L&L Global Award winners revealed on first evening of Labelexpo

LemuGroup, Bio4Life and OPM Group were named the winners of the first Labels & Labeling Global Awards. 

The three companies received their awards at Festa Barcelona, Labelexpo Europe 2025’s welcome party, at Time Out Barcelona on the first evening of the show. 

The award ceremony included three awards throughout that evening: the Innovation Award, sponsored by Gallus/Heidelberg; the Sustainability Award, sponsored by Durst Group; and the Converter of the Year award, sponsored by Flint Group. 

The Innovation Award went to LemuGroup for its UltaCompact system, end-of-line automation technology. Headquartered in Spain, LemuGroup offers automatic and semi-automatic slitter rewinders, finishing machinery and RFID insertion equipment, in addition to its end-of-line technology. The UltraCompact system uses robotics to pack rolls into boxes and palletize them. It also incorporates inspection technology into its UltraCompact system for quality control, ensuring that defective rolls are not automatically packed into boxes.  

Bio4Life, a Dutch supplier of compostable self-adhesive materials, received the Sustainability Award in recognition of its home-compostable pressure-sensitive adhesive. This product is suitable for direct food contact applications and certified to break down in home-composting environments. 

The final award of the evening, the Converter of the Year award, went to OPM Group, a family-owned company based in England. Since its establishment in 1988, OPM Group has expanded its offerings, which now include self-adhesive labels, thermal labels and flexible packaging. In particular, OPM has taken the lead in integrating flexible packaging into its business, developing an expertise in coatings and materials and encouraging suppliers to change their supply chain models. The company is also a leader in technological innovation and has developed technology that advances sustainability goals. 

Andy Thomas-Emans, strategic director of the labels group at Informa Markets, served as chair of the L&L Global Awards judging panel. The other judges were Mark Glendenning, owner and CEO of Inland and chair of TLMI; Philippe Voet, CEO of Etivoet and chair of Finat; and Chelsea McDougall, group managing editor of Labels & Labeling. 

'The selection process for this year’s label award was particularly challenging, as the shortlisted companies all demonstrated remarkable innovation and excellence,’ McDougall says. ‘However, each of the winners’ achievements not only sets new benchmarks in the industry but should also inspire others to push the boundaries of what’s possible. The winners represent the best of the best in their field, and the recognitions are well deserved.'