Flexible Packaging Association announces annual award winners

The Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) has announced the winning entries of its 2012 Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards.

The “Highest Achievement Award” went to “Orville Redenbacher’s Pop Up Bowl”, manufactured by ConAgra Foods and Phoenix Packaging. “The patent pending design delivers to consumers a microwave popcorn package that transforms into a stable, wide mouth bowl which can be shared and used on the go without spilling,” the Linthicum, MD.-based FPA said. “It is the most complex lamination ever produced for high volume microwave popcorn packages.”

A handful of companies shared the “Gold” awards. Berry Plastics Corporation won for its microwaveable “One Size Fits All” packaging, designed to increase production efficiency, lower packaging cost, and reduce inventory cost for food packers; Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas for its interior tinted/printed “Formpack” blister packaging; Innovative Packaging Solutions Inc. for its refill spine pouch, with spine and die-cut angles on the bottom corners of the pouch improve the posture of the packaging on shelf; Printpack Inc. for its “Ganador” 10-kg sack, which was redesigned to incorporate a matte finish, flexo printing, and improved shape using the company’s QuadSeal technology; Flex-Pack for its “Grouper Fillet” pouch, printed with 9 color roto-gravure and includes a proprietary combination of orientated polyester and metallocene film for freezer conditions; Curwood Inc. for its “FreshCase” PVC packaging for fresh red meat, said to offer up to 10 times the shelf life and 75 per cent less markdowns/waste than store-wrapped meats and reduce packaging material up to 75 per cent; and Plastic Packaging Technologies, LLC for its “Blue Bones Small Natural Dental Chews” 12-oz. flexible box pouch for pet foods.

FPA “Silver” awards were given to Curwood Inc. for its frozen pizza packaging, with a squared base that adds stability for on-end, in-case display and a curving top; and its “Swanson’s Flavor Boost Sachets”, designed to be simple to store, use and dispose of, with easy tear features, directed dispensing and leak-free seals; Printpack Inc. for its “Beneful” dog food packaging; and its “BENGAY Zero Degrees” flexible stand up pouch; Ampac for its “Easysnap” package, with two high-barrier films: a flexible top web PET/Foil lamination and semi-rigid bottom web that uses foil and polystyrene; and for its “Tesco Finest Soups Retort Pouch”, printed with flexographic printing technology; Amcor Flexibles Europe & America for its “Pocket Shots” stand-up pouch single portion alcoholic beverages; Hilex Poly Co. LLC for its “Bag 2 Bag” recycled plastic retail carryout bag; Flex America Inc. for a pet food package with a flat bottom stand-up construction, made from four separate laminate webs and supplied with a slider zipper on top for re-closeability; Nordenia U.S.A. for its “FlexZiBox” package, that displays graphics on all five panels of the bag (front panel, two side gussets, back panel and bottom gusset); CL&D Graphics Inc. for its “Zeal for Life” stand-up pouch; Exopack, LLC for its “Scotts Miracle-Gro” bottom-fill re-closeable quad seal package; American Packaging Corp. for its utilization of DuPont’s FAST digital plates and high-strength inks to achieve superior flexographic print reproduction; Sonoco Flexible Packaging for its easy-open/reclose feature on Kraft’s Philadelphia Cream Cheese packages; Peel Plastic Products Ltd. for its “Scotts Turf Builder EZ Seed” bag, which features a patented “Grab-and-Go” handle incorporated into the side gusset panel of the bag; and Sealed Air Corp./Cryovac Food Packaging for its “Cryovac Freshness Plus Odor Scavenging Films”, that use state-of-the-art packaging materials to scavenge confinement odor that can be generated by product ingredients.

These and other FPA awards will be presented during the association’s annual awards dinner, being held this year on February 22 in Scottsdale, Ariz.