• PIDA 2026: Food Packaging Design Gold - Primo Foods and Amcor Flexibles
    PIDA 2026: Food Packaging Design Gold - Primo Foods and Amcor Flexibles
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Consumer convenience and circular design came together in the winner of the 2026 Food Packaging Design award, with Primo Foods and Amcor Flexibles recognised for a peel-and-reseal sliced meats pack that reduces plastic while improving functionality.

The gold-winning Primo Sliced Meats Peel & Reseal Pack replaces the company's previous peel-top format with an easy-open, resealable design developed in response to consumer demand for greater convenience. The redesign also delivers a 10 per cent reduction in plastic while transitioning to a recycle-ready mono-material PET structure, demonstrating how improved functionality and sustainability can be achieved in the same pack.

The judges recognised the pack as an example of how everyday food packaging continues to evolve beyond product protection, with consumer usability and circular design now expected to work hand in hand.

There was a tie for the silver award, with Opal ANZ recognised for its Arctic Shield EPS Replacement, while Bonson Packaging received silver for its RePlay Returnables reusable container system. Caps & Closures completed the category with bronze for its Honey Squeeze Pack.

The Food Packaging Design category recognises innovation across fresh, frozen and processed food packaging, with winners progressing to the 2027 WorldStar Packaging Awards as part of the Australasian Institute of Packaging's international awards pathway.

Food & Drink Business

Almondco and SunRice will be inducted into the Australian Export Awards Hall of Fame in 2026 in recognition of their outstanding and sustained contribution to Australian exporting.

Food and beverage manufacturers are facing a warehouse space crisis, and most of them did not see it coming. Production expanded, storage followed and over time, an organised operation became a fragmented footprint of disconnected warehouses, rising third-party costs, and a site nobody would have designed on purpose. Swisslog ANZ director of sales, Steve Dimitrovski, examines why the space problem is structural and how automation is helping manufacturers solve it without building a new site.

NSW Food and Beverage manufacturers are invited to join an upcoming information session at the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility (AMRF) to learn about funding and support available to help businesses innovate, grow and improve competitiveness.