A dozen packaging producers across Australia and New Zealand won Gold at Australasia's peak packaging awards programme – the Packaging Innovation and Design Awards – held at a gala event in Sydney last night.
The winners represent the cream of the crop in packaging design innovation and industry contribution for 2019. There were awards for both products and people. Sustainability was the key theme of the awards and the night, as the packaging industry moves to its 2025 recycling target.
Among those taking Gold was Impact International for a sugar-cane based recyclable tube in the health, beauty and wellness category, with Currie Group also hitting Gold for its innovative multimedia Rhino cover of PKN Packaging News.
Pact Group took Gold in both beverage and circular economy categories for its 100 per cent recycled rPET milk bottle range. Danone won Gold in the food category for an infant baby food pouch. The first flexible packaged fluid for automatives produced by Nulon Products and Caps & Closures took Gold in househod and domestic category.
Packaging Professional of the Year winner was well-known innovator Joe Foster, co-founder and director of OF Packaging, who said "There is always a way to get things done."
Some 200 packaging industry professionals gathered at the Sofitel Wentworth to celebrate the award winners in this year's Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design Awards (PIDA), which recognise companies and individuals making a significant difference in their field across Australia and New Zealand.
The PIDAs, which are co-ordinated by the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) and Packaging New Zealand, are the exclusive feeder program for the prestigious WorldStar Packaging Awards. The 2019 PIDA winners will automatically be eligible for entry into the 2020 WorldStar awards competition.
The programme comprises 11 awards in total. There are company awards for five sector categories (food; beverage; health, beauty & wellness; domestic & household; and labelling & decoration), plus three special awards for sustainable packaging design; save food packaging design and accessible packaging design. In addition, there are three awards categories recognising individuals: Young Packaging Professional; Industry Packaging Professional and the Packaging New Zealand Scholarship.