The UK Packaging Awards in London saw the Accolade Park NPD team take home an award on 27 October. These Awards are unique in recognising excellence in every area of the packaging supply chain.
The Accolade Park NPD team entered the Packaging Development Team of the Year category. This new award is open exclusively to packaging development teams at brands and retailers and is designed to reward the team that has shown consistent innovation and quality in the packaging through the year.
“I am proud to announce that we won! When announcing the award, the NPD team were recognised as being head and shoulders above the other nominees and for being a talented and creative team.” Said Donna Ross, Operations Planning Manager.
The winners are chosen by a panel of the most influential experts in packaging development, design and business. They feature heads of packaging and senior packaging experts from a wide range of household-name brands and retailers, as well as consumer research, finance and business experts.
For the submission, Anita Patel, Packaging Development Manager assembled examples of projects which demonstrate a collaborative approach and world class innovation. They were:
Mud House 4 Pack – Krones stated that a 4 pack could not be automated using existing machinery. Our in-house engineers embraced this challenge. They worked collaboratively with development and suppliers and proved it could be done. For the first time we have automated a pack size other than 6‐packs for 75cl bottles. This project was a result of listening to our customer (Tesco) and working with them to create a promotional case deal.
Banrock BIB Wooden box – to emphasise the brand’s ‘green’ credentials as we do with bottles, we designed a wine box which looked like a wooden crate. Working with our supplier we used Kraftliner, litho printing, ‘scorched’ wood effect printed edges and embossing tools to mimic traditional ‘branding’ of wood using hot irons (this was also shortlisted for Branding Project of the Year at the Awards)
Haymaker Lions Label and Carton – By making intelligent choices around material types, we achieved the original concept, saved on cost, reduced lead times and avoided creating a ‘special’ substrate specification (with associated MOQs) which also eliminated the need for line trials.
Mud House 1.5ltr – Taller, slimmer, 8 sided pack with striking graphics, creating a premium look. Our customer merchandised these next to bottles, which is unheard of within the BIB category. This pack was automated from box make up to palletisation
Anakena – This was our first label with multi-level emboss and foil combined within our portfolio. Printed on black coated paper, using an uncommon foil shade to meet the original design brief. We created a specification of paper substrate based on our liner and adhesive requirements.
“The Award is a testament to the hard work that the team put in every day to ensure we have product differentiation and quality in all of our packaging”, said Peter Ball, Product Implementation Manager.
“We were the only non-packaging company to win an award which is a fantastic achievement and I am looking forward to demonstrating our excellence in packaging development at next year’s awards”, said Mike Bullock, Packaging Development Manager.
