The PIDA 2021 Labelling & Decoration Design of the Year recognises the addition of content to a pack which creates a unique or innovative appearance, function or communication.
MC for the event, publisher of media partners Food & Drink Business and PKN Packaging News, Lindy Hughson, said packaging is a powerful persuader, and the use of high quality on-pack visual communications goes a long way towards capturing the consumer's attention.
"As the billboard for the brand and, in this digital era, the platform for an enhanced consumer experience and engagement with the brand, the pack itself, conveying its visual messaging via label and other graphic decoration, is the pivotal touchpoint for the consumer making the purchasing decision. This year’s finalists have has clearly leveraged this understanding," Hughson said.
The Bronze award went to De Bortoli Petit Moscato (Cutler Brands) and UV22 QR Print (Danone SN - Mark Purdy), and the Silver award goes to Pana Organic (Zipform Packaging).
The Labelling & Decoration Design of the Year Gold award winner for 2021 was presented to Brookfarm (OF Packaging).
As teh awards citation explained, this packaging is the first to market not only for the Roll 'n' Recycle program, but for any type of kerbside recyclable flexible packaging format made from soft plastics. The addition of the call-out on the front of pack communicates to consumers the exciting new feature of this recyclable pouch, as the first-to-market kerbside recyclable solution for a stand-up pouch pack.
The Roll 'n' Recycle label is affixed to the pack prior to the filling process, using an adhesive made to allow the label to be peeled back and re-adhered to the pouch once rolled. The specialised Roll 'n' Recycle label to the back of pack, in addition to the on-pack instructions for how the process works, encourages the consumer to lift and peel back the label to a certain point, and communicates that once rolled, the pack can then be recycled through the consumer's household co-mingled recycling bin.
The Roll 'n' Recycle label allows the pouch to be processed through kerbside recycling infrastructure rather than consumers having to return the pack to store for disposal.
This adhesive also had to be strong enough to hold the rolled packs in place and maintain the semi-rigid structure required to move through existing kerbside recycling infrastructure. The Roll 'n' Recycle label allows the pouch to stay as a semi-rigid, three-dimensional shape once rolled up by end consumers at end of life. By using the label, these packs can be recycled with other mono-polymer packaging like plastic bottles, rather than mixed soft plastics. The beauty of the design is that MRFs do not need to upgrade or install new machinery in order for the pouch to be recycled correctly- the program works with existing infrastructure already available in the majority of MRFs in Australia.
Receiving the award, managing director of OF Packaging, Joe Foster, said: "Sustainability is our number one project here at OF Packaging and this is just proof to see that we're actually making some good headways in the marketplace with projects like this one."
Coordinated by the Australian Institute of Packaging, the annual PIDA Awards program recognises companies and individuals who are making a significant difference in their field across Australia and New Zealand. Winners in the company awards announced today are automatically eligible for entry into the 2022 WorldStar Packaging Awards competition.
Five other categories were announced on Day One:
Food Packaging Design of the Year
Beverage Packaging Design of the Year
Domestic & Household Packaging Design of the Year
