IoPP announces AmeriStar award winners for 2014

The Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2014 AmeriStar Package Awards Competition.
 
Judges evaluated and analyzed packages from 13 categories in a new online, virtual judging process during the month of April. Judging was based on package innovation, sustainability, protection, economics, performance, and marketing.
 
Top AmeriStar winners included the Best of Show Award, the Sustainable Package Award and, the Design Excellence Award. Winners were honored at the AmeriStar and Visionary Awards Reception on June 10 during EastPack in New York City.
 
BEST OF SHOW AWARD WINNER:
CATEGORY: Medical Device
SoTube ® / SoSafe ® : double-sterile barrier packaging
Selenium Medical
SoTube/SoSafe are two innovative solutions, nested tubes based, for implants double-sterile barrier packaging. They ensure nurses and surgeons easy handling of package and implant as well as a pioneer “No Touch” approach right up to the point of surgery.
 
 
DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER:
CATEGORY: Food, Refrigerated
Butterball Farms Butter Sculptures
Butterball Farms
Butterball Farms looked to Display Pack when they needed a solution to packaging their butter sculptures. We were able to provide them with an innovative and attractive solution—a package that is also a mold for the butter sculpture! We created a package structure that would allow the customer to mold the butter directly into the clamshell, process the product, and then place the clamshell in a die-cut, un-windowed carton. The molded butter is encased in the clamshell from the time it is molded until the customer opens the clamshell to serve the butter.
 
 
SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING AWARD WINNER:
CATEGORY: Other
Brita Pitcher Open-Sided Carton
The Clorox Company
The new Brita Open-Sided Carton is a packaging system that consists of a carton tray and band containing a pitcher protected by shrink film.  This open-sided design enabled a significant material waste reduction from the previous packaging while preventing damage by allowing shoppers to see the actual pitcher without opening the carton. The result is a package that clearly celebrates the beautiful pitcher design in a format that easily communicates the size, shape, and features of the product.
 
 
 
AmeriStar Winners
 
CATEGORY: Beverages, Alcoholic
ZIPZ Single Serve Wine Glass
ZIPZ Inc & Selig Group
The ZIPZ package is an easy to open wine glass made from PET resin allowing single serve consumption of wine in venues that prohibit the use of glass packaging. The wine glass shaped package has immediate recognition by consumers. The zippered outer shrink sleeve allows easy access to the wine glass, thus the name 'ZIPZ'.  The wine glass is sealed by an easy to remove Lift 'n' Peel™ brand induction liner.
 
CATEGORY: Beverages, Non-Alcoholic
Gatorade Oliva Packaging
PepsiCo & Amcor
Pushing the boundaries of conventional hot fill containers is no easy task.  PepsiCo together with Amcor joined in the development of a new ultra-light weight container to replace the current Gatorade global container and change the industry standard.  In the case of the 500ml size the end result showed an astounding 30% reduction in material weighing only twenty-two grams; making it the world’s lightest 500ml heat-set container on the market!  The 33mm light weight finish helps achieve this dramatic reduction by using 50% less material than the traditional 38mm. Additionally the base design utilizes Amcor’s patented VAB technology, a diaphragm style pushup that aids in the cooling process.  The container’s unique architecture features an ergonomic, functional and easy-to-squeeze bottle shape which provides superior rigidity regardless of the extreme lightweight outcome.  The athlete-first design combined with the strong Gatorade branding creates a dynamic shelf presence with added customer appeal and brand boosting power.  Additional benefits of this packaging are substantial ecological savings, lower operational costs, and a reduced carbon footprint highlighting Amcor and PepsiCo’s commitment to sustainability.
 
 
CATEGORY: Beverages, Non-Alcoholic
Pepsi Proprietary Glass Bottle
PepsiCo
The new Pepsi Glass Bottle is a visually stunning form that reinforces Pepsi brand cues and embodies the spirit of "Live for Now." The new glass bottle presents a premium image suitable for high end, on-premise usage in restaurants, pubs and clubs, and its structure provides an ideal grip area that perfectly fits the contours of the hand.
 
 
CATEGORY: Beverages, Non-Alcoholic
Magneflex Tea Dispenser & Storage System
Planet Canit, LLC
Rishi Tea and Planet Canit collaborated to create the revolutionary “Magneflex” tea dispenser & storage system.  Dispensers, joined by a unique magnet-to-frame arrangement, are adaptable to a retail establishment’s space requirements offering flexibility over traditional “racked” displays. Each dispenser has a freshness-fit cover, product positioning sleeve and ergonomic finger-friendly dispensing. Its structure and functionality make it more flexible, less bulky, and sturdier than traditional systems. 100% recyclable and designed to be reused.
 
 
CATEGORY: Cosmetics
Scene Bottle
Fusion Packaging
Scene is a patent-pending package that provides a shatterproof, clear and glass-like shade base ideal for foundations, primers, alphabet creams, and formulas with unique coloring. The base allows customers to preview formulas while on display or at point of sale, creating a quick and convenient shade matching experience. Uniquely comprised of two resins, the package features a polypropylene (PP) barrel and PCTG base. The result is a lightweight, single-walled atmospheric bottle that is universally appealing.
 
 
CATEGORY: Drug & Pharmaceutical
TRUVIVITY by NUTRILITE Telescoping Package
Amway Corporation
An allegory to its brand promise ‘Beauty From Within’, telescoping packages bring unexpected luxury to a category ruled by underwhelming aesthetics. Proprietary design includes telescoping sleeve, reveal cover, tray with slotted insert and leaf-shaped blister packs. Innovative finishes like Liquid Soft Feel™, Liquid Lustre™ and Pearl Overlay add elegance and protection with efficient, one-pass printing. Global unification of components optimizes supply chain.
 
 
CATEGORY: Drug & Pharmaceutical
Target ClearRx V2
Berry Plastics
What was touted as the "Design of the Decade" by the IDSA, has received some improvements. Changes to this already impressive package include the patented, Tab-II closure, which created a 50% material reduction and PP colored identification rings, allowing for a fully recyclable package. This prescription vial is now more efficient than ever, but also more effective - users now have the option to stand the package on the bottle or the closure to accommodate for user preferences. Behind the counter, the pharmacists have fewer SKUs to maintain with overall component reduction of 32 parts, down to 14.
 
 
CATEGORY: Drug & Pharmaceutical
Nasacort® Allergy 24 Hr
Rohrer Corporation in Support of Chattem/Sanofi
The new NasacortAllergy 24 HR Nasal Allergy Spray package executed by Rohrer Corporation for Chattem/Sanofi US is an innovative design that is unique to the Over-the-Counter/Pharmaceutical industry. Typical packaging options in the OTC/Pharmaceutical industry include rigid thermoformed plastic sealed to cards or cartons. The Nasacort® package breaks this trend with a design that includes a fold-over blister card aimed to maximize billboard space while simultaneously minimizing material usage. The fold-over blister card design is only partially covering the bottle with ECL, pump and modern blue cap, which is contained within the distinctive thermoformed ‘N.’ This distinguishing design boldly displays the product and demands attention on the crowded OTC shelf.
 
 
CATEGORY: Electronics
Vizio M2.1 Speakerbar
Unisource Global Solutions for Vizio
Vizio has launched their new M2.1 Speakerbar System in a unique, eye-catching structure that adds functional benefits to the consumer experience, while offering greatly improved shipping efficiency, environmental benefits, and cost savings.
 
 
CATEGORY: Food, Refrigerated
Butterball Farms Butter Sculptures
Butterball Farms
Butterball Farms looked to Display Pack when they needed a solution to packaging their butter sculptures. We were able to provide them with an innovative and attractive solution—a package that is also a mold for the butter sculpture! We created a package structure that would allow the customer to mold the butter directly into the clamshell, process the product, and then place the clamshell in a die-cut, un-windowed carton. The molded butter is encased in the clamshell from the time it is molded until the customer opens the clamshell to serve the butter.
 
 
CATEGORY: Food, Shelf Stable
Fisher Party Peanut PrimaPakTM Package
Clear Lam Packaging, Inc.
The PrimaPak™ package is the first of its kind flexible, stackable, and reclosable “pop-up box” produced from custom rollstock on vertical form-fill-seal (VFFS) machinery. Designed as a replacement for rigid cans, bottles, trays, jars, and select flexible packaging, the PrimaPak™ package is lightweight, stackable, and merchandises on six sides. As a result, the PrimaPak™ technology improves the package cube up to 30 percent or more, maximizes manufacturing efficiencies, and improves warehousing space and transportation demands.  Each benefit offers multiple opportunities to achieve measurable cost savings and sustainability improvements throughout the supply chain. The package is ideal for a variety of foods, such as nuts, snacks, crackers, produce, cookies, dried meats, candies, chocolates, cereals, cheese, meats, and non-food applications such as pet snacks, personal healthcare items or detergent pods.
 
 
CATEGORY: Food, Shelf Stable
Special K Nourish
Kellogg
This unique and exciting new package takes hot cereal eating to a whole new level.  The concept was heavily influenced by consumers who wanted greater ability to customize their hot cereal especially in the areas of taste and texture.  While additives in hot cereal is not a new concept the top cap with its two ingredient cells allows the consumer to not only see the type, amount and quality of additives, but by adding the additives after the heating process, maintain the texture of them, thus enhancing the eating experience.  The package design provides multiple opportunities to quickly introduce new flavor variations based upon consumer feedback and/or marketing demographics.  The package provides excellent visual appeal on shelf providing differentiation from other hot cereal products and connoting its position as a premium product.
 
 
CATEGORY: Food, Shelf Stable
Special K Red Berries Club Pack
Kellogg Company
This package is an exciting innovation to the world of Club Ready to Eat Cereal. It delivers on the major consumer barriers and complaints to the cereal category specifically in club channels. The smaller sized bags and horizontal orientation results in longer, more controlled freshness along with easier pantry management at homes.

 
 
 
CATEGORY: Food, Shelf Stable
Wonka Chocolate Bar with Printpack’s Full Access Reseal-it® (Macfarlane
Printpack)
The 100g Wonka chocolate bars are wrapped in a new, clever package with an innovative opening and resealing mechanism. This debut solution guarantees a hermetic seal for product freshness and tamper evidence for consumer safety.  The seal peels open the 360 degree circumfrance around the bar, creating a “lid” opening that can then be folded over and resealed.  It allows the consumer to open the package and reseal it easily should they want to save some for later, while keeping the remaining part fresh.
 
 
 
CATEGORY: Health & Beauty Aids
Gillette Venus Snap
think4D Inc. / Procter & Gamble
Featuring think4D technology to provide a life like representation of the innovative new mini razor, the Gillette Snap packaging is cost effective and environmentally responsible with 73% less plastic, a 27% weight reduction and 53% less packaging materials than previous Venus Packaging while substantially decreasing the package’s carbon footprint. The think4D technology used on this snap packaging creates a tactile, multi-sensory, consumer experience, leveraging the memory effect of sensory branding.
 
 
CATEGORY: Health & Beauty Aids
Bodycology Blackberry
Viva Healthcare Packaging
Injection molded tube with in-mold label with a very shelf-impacting, shiny metallic 3D and photographic quality rendering.
 
 
CATEGORY: Household Products
3M Headlight Restoration System
3M
The new package design improves upon the previous in many ways, from cost efficiencies and improved sustainability while still satisfying the DIY Automotive users.
 
 
 
CATEGORY: Household Products
Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle
Procter & Gamble
Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle is a 2.5x concentrated Multi-Purpose Cleaner that introduces an innovative dosing cap.The closure is designed to deliver a fixed dose of product with one squeeze. It works via a timer mechanism to measure and shut off the fluid stream when the right dose is reached. This allows the consumer to have better control and always ensures the right dose is delivered every time!
 
 
CATEGORY: Household Products
Whirlpool® Water EveryDrop™ Portable Water Filter
Sonoco Alloyd
The EveryDrop filter conveys elegance, convenience and elite status with its soft-touch coating and soothing colors. The illusion of the floating filter heightens the product’s new-age design, usage and features. With complete 360° view of the filter and carrying case, shoppers are able to thoroughly inspect the modern product design without negotiating package security. A separate chamber area just below the travel case houses the product’s micro-contaminant replacement filter.
 
 
CATEGORY: Industrial / Commercial
Ecolab Oasis Pro® 2L Pouch
Ampac
Oasis Pro® Housekeeping System is a comprehensive, easy-to-use, closed-loop dispensing system for consistent proper dilution of high performance cleaning products. Its flexible packaging reduces plastic waste by 80 percent compared to traditional containers and ready-to-use solutions. It uses less packaging with less freight waste. Ecolab uses a unique collapsible bag with self-closing port to offer a closed loop dispensing system to limit contact with the chemistry while also minimizing waste.
 
 
 
CATEGORY: Industrial / Commercial
Ecolab Collapsible Hand Care Packaging Platform
Ecolab
Ecolab’s closed loop Collapsible Hand Care Packaging Platform made up of a custom bottle and pump offer an innovative and effective solution to unit dose hand care dispensing. This new collapsible system is capable of dispensing up to 99% of product largely due to the bottles collapse profile and the pumps custom design.
 
 
CATEGORY: Industrial / Commercial
Blue Tube UV Package
Plastic Ingenuity / Triatomic
Plastic Ingenuity designed a new thermoformed package for a germicidal UV light to replace an existing package that provides shock and crush protection, easy loading, flexibility to hold multiple diameter products, provide good product visibility, and the ability to either stand the package upright or hang on a peg hook for retail display. The package consists of an outer sleeve printed with useful information, an inner tray designed to better protect the UV lamp and other parts, and end caps to secure the product and provide tamper resistance.
 
 
 
CATEGORY: Industrial / Commercial
New Cruiser 5FS 15 gal Closed System Blow Molded Container
Syngenta, LLC
The new Taylor-Cain S15 blow molded/injected molded closed system container replaces an existing 15 gal rotationally molded closed system container to take advantage of a lower unit cost, lower transportation costs, reduced lead-times, increased production capacity and half the tare weight, while still delivering the required product protection, package distribution and warehousing, as well as, the user functional needs. The container itself is blow molded and the top and bottom chimes are injection molded. This new container, because of the light weight, is also easier and safer for workers to lift and use.
 
 
CATEGORY: Industrial / Commercial
Zodiac Aero Evacuation Systems America – A350 Program Evacuation System
Victory Packaging
“Zodiac Aerospace is a world leader in aerospace equipment and systems for commercial, regional and business aircraft, as well as helicopters and space applications. The Zodiac Evacuation Systems Division is the only company in the world to offer a comprehensive range of inflatable safety products. Zodiac Aerospace is a world leader for civil aviation evacuation slides, life rafts, life vests and helicopter emergency flotation equipment.” The A350 Evacuation System packaging combines innovation, product protection, ergonomic and packaging process solutions and waste minimization into one clever design.  It utilizes a flanged tube with the flanges folded at a ninety degree angle to provide side impact strength.  The heat treated wood pallet is custom designed for use with a specialized hand truck and the front of the pack opens so that the part can be loaded without a lift assist.
 
 
CATEGORY: Medical Device
ACUITY® Pro Lead Delivery System
Boston Scientific, Inc.
Boston Scientific’s ACUITY® Pro lead delivery system package addresses concerns regarding predicate packaging size and functionality. The team prioritized voice-of-customer inputs during tray and lid designing. The tray utilizes innovative features including knurling surface patterns and catheter curve-containment channels to improve interface and protective properties. A 200% volume reduction provides a 315% palletization and sales bag load efficiency increase, while sterilization costs dropped 50%. Material reductions yielded significant savings per saleable unit.
 
 
CATEGORY: Medical Device
Prent Corporation /Volcano Corp
Prent Corporation
The Verrata Tray is an excellent choice for the AmeriStar Award in the field of Medical Device packaging. The tray provides protection and support for the Verrata product, and functions with the product as part of its preparation for use.
 
 
CATEGORY: Medical Device
SoTube ® / SoSafe ® : double-sterile barrier packaging
Selenium Medical
SoTube/SoSafe are two innovative solutions, nested tubes based, for implants double-sterile barrier packaging. They ensure nurses and surgeons easy handling of package and implant as well as a pioneer “No Touch” approach right up to the point of surgery.
 
 
CATEGORY: Other
Boston Scientific Tear Tab
Boston Scientific
Boston Scientific’s Tear Tab took a business tool required for BSC restocking and turned it into a feature that provides benefits to our customers.  Our customers can use the attached tab to help open the carton's tuck flap. In fast-paced emergent situations where seconds count, gaining access to the medical device inside the cartons is critical.  Our customers thanked us for making their jobs easier with this innovative design.
 
 
 
CATEGORY: Other
Hypertherm Tamper-Evident, Anti-Counterfeiting Clamshell
Placon
Once filled, the recycled PET clamshell, developed by Placon in partnership with Hypertherm, is welded affixing the lid with graphic card to a perforated area on the base of the thermoform. Once opened, the perforated area breaks away from the base, permanently attaching itself to the interior of the lid “trapping” the graphic card. The design not only visually alerts consumers that tampering has occurred but also deters counterfeiting.
 
 
CATEGORY: Other
On-the-Go Carafe
Southern Champion Tray
SCT's On-the-Go Carafe presents a new twist on the standard bulk beverage carrier. The innovative, tower-like design of the structure consists of two elements; a corrugated outer box and an inner #2 plastic jug, both of which are recyclable if facilities exist in your area.  Improved features, such as a new location of the spout and inset handle allow a strong grip for a steady, single-handed pour.
 
 
CATEGORY: Other
Brita Pitcher Open-Sided Carton
The Clorox Company
The new Brita Open-Sided Carton is a packaging system that consists of a carton tray and band containing a pitcher protected by shrink film.  This open-sided design enabled a significant material waste reduction from the previous packaging while preventing damage by allowing shoppers to see the actual pitcher without opening the carton. The result is a package that clearly celebrates the beautiful pitcher design in a format that easily communicates the size, shape, and features of the product.
 
 
CATEGORY: Promotional / Display
A Sesame® Tape Solution for Quaker Oats Real Medleys Retail-Ready Packaging
Quaker Oats / International Paper / H. B. Fuller
Quaker Oats wanted a retail-ready shipping solution for its Real Medleys single-serve oatmeal. It needed to provide a positive brand image, robust product protection and material savings, and enable packing automation. Working together, Quaker Oats, H.B. Fuller and International Paper designed a sustainable package that’s easy to produce and dispose, provides robust protection, material reduction by 35%, reduces stocking time and meets increasing retailer demand for a well-designed, shelf-ready display.
 
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