PKN presents The Packaging Innovation Edit, a curated selection of standout global packaging innovations. Produced in collaboration with ThePackHub, this series highlights innovations advancing packaging design and function.
From World Cup collectables hidden inside Coca-Cola labels to Sonoco’s microwaveable metal bowls challenging plastic’s dominance in ready meals, the June Packaging Innovation Edit explores five global developments advancing packaging design, functionality, and circularity.
Peel-back labels reveal collectable football stickers
The Coca-Cola Company and Panini America have introduced a packaging promotion for the FIFA World Cup 2026 that integrates collectable football stickers directly into beverage bottle labels. Selected Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar bottles feature peel-back labels concealing randomly inserted Panini stickers, creating an interactive packaging format that combines product identification, promotional content, and collectability within a single label structure.
The campaign includes 12 special-edition stickers featuring football players representing 10 participating nations. Consumers access the collectable item by lifting a section of the bottle label, transforming the packaging into a mechanism for engagement rather than simply a carrier of branding and information. The stickers can be added to the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Sticker Album or scanned into the Panini Digital App, linking the physical packaging experience with a digital platform.
ThePackHub’s View: This packaging concept demonstrates how label formats can be adapted to incorporate collectable elements while maintaining their primary function on beverage containers.
PKN Comment: Major sporting events continue to provide fertile ground for packaging-led consumer engagement. What makes this execution noteworthy is its ability to combine physical collectability with digital interaction, extending the consumer experience beyond the point of purchase.
Brand: Coca-Cola, Panini | Market: Beverage | Innovation type: Consumer interaction, New format | Pack type: Label, Sticker
Microwaveable metal bowls for ready meals
Sonoco has developed a microwaveable metal bowl packaging format designed as an alternative to conventional plastic trays used in ready meal applications. The AFNOR-certified bowls are engineered to combine the convenience of microwave heating with the recyclability benefits associated with metal packaging.
The innovation targets a packaging segment that has traditionally relied heavily on plastic, offering a metal-based format that can be used directly in microwave ovens while maintaining the functional requirements expected for prepared food products. Unlike many multi-component tray systems, the bowls utilise a material stream supported by established collection, sorting, and recycling infrastructure across many markets.
By enabling microwave functionality within a metal container, the development expands the potential applications of metal packaging into categories where plastic has historically been the dominant material choice.
ThePackHub’s View: The microwaveable metal bowl demonstrates how established packaging materials can be adapted for convenience food applications that have historically relied on plastic trays.
PKN Comment: This is the kind of material innovation that challenges long-held assumptions. If metal can successfully deliver convenience, product protection, and recyclability in ready meals, it could open new opportunities for substitution in one of packaging’s most scrutinised categories.
Supplier: Sonoco | Market: Food | Innovation type: Material substitution, Recyclable | Substrate: Metal
Reusable e-commerce mailers designed for return and reuse
Movopack, headquartered in Milan, has developed a reusable e-commerce packaging system designed to replace single-use shipping mailers used in online retail distribution. The company’s returnable packaging model supports circular logistics through a managed reuse process that includes reverse logistics, refurbishment, sanitisation, redistribution, and digital tracking throughout the packaging lifecycle.
The reusable pouches are manufactured using recycled materials and engineered to withstand multiple shipping cycles. Consumers return the packaging after use through postboxes or partner retail locations across Europe, while loyalty rewards and discounts are used to encourage repeat participation in the system.
According to an independently verified life cycle assessment, the reusable packaging system can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 84 per cent and packaging waste by up to 98 per cent compared with conventional recycled cardboard e-commerce boxes when reused across multiple cycles.
ThePackHub’s View: Movopack’s approach combines reusable packaging design with operational infrastructure, which may help address some of the logistical barriers that have limited wider adoption of returnable e-commerce packaging.
PKN Comment: Reuse systems succeed or fail on infrastructure, not packaging design alone. By addressing collection, tracking, and consumer participation as part of the offering, Movopack is tackling some of the practical barriers that have historically constrained adoption.
Brand: Decathlon | Supplier: Movopack | Market: Consumer Goods | Innovation type: Reusable packaging, E-commerce | Substrate: Plastic
Compostable food packaging from sugar cane waste
Green Stem Products, a clean-tech company based in Nairobi, Kenya, has launched a manufacturing operation that converts bagasse, the fibrous residue left after sugar cane processing, into fully compostable food packaging. The raw material is sourced from sugar mills in western Kenya, allowing agricultural waste to be repurposed into takeaway containers, plates, and trays for foodservice applications.
The packaging is designed to be free from PFAS, a group of synthetic chemicals commonly used to provide grease and water resistance in food packaging and increasingly subject to regulatory scrutiny. By using moulded bagasse fibres, the company aims to provide a fibre-based alternative to conventional plastic food packaging while utilising an existing agricultural by-product.
The initiative reflects growing demand from regulators, businesses, and consumers for packaging materials that reduce dependence on fossil-fuel-based plastics and support alternative end-of-life pathways.
ThePackHub’s View: The use of bagasse as a feedstock demonstrates how agricultural by-products can be integrated into fibre-based food packaging manufacturing while avoiding PFAS-based coatings.
PKN Comment: Agricultural waste streams continue to present compelling opportunities for packaging innovation. The added focus on PFAS-free design reflects a broader industry shift towards addressing not only material choice, but also chemical safety and regulatory risk.
Supplier: Green Stem Products | Market: Food | Innovation type: Compostable packaging, Material substitution | Substrate: Agri-waste, Bio-materials
Cardboard tray transforms into a mini basketball game
Enbox – World Vypmar, a carton packaging company based in Spain, has collaborated on a packaging concept for cherry tomatoes that combines product containment with an interactive secondary function. Designed by Víctor Folk, the packaging replaces a conventional PET tub with a recyclable cardboard tray that transforms into a miniature basketball hoop through a simple folding mechanism.
Guided by the message “Less plastic, more game”, the concept is designed to reduce single-use plastic while maintaining the practical requirements associated with fresh produce packaging. The structure encourages engagement through an “Open, Taste, and Play” experience, creating interaction beyond the point of consumption.
Manufactured primarily from recyclable cardboard, the packaging contributes to reduced plastic use while creating a more engaging retail presence in a category where packaging has traditionally prioritised functionality over consumer interaction.
ThePackHub’s View: This packaging concept demonstrates how structural design can add value beyond product protection by incorporating a reusable play feature into a recyclable cardboard format.
PKN Comment: Packaging that extends its usefulness beyond the primary purchase continues to gain attention. While playful in execution, the concept also demonstrates how structural design can support both material reduction goals and stronger consumer engagement.
Supplier: Enbox | Market: Food | Innovation type: Consumer interaction, Material substitution | Substrate: Carton board, Corrugated
