Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the companies that submitted entries into the 2009 competition! FPA also gives special thanks to the 2009 competition judging panel: Lisa McTigue Pierce, editorial director, Flexible Packaging magazine; Michael Richmond, PhD of Packaging & Technology Integrated Solutions; and Keith Vorst, PhD, associate professor, California Polytechnic State University, for their time and hard work. 

Following are descriptions of the winning packages:

Southern Selects Asparagus Package
Cryovac Food Packaging Division, Sealed Air Corporation

Highest Achievement Award Winner in Packaging Excellence
(Also a Gold Award Winner in Packaging Excellence)

The Southern Selects Asparagus Package is a great example of how flexible packaging adds value for retailers and consumers by preserving and enabling the effective cooking of a product. This package improves the way fresh asparagus is sold in retail stores and the way it is prepped and cooked by the consumer. The clean asparagus is vacuum skinned, which improves shelf life more than traditional packaging methods, and enables consumers to quickly steam the asparagus in the microwave. This package also provides consumers with a more energy efficient alternative to boiling water.

AntiFreeze Vaccine Backpack
Coldpack

Special Citation for Social Responsibility
(Also a Gold Award Winner in Packaging Excellence)

Vaccine efficacy and shelf life can be greatly impacted by temperature fluctuations, extremes in both heat and cold will have a negative impact. Designated as an approved vaccine transportation system by the World Health Organization, the Coldpack AntiFreeze Vaccine Backpack solves this challenge through its award winning patented technology, which offers superior thermal and air cushion protection. The Coldpack AntiFreeze Vaccine Backpack facilitates the safe, secure, stable, and successful transport of priority medical vaccines.

Hot N Handy Bio-Pouch- Flexible Package
Robbie Manufacturing, Inc.

Gold Award Winner in Packaging Excellence
(Also a Gold Award Winner in Sustainability & Environmental Achievement)

Hot N Handy Bio-Pouch is a flexible package designed for consumers, giving them value-added features like increased freshness and a resealable adhesive. The Bio-Pouch, made from renewable wood-pulp, is environmentally friendly and will degrade “back to nature.”

Bio-Pouch is the best sustainable solution for freshprepared sandwiches in the market. Compared to rigid polystyrene containers, the Bio-Pouch uses 92 percent less crude oil, reduces CO2 emissions by 56 percent and reduces packaging material waste, by weight, 75 percent.

Kraft Foods ‘Cote d’Or Truffé’ – Amcor Block Bottom Bag
Amcor Flexibles

Gold Award Winner in Printing Achievement

Kraft Foods ‘Côte d’Or Truffé’ — Amcor Block
Bottom Bag is an outstanding product that features both matte and gloss effects as well as hot foil stamping, embossing and a window. The combination of all these elements makes the Block Bottom Bag an ideal packaging solution for differentiated presentation of premium confectionery. The package has a strong onshelf presence and retains its premium effect through consumption due to its scratch resistant feature.

Zeda Dark Angel Revealingly Dark Bronzing Intensifier
CL&D Graphics

Gold Award Winner in Printing Achievement

For that brief moment a consumer scans a shelf, the packaging designer can only hope application of mere ink to substrate will effectively interpret their design, enticing the consumer to select their product. With the use of proprietary CL&D techniques of vacuum spot metallization applied to high shrink polymers conforming to shape, Zeda Tanning has created dramatic impact for Dark Angel Revealingly Dark Bronzing Intensifier. Design merged with technology created a package that commands an exotic yet premium allure as intended by Zeda Tanning Products.

Silver Award Winners

Bella Rosa Specialty Imported Cheese Selection
Cryovac Food Packaging Division, Sealed Air Corporation

Silver Award Winner in Packaging Excellence

This unique package combines the traditional benefits of Cryovac’s vacuum skin packaging with Arthur Schuman Incorporated’s strength as a world class specialty cheese provider. The result is a cheese board package that enables club stores to provide novice and experienced cheese consumers with a premium selection of cheeses that can be served at any occasion with very little prep required. The package not only looks attractive, but preserves the product and enables vertical presentation in the retail store.

Café Altomayo
Peruplast S.A.

Silver Award Winner in Printing Achievement

This family of packages features high quality and colorful rotogravure graphics, an improvement over traditional coffee artwork. In addition, the colorful approach uses a discrete combination of matte areas with glossy windows, creating a unique and appealing effect. This display of high quality graphics and textures demonstrates the potential of flexible packaging to deliver advantageous and sensible cost-benefit solutions against more expensive rigid packaging alternatives.

Dial Liquid Soap Refill Stand Up Pouch
Printpack Inc.

Silver Award Winner in Sustainability & Environmental Achievement

The Dial Liquid Soap Refill Stand Up Pouch supports sustainability in multiple ways. The easy pour spout allows for no wasted product, and the refill size will fill up to two bottles of standard 221 ml Dial bottles. Because flexible packaging generates 90 percent less waste than rigid, the refill pouch saves more than 500,000 bottles per year from going to landfill. Additionally, energy is saved during the manufacturing process and fuel for transportation is saved due to a significantly lighter weight package. The pouch is a winner for manufacturer and consumer alike.

Diamond Crystal® Jiffy Melt® with Moisture Resistant Air Evacuation Valve
Exopack, LLC

Silver Award Winner in Technical Innovation

The Diamond Crystal® Jiffy Melt® bag incorporates a patent pending air-evacuation valve, which allows for the escape of entrapped air. This provides ease with filling, bag stacking and palletizing the large format bags. The valve system eliminates the need for perforations and reduces the possibility of direct water contact compromising the contents of the package. The addition of high-end graphics and UV resistant film, inks and coatings give the package enhanced shelfappeal and allow for outdoor storage.

Lays Potato Chips
Flex America, Inc.

Silver Award Winner in Technical Innovation

This package is an iconic pack developed for Fritolay. For the first time, with a horizontal laser scoring at the top, the consumer can open the pouch from one end to the other, in one straight line, in one stroke. The chips inside the pouch have been provided with a sauce which can be then opened, spread on the chips and one can enjoy the chips straight from the pouch which serves like a container. This is an improvement from the old pack due to its laser scoring for easy pening. One can enjoy the chips and sauce straight from the pouch, which serves as a container.

Lewis Bakeries Clear/White Bakery Bag using FreshView™ Technology
Pliant Corporation™

Silver Award Winner in Technical Innovation

An innovative coextruded film technology was used to upgrade bakery product packages for Lewis Bakeries. The FreshView™ package offers eye-catching graphics with excellent opacity plus a clear see though panel to show the product. The converting process and packaging process were not impacted by this new package design.

Mars Galaxy 'Mistletoe Kisses' – Amcor ZigZag Amcor Flexibles

Silver Award Winner in Technical Innovation

Usually, chocolate bars are opened at the pack end, but by using Amcor ZigZag the pack can be opened anywhere along the wrapper. This presents a major benefit for consumers who want to share the product or save part of it for later consumption. The zigzag edge along the seal differentiates the pack on the shelf and the package responds to consumer demands for eating-on-the-go and sharing.

Masafi Gourmet Potato Chips
Flex America Inc.

Silver Award Winner in Printing Achievement

This potato chip pack is a total revolution in printing technology. High quality graphics have been obtained in 8 colors with a unique abstract design in matte finish by rotogravure process using special environmental friendly Toluene/MEK free alcohol based inks with a protective overcoat. A specially engraved cylinder has been used for optimum protective lacquer coating with a special matte effect, which has been achieved due to a high technology matte finish film, and not the colors. The high quality graphics make the pack stand out on the store shelf and invite the consumer to pick it up.

Mission Original Tortilla Strips White Corn
Genpak LP

Silver Award Winner in Packaging Excellence

Genpak has opened a new window on the world of flexible packaging with our exclusive die-cut window rollstock. Without sacrificing any of the qualities that made the original pre-made bag such a success, the new packaging format has added substantial value for the manufacturer while decreasing their overall cost per package. The development of the die-cut window rollstock has substantially advanced the possibilities for improvement in the flexible packaging field. This is indeed a win-win for the world of flexible packaging!

Ore Ida Steam n’ Mash
Alcan Packaging

Silver Award Winner in Packaging Excellence

Heinz North America created a new approach to steamin- bag cooking and wanted a flexible packaging solution. The Ore Ida Steam n’ Mash package combines a high performance sealant and self-venting technology for a solution that goes directly from freezer to microwave and cooks the product without any additional consumer steps. This package meets the demands of frozen food distribution, holds up to the extended cook-cycle and safely vents excess steam to provide perfectly steamed potatoes right out of the microwave.

Osurance™ Zone Coated Lids
Oliver Medical

Silver Award Winner in Technical Innovation

Osurance™ lids eliminate the risk of product
contamination. Manufacturing takes place using an automated adhesive coating and die cutting process that is located in a certified ISO 14644-1 Class 8 clean room. The process applies adhesive only where it is needed in a controlled area along the package flange. Adhesive exposure to the medical device is eliminated. Porosity of the base substrate is maximized resulting in more efficient ethylene oxide gas sterilization cycles.

Pampers Sensitive Swaddlers
Pliant Corporation™

Silver Award Winner in Printing Achievement

Pampers Sensitive Swaddlers package is highly creative and innovative, communicating a consumer solution for babies of a natural, hypoallergenic, healthy product. The ground-breaking soft, matte, clean appearance is created using a combination of matte inks, standard inks, and matte varnish applied in an innovative order during printing. Consumers are genuinely attracted to this eyecatching package due to its “soft as a baby” appearance.

Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Whole Grain White Bread
Printpack Inc.

Silver Award Winner in Technical Innovation

This Sara Lee bag has enhanced shelf appeal due to an outstanding graphic design supported by an innovative Printpack film that incorporates a clear window to view the product, and white area to provide excellent graphic opacity and brilliance. Additionally, the innovative method of applying the gaming code within the layers of ink solve many technical issues experienced by typical ink jet coding. Overall, the Printpack Clear Choice film allows the bag to display an excellent example of eye-catching flexographic printing and an easy to identify gaming opportunity, while the clear area of the bag allows the consumer a glimpse into the high quality product inside.

Softsoap® Hand Soap Refill Pouch
Alcan Packaging

Silver Award Winner in Sustainability & Environmental Achievement

The Softsoap® Hand Soap Refill Pouch is a fitmented stand-up pouch that represents environmental benefits in the areas of reduced emissions, waste and energy consumption. The manufacturing process uses half the non-renewable energy and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by half, compared to similar sized PET bottles. The materials used to produce the pouch result in weight reduction of over 50 percent. This, along with the collapsible nature of the pouch, result in less material to landfill.

Triad Solvent-Free Overwrap
Rollprint Packaging Products, Inc.

Silver Award Winner in Technical Innovation

Triad Solvent-Free Overwrap is a new high-barrier overwrap that has been developed using a proprietary metallocene-based sealant and a unique bonding approach. Triad has been engineered to provide exceptionally strong hermetic weld seals for high-speed, chemically-sensitive pharmaceutical applications at a cost-competitive price.