Global Label Awards announces shortlist

The shortlisted nominees for the 2026 Labels & Labeling Global Awards have been revealed.

The awards, taking place on the opening day of Loupe Americas 2026, will celebrate the companies and individuals driving excellence across the label and package printing industry across five categories: Innovation, Sustainability for both converter and supplier companies, Converter of the Year and Future Leader, a new addition to this year’s awards.

‘The Labels & Labeling Global Awards are all about celebrating the people, the companies and the innovations that move our industry forward,’ said Chelsea McDougall, L&L editor, who also represented the magazine on the judging panel. ‘This year’s entries demonstrated the true depth of creativity and technical advancements in the labels and packaging space. Labels & Labeling is proud to once again host these awards and shine a spotlight on the exceptional work being done across the industry.’ 

The winners will be announced during a networking reception and celebration on September 15. The event starts at 4 p.m. at the Spotlight Stage at Loupe Americas and will feature food, drinks and networking to follow the awards ceremony.

Shortlist

The Converter of the Year award recognizes a label printing and converter company that has stood out over the last year and met a number of criteria, including operational excellence, business growth, technology investment and has impacted the wider label industry.

The shortlisted nominees are: Catapult Printing in Orlando, Florida; Hub Labels, in Hagerstown, Maryland; and Steinhauser, in Newport, Kentucky. 

The Innovation Award recognizes companies that have developed a specific, groundbreaking innovation that is new, novel, functional and impactful on the wider label and package printing industries.

The shortlisted nominees are: AVT for Helios varnish inspection module, Cerm for Cerm Lexis AI sssistant, and Esko for CDI Quartz ecosystem.

In the sustainability award category, both converter and supplier nominees were selected for sustainable products or processes that promote a reduced environmental impact or a circular economy. 

The shortlisted nominees for the Sustainability, Converter Award are: Brook + Whittle for its GreenLabel BlockOut recyclable light-blocking shrink sleeve, Desmedt Labels for its integrated sustainability reporting and reduction framework and Holostik for Paperogram.

The shortlisted companies for Sustainability, Supplier Award are: Actega for ACTExact black algae ink; DuPont Cyrel for ReNew series; and Siegwerk for its high-barrier mono-layer polypropylene pouch created with Enplanter.

A new recognition this year was the Future Leader award. This award recognizes outstanding early-career professionals who are shaping the label and packaging industry. The award was given to Rachel Jackson, vice president of operations at Columbine Label, in Centennial, Colorado. 

The judging panel included Andy Thomas-Emans, strategic director of Loupe Global; Mark Glendenning, owner and CEO of Inland and chair of TLMI; Dana Kilárska, CEO of Purgina and president of Finat; Shawn Oetjen, director of operational excellence at Meyers and FTA executive board; and Chelsea McDougall, editor of Labels & Labeling.

‘Having been involved in judging label industry awards for many years, I can confidently say this was one of the most challenging years yet,’ said Thomas-Emans, chair of the judging panel. ‘The quality of entries was exceptional, and selecting the shortlist required careful consideration and detailed discussion. On the judging panel were three world-class converters who each brought their knowledge and real-world experience to the selection process. Their experience provided valuable insight in ensuring each entry was evaluated with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities converters face today.’

The Labels & Labeling team also selecting nominees was: Will Drysdale, Akanksha Meena, Adyasha Sinha, Yolanda Wang, Piotr Wnuk and Selah Zighelboim.