Carton producer: Mayr-Melnhof Packaging Austria
Brand owner: Eckes-Granini Austria
Structural designer: Gerlinde Gruber
Graphic designer: Martha Ploder/Gerlinde Gruber
Cartonboard manufacturer: Metsä Board
Nalle Oat Flakes
Description: The design of the pack gives the consumer the choice of two opening options on the top – the classic opening through push-in tab or a push-in, squeeze and pour mechanism. The new opening is said to make it more convenient for all ages to open the pack.
Carton producer: AR Carton Oy, Finland
Brand owner: Ravintoraisio Oy/Raisio Group
Structural designer: Susanna Sotka/Sebastian Eckert
Graphic designer: Bond Agency, Marko Salonen
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
ScanWish Adventskalender
Description: ScanWish is offering a unique customization option for the customer after purchase, using a QR-code applied to the pack that allows a video to be played online or a photo to be displayed. This has proven to be an inexpensive option for the manufacturer as existing packaging can be used, with nothing needed to be changed on the product other than applying the QR code, so allowing high volume print runs to continue.
Carton producer: Pfäffle Verpackungswerk
Brand owner: Schoko & Blume/Panini/Galeria Kaufhof/Goldener Anker/Björn Freitag
Structural designer: Pfäffle Verpackungswerk
Graphic designer: Pfäffle Verpackungswerk
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
Beauty Box
Description: The ampoules are secured carefully by both the lid and base, offering protection against breakage or premature removal, even without a PET window foil. Finishing is in-line with soft touch varnish, while the cartonboard construction can be recycled fully.
Carton producer: rlc | packaging group
Brand owner: FEMIA Cosmetic Vertriebsgesellschaft
Structural designer: rlc | packaging group
Graphic designer: FEMIA Cosmetic Vertriebs- gesellschaft
Cartonboard manufacturer: Iggesund
Do-It-Yourself-Kit
Description: The use of plastics was reduced wherever possible and substituted with cartonboard. Printing on the inside of the sleeve lends a secondary use, such as a gift tag.
Carton producer: rlc | packaging group
Brand owner: Coscoon Cosmetics
Structural designer: rlc | packaging group
Graphic designer: brandpack
Cartonboard manufacturer: BillerudKorsnäs
Retro Revival
Description: The cosmetics inside contain only 100 percent natural products and this is reflected in the packaging that consists of FSC carton only. Printed on uncoated material this gives a natural feeling. Cartonboard was also used for the inlays to result in recyclable packaging. Embossing emphasizes the traditional style of this range of packaging.
Carton producer: Omaks Packaging
Brand owner: IK Skin perfection
Structural designer: Alparslan Kaleli
Graphic designer: Cosmetize
Cartonboard manufacturer: Metsä Board
Roval - Ovaldose
Description: This oval tissue box in highly attractive colors is said to be the first of its kind for this type of product on the cosmetics market. Consistent use of cartonboard makes this carton fully recyclable.
Carton producer: Mayr-Melnhof Packaging International
Brand owner: SCA Packaging
Structural designer: C.P. Schmidt
Graphic designer: ProFILE Communication
Cartonboard manufacturer: Metsä Board
Beta Teas of the World collection
Description: Fourteen different kinds of teas are packed in an elaborate, authentic folding box, with each design displaying significant differences. The harmony is conveyed in the graphics, the print, special varnish and the tactile surface.
Carton producer: Printpark
Brand owner: Beta Tea
Structural designer: Printpark
Graphic designer: Beta Tea
Cartonboard manufacturer: Metsä Board
N70 Moments
Description: The structural design and the quality of the cardboard were selected by the brand owner, resulting an ‘exclusive, delightful’ present made of cartonboard, non-glued and decorated with a ribbon.
Carton producer: Mayr-Melnhof Packaging Russia
Brand owner: Ahmad Tea
Structural designer: Mayr-Melnhof Packaging Russia
Graphic designer: Ahmad Tea
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
Domino’s Chicken Box
Description: The inner compartments are created during the erection of the box, with the closing top easy to close with a press on the lid on the sides to interlock them with the side flaps. Guaranteed tamper-evident closure with the fresh lock system, a tuck-in flap closes the pack safely.
Carton producer: A&R Carton Kriftel
Brand owner: Domino’s Pizza Deutschland
Structural designer: Martin Zelosko
Graphic designer: Kühne Design, Andreas Kühne
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
JDE Z1
Description: Featuring an embossed, gilded logo and a window into the pods, this packaging captures the promise of L’Or for ‘true, fast and uncomplicated coffee pleasure with perfect quality’. Compact arrangement of the pods allows easy access, while efficient design supports a filling speed of almost 9,000 folding boxes per hour with minimal wastage.
Carton producer: STI Group
Brand owner: Jacobs Douwe Egberts
Structural designer: STI Group
Graphic designer: Design Bridge Group
Cartonboard manufacturer: Metsä Board
Argenta - Frohes Fest Adventskalend
Description: A wobble head on the top creates attention on the shelf, and makes the pack stand out. The wobble head function is based purely on cardboard.
Carton producer: AR Carton Kriftel
Brand owner: Argenta Schokoladenmanufaktur
Structural designer: Martin Zelosko
Graphic designer: Werbeagentur Wieprich
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
Cote d‘Or Encore Simba 158g + 355g
Description: Hot foil embossing increases shelf attractiveness.
Carton producer: Mayr-Melnhof Packaging Austria
Brand owner: Mondelez
Structural designer: Mayr-Melnhof Packaging Austria and Daniel Zeisner (Do&Co)
Graphic designer: SGS Europe
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso Mill Fors
Liq gift set
Description: One large gift box holds four small cube boxes with a variety of liquorice flavors. All sets of boxes have a dark black graphic design with bright colors highlighting the text and logo. A combination of soft touch and UV varnish has been applied. All boxes are also printed on the inside in a single color, which varies for each flavor. The high-quality cardboard helps to achieve a more natural and matte look, and allows for ‘excellent’ printing quality.
Carton producer: VG Kvadra Pak JSC
Brand owner: Liq
Structural designer: VG Kvadra Pak JSC
Graphic designer: N2
Cartonboard manufacturer: BillerudKorsnäs
Nestlé After Eight Premium Easter Egg
Description: Nestlé adapted its strategy in order to progress this specific design for its After Eight Easter egg carton. The design enables the consumer to acknowledge the color signature and clock silhouette of the After Eight brand, said to create an emotional and nostalgic connection with the product. An insert secures the product in place without the need for vacuum forming.
Carton producer: Graphic Packaging International
Brand owner: Nestlé
Structural designer: Graphic Packaging International
Graphic designer: Nestlé
Cartonboard manufacturer: BillerudKorsnäs
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals –
Faller Elisa Kit Box
Description: The liquid kit components can be securely fixed using two inserts. The inserts, which lie on top of one another, also add to the stability of the box. Further, the inserts can be used modularly as required and depending on the number of bottles.
Carton producer: August Faller
Brand owner: Steffens biotechnische Analysen
Structural designer: Armin Rambach
Graphic designer: Label Design by Steffens biotechnische Analysen
Cartonboard manufacturer: BillerudKorsnäs
The Best You
Description: The structural designer, graphic designer and customer worked together to find the best pack, resulting in a two-walled envelope which can easily be filled. The development took seven months.
Carton producer: Omaks Packaging
Brand owner: BlissFuel
Structural designer: Alparslan Kaleli
Graphic designer: Rep Ringel
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
Ventofor-Combi Pack
Description: The original package consisted of two different medicines in blister packs and an inhaler separated by plastic separators and labels. Significant cost saving were achieved by eliminating the plastic separators and additional labels. The new design ensures that the two different medications are not mixed up and firmly keeps the three products of various structures in place as well as permitting easy access to the products.
Carton producer: Lithosan Basim Yayim Ambalaj Sanayi ve Tic
Brand owner: Bilim İlaç San. ve Tic.
Structural designer: Lithosan Basim Yayim Ambalaj Sanayi ve Tic
Graphic designer: Bilim İlaç San. ve Tic
Cartonboard manufacturer: Metsä Board
Vial Security
Description: The pack is to be opened quickly by the user and to allow easy removal of the vial. The packaging is machine-glued in a single run. It uses recycled materials in the construction.
Carton producer: K+D
Brand owner: Bio-Rad Schweiz
Structural designer: K+D
Graphic designer: Bio-Rad Schweiz
Cartonboard manufacturer: Mayr Melnhof Karton
Ballantine’s Duo-Pack Book
Description: The toned, dark graphics with colorful, shiny accents and fine embossing are associated with the premium whiskies inside. The packaging opens like a book, revealing two bottles. Flaps hide the cut edges and the lids are made with several layers of folded board. The packaging is machine glued, manually erected and filled.
Carton producer: Hammer Poznań
Brand owner: Pernod Ricard
Structural designer: Łukasz Górecki (Hammer Poznań)
Graphic designer: Pernod Ricard
Cartonboard nanufacturer: Stora Enso
Eco-Fontaine Jolival
Description: A new concept to dispense water, soft drinks, juices or wine, including a dispensing system for cups, based on a glued carton with a separate placeholder to hold the unit with the cups and drinks. The transportable 5l water fountain requires no maintenance or electricity.
Carton producer: Poznań VG Angoulème
Structural designer: EB Concept
Graphic designer: Jolival
Cartonboard manufacturer: BillerudKorsnäs
Geometrie Cividât
Description: A diagonal cut design divides the symmetry and the strict geometry of the carton, which has an open top, held together with an outer sleeve.
Carton producer: Lucaprint
Brand owner: Domenis 1898 SRL
Structural designer: Ufficio Tecnico Lucaprint
Graphic designer: Giulia Toscanelli
Cartonboard manufacturer: BillerudKorsnäs
Johnnie Walker Black Label 70 cl Limited Edition Pack
Description: This limited edition pack displays the ‘striding man’ on the front panel, using a holographic substrate with a broken glass pattern coupled with 3D embossing.
Carton producer: Duran Dogan Printing and Packaging
Brand owner: Diageo
Structural designer: Diageo
Graphic designer: DPN Design
Cartonboard manufacturer: WestRock
Stoli Packaging Series
Description: This packaging series consists of three different box structures. The main color theme is red and white, the colors of the Latvian national flag. The combination of structural element and graphic design gives an impression that there is a white sleeve on all the boxes, although the boxes are made of one piece. The twin pack and minibar boxes have large cut-out windows.
Carton producer: VG Kvadra Pak JSC
Brand owner: SPI group
Structural designer: VG Kvadra Pak JSC/Latvijas Balzams
Graphic designer: servaire & Co
Cartonboard manufacturer: BillerudKorsnäs
In-Shape
Description: The relatively small packaging, which was produced in 30 different variants, features a premium finish, while a small tray holds 10 of the packaged liquids. Various finishing techniques were applied on an extremely small packaging printing surface: hot foil stamping, special relief varnish and UV gloss varnish.
Carton producer: Model, CH-Au (SG)
Brand owner: InSmoke
Structural designer: Robert Heim
Graphic designer: Fabian Aeschlimann, InSmoke
Cartonboard manufacturer: Iggesund
Parliament Carat Blue
Description: Cigarettes are usually packed into hinge lids with two main shapes: square corner and round corner. This one is different but can still be filled on the same packing line. The special corners are created using special laser creasing technology. The facettes and the metallic background give the edges a more three-dimensional effect. It is also claimed to be considerably more difficult to counterfeit than conventional cigarette packs.
Carton producer: Mayr-Melnhof Packaging Graphia Izmir
Brand owner: Philip Morris International
Structural designer: Philip Morris International
Graphic designer: Nicolas Monnet
Cartonboard manufacturer: Iggesund
Ursus Magnus H.01
Description: The double wall structure gives stiffness to the large solid board packaging. Single gluing is enough for a large and complex structure with several compartments.
Carton producer: Lucaprint
Brand owner: Ursus
Structural designer: Ufficio Tecnico Lucaprint
Graphic designer: Albertdesign sas di Barin Alberto
Cartonboard manufacturer: BillerudKorsnäs
Yamasa Star Pack
Description: The Yamasa brand contains a star in its logo and this is reflected in the packaging design. To achieve this, five diamond-shaped folded cartons are lined up together with a plug-in connection. This is held together with a banderole with plug-in connection. The structure allows a single cigar to be removed from the pack, and remain safely packed and well protected.
Carton producer: Pawi Verpackungen
Brand owner: Oettinger Davidoff
Structural designer: Christian Holzer
Graphic designer: Scott Birtwistle
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
Babor packaging for ampules
Description: A special tactile surface with a soft touch varnish is used, while the black basic color on the folding carton reflects ‘high quality, luxury and elegance’, and makes the ampoules, which are printed in different colors, appear in a perfect light. The hinged insert protects and holds the products and when the box is opened the ampoules are raised, allowing for easy and comfortable access.
Carton producer: Edelmann
Brand owner: Dr Babor
Structural designer: Dr Babor
Graphic designer: Dr Babor
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso Paper Plant Imatra
Findus 30 Fish Fingers Twin-pack
Description: The robust pack offers both optimized shelf presentation and added-value features such as an easy opening device. In addition, the resource-efficient design takes up less room in the freezer and has resulted in a 40 percent board reduction.
Carton producer: Graphic Packaging International
Brand owner: Findus Sweden/Findus Norway
Structural designer: GPI (Lieke van den Elshout and Josien Maartense)
Graphic designer: Findus
Cartonboard manufacturer: Mayr-Melnhof Eerbeek
Taste the Difference Premium Tomatoes
Description: This is a cartonboard pack format for the fresh produce category, virtually free of plastic and made from fully recyclable FSC cartonboard. The rigidity and robustness of the cartonboard protects and promotes the produce. 360-degree branding with reverse print is possible, for example, for recipe ideas as part of the pack design, or installed barcode readers for the mixed recipe designs of the tomato varieties.
Carton producer: The Alexir Partnership
Brand owner: Sainsburys
Structural designer: The Alexir Partnership
Graphic designer: Sainsburys
Cartonboard manufacturer: Stora Enso
Wheel of light
Description: The packaging is designed to represent ‘light, radiance and nature’, and when looking at the pack from different angles the light reflects the micro-embossing. Inner compartments hold the products, and inside printing reflects the basic color. The folding cartons are delivered as a pre-glued flat blank and are erected when needed in order to save space during transport and storage. All folding cartons can be erected and filled fully automatically. There is no film lamination, only mono-material cartonboard
Carton producer: Edelmann
Brand owner: Lumene
Structural designer: Edelmann
Graphic designer: JDO Brand Design and Innovation
Cartonboard manufacturer: Sappi Alfeld
See the below gallery for all the finalists, and don't forget to vote for the Public award winner.
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