DuPont Awards 2017: Packaging excellence personified

Insignia Technologies won a Gold Award in the 29th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation for their Insignia Freshtag. This dynamic shelf-life indicator tag is designed to change color over a pre-set number of days at a prescribed temperature. It also changes color faster when the temperature increases. This gives consumers a more realistic view of the actual life of the product based on the different conditions to which it has been subjected. Insignia took a complex and confusing component of packaging and turned it into an overly intuitive food waste reduction tool. The Insignia Freshtag takes the confusion out of sell-by and fresh-by dates, dramatically upgrading the consumer experience. It demonstrates a clever use of materials by allowing consumers to dial into the life cycle of the product, helping to take the confusion out of the "sell by" and "eat by” dates. The Insignia Freshtag can play a significant role in helping people reduce food waste as well as potentially allowing manufacturers to extend shelf life

The Bibigo kimchi jar that combines tradition and science from CJ Cheiljedang won a Gold Award in the 29th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. This kimchi jar is a real breakthrough in terms of packaging science and innovation. It marries a very traditional product with contemporary, high-tech packaging. A clever incorporation of multiple existing technologies from different markets (including channeled lids and membrane with valve), the new kimchi jar achieves perfect sealing, gas emission, and fermentation. The gas channels in the lid allow the gas to vent through the closed lid as the product continues to ferment inside the jar. The pressboard was designed with the identification of the shape of the traditional Korean style, and the ingredients were pressed to suppress yeast production and to maintain the taste for a long time. It is designed and developed to have a push plate seating structure and a broth prevention function when pulling out. The modern jar has a connection to the past, enhancing the consumer experience by preserving the traditional look and feel of the beloved ceramic kimchi jar. While it preserves the shape of the traditional jar, it has all the advantages of advanced materials and technology, decoration techniques, and good ergonomics of the cap. This remarkable integration of many known technologies together in one package is especially innovative because it allows CJ Cheiljedang to use plastic to contain a highly aromatic product

Amorepacific's Prime Reserve jar has won a Gold Award in the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. Amorepacific designed the cream jar with the consumer experience in mind. The elegant design of the cream jar provides consumers the ultimate indulgence and is an attractive addition to the consumers’ personal care product display in the home. Made of ten different components, this molded “jar within a jar” conveys luxury with its remarkable feel and weight. Thanks to Amorepacific's technology, product manufacturers can decorate the outer jars while leaving the inner jar untouched and, if the formulation of the product is ever altered, the outer jar can still remain the same. The previous package had the same water ripple effect but was made using the CNC shaving process. By using the new injection molding process, Amorepacific was able to achieve the same extraordinary effect with a 76% reduction in material waste. This package was a great success in molding advancement, consumer indulgence and sustainability, going well beyond what was expected to deliver a high level of premiumness and distinctiveness

CROWN Food Europe’s Peelfit™ Can has won a Gold Award in the 29th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation for their easy-open foil sealed can. The Peelfit™ can eliminates the need for a rigid steel ring typically required with double seaming applications. CROWN Food Europe was able to seal a peelable foil directly to the can body. Traditional steel rings had to be stamped out and recycled – this new innovation eliminates that need, easing manufacturing and enhancing sustainability. The Peelfit™ can’s major reduction to this component of the package enabled a 16% reduction in can weight and 32% reduction in energy usage while continuing to deliver 100% protection against oxygen, gas and moisture. The Peelfit™ can also increase convenience thanks to the possibility to create a compartment on the top. Peelfit™ is an excellent example of how companies can develop more sustainable packaging without compromising on performance

Dow AgroSciences’ light-weight, sustainable, agrochemical, auto-stackable, 15L PET containers have been named a Diamond Finalist Award Winner in the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. The containers provide considerable functionality in stacking and distribution and allow greater ease of product dispensing than traditional containers. Dow Agrosciences took many design requirements into consideration and integrated them with stackability and pourability to enable added functionality to the lightweight containers. Addressing the whole value chain, Dow Agrosciences considered the distribution chain, end user, and the end of life for the package. The containers’ added functionalities increase safety, improve usage and reduce their environmental footprint. Reducing the need for added packaging for transport, the upper safety top adds strong stability when the containers are stacked on top of each other, allowing them to be stacked up to three containers high on a pallet without the need for an outer carton case. A large, centered neck compatible with closed-transfer systems and bore seal caps minimizes operator exposure and allows for easier pouring. The PET body is blown from a pre-form to allow for on-demand production, minimizing the need for transportation and storage of empty bottles before filling. Lightweight construction, improved logistics, and the elimination of the carton case reduce the overall environmental impact made by this packaging system

GreenBlue earned a Silver Award in the 29th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation for How2Recycle®, the next-generation recycling label for packaging. How2Recycle® is the first universal recycling labeling system that was designed specifically for consumers. It fulfills brands’ need to simplify the understanding of packaging recyclability. With the How2Recycle® label, consumers can easily understand the recyclability of each package, how to prepare each component of the package for recycling, and if a component is not recyclable. Not only is How2Recycle® changing the recycling behavior of consumers, but it is also catalyzing design changes in packaging. The How2Recycle® program is encouraging member companies to look at their packaging in a new way and think about how they might design their packages to be more recyclable. Three quarters (76%) of respondents to a poll conducted by GreenBlue have a more positive impression of a company that uses How2Recycle

FRONERI Brazil has earned a Gold Award in the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation for their Ice Cream Mini Cup. The clever cup is the combination of a suite of technologies, including thin wall thickness, fast cycle time injection molding, and in-mold labeling for decoration. It is a packaging solution designed for the on-the-go consumer. The plastic spoon molded into the lid of the ice cream mini cup is an innovative solution improvement to those currently available. This approach is unique among ice cream cups that include a spoon. Demonstrating a strong commitment to responsible packaging, FRONERI did not add another film layer to separate the spoon and did not use additional materials for the spoon. The smart package design repurposed 26% of the whole lid weight to be formed into the detachable spoon. Consumers can close the lid even after the spoon is removed. The Ice Cream Mini Cup showed increased production efficiency, a commitment to responsibility, and a clever use of materials

MGI JetVarnish 3D Digital Print Decoration Process for Folding Cartons & Labels has earned a Diamond Finalist Award in the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. This technology allows companies to achieve a premium branded look for their folding cartons and labels without the time, cost and expense of using traditional dies, screens or plates. MGI has simplified the production decoration process for manufacturers, printers and converters. The JETvarnish 3D solution dramatically increases the speed and ability of consumer and commercial firms to bring new products to market at a lower cost. The workstation software offers rapid prototyping for new product launches and full high-volume production management. The MGI innovation achieves 2D, 3D and Variable Foil Embossing on cartons and labels on a single line. The technology allows printers, converters and finishers to produce luxurious, eye-catching special effects with variable data personalization and customized short-runs faster and much less expensively than other printing technologies. MGI’s innovative new system is a cost-effective, fully digital process that eliminates the time, waste and limitations of traditional foiling, UV screen and embossing methods. Additionally, MGI has also created a unique hologram-based, digital finishing security process. These variable data holograms are both decorative and functional as secure, anti-counterfeiting authentication imprints. For brand owners who are looking for more multi-sensory packaging to attract consumers at the point of sale, MGI has created the next level of digital print finishing technology

Bemis has earned a Silver Award in the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation for their work on Kellogg’s® Nutri-Grain® Bakery Delights Tactile Packaging. Kellogg’s® Nutri-Grain® Bakery Delights package features textured film to represent a bakery treat that looks like its wrapped in kraft paper and twine. To uniquely capture the attention of millennial shoppers, the package is designed to look like paper, feel like paper, and even crinkle and crunch like paper. The thin-gauge flow wrap film is a highly practical, responsible alternative to paper laminates, extending the breakfast cake’s shelf life and appeal, while meeting brand owners’ need for packaging speed, hermetic seals and product protection