PIDA 2023: Food Packaging Design of the Year

The Food Packaging Design of the Year award recognises organisations that have designed innovative packaging and/or materials, within food packaging and processing including fresh, frozen or other categories.

"The food manufacturing sector is one of the biggest end users of packaging, accounting for over 70 per cent of all converted packaging," said PKN managing editor & publisher Lindy Hughson, who was co-host of the 2023 PIDA awards.

"It's also a highly competitive sector, where trends are a moving feast, and a constant stream of product innovation is required to feed consumer’s changing tastes and maintain shopper interest, and thus market share.

"But the biggest demand driving packaging design comes from the requirement to package food in sustainable materials - which includes designing for recyclability and compostabitlity, while also designing to prevent food waste.

"As a result, we're seeing a rise in new sustainable, high barrier structures, across fibre-based; compostable; and monomer plastic materials, as well evidenced in this year's selection of finalists."

And the winners are...

There were two High Commendations awards for the category: Australian Organic Food Co. Minestrone Soup mono material retort pouch by Flavour Makers and Toppan Inc. ; and DualPakECO compostable food trays by Confoil and BASF

The Bronze winner was Vitor Grapes ‘hippie punnet’ by NAVI Co Global , while the Silver winner was EarthPouch High Barrier Quad Seal by Mikro Coffee Roasters and TCL Hofmann .

Topping the category with the Gold was JBS Swift Lamb Cutlets Cryovac Darfesh Mono-PET rollstock by Sealed Air

About the Gold winner:

JBS Foods Australia is Australia's largest meat and food processing company, and its Swift brand of quality lamb products have been enjoyed by families since 1855.

The winning innovation is described as a "purposefully simple design where less is more". On retail shelves dominated by printed or black packaging formats, the clear recyclable pack allows the product to be the hero and allows consumers to see both sides of the product. This, the company believes, is another reason consumers have come to trust this 168-year-old global brand. "What you see is what you get", and there's no need to dispose of a soaker pad that can commonly be found in fresh lamb retail packs.

Cryovac Darfresh mono-PET vacuum skin pack offers the combination of high barrier (low oxygen environment) together with the top web contouring the protein allowing for extended shelf life. An 18day fresh-chilled shelf life was achieved with this pack, which equates to less product waste across the value chain.

For processors, it means efficient batch manufacturing, further product distribution and enhanced sales. For retailers, it means longer merchandising periods, less retail markdowns and less waste. While for consumers, it means a longer window to consume product as the product can be frozen.

While this pack is designed to protect against food waste, it also offers sustainable packaging principles such as optimising material efficiency and design for material recycling. JBS switched to a mono-PET rollstock to address both recyclability and material efficiency. The company says the new design has proven to deliver the optimum level of protection against abuse and spoilage, without compromising product quality or safety.