Chicago (US), May 2017 Over 400 people attended the WorldStar Awards Presentations & Gala Dinner, on May 4th, the most important global packaging competition in the world, organized by WPO (World Packaging Organization – www.worldpackaging.org). During the occasion, 140 winners were awarded from a total of 291 entries from 35 countries. Japan was the biggest winner of the night with a total of 20 trophies, followed by Germany with 18 awards. The ceremony was accomplished in the same week (May 4 - 6) of the WPO 98th Board Meeting, the first meeting of 2017, during Interpack, the major global packaging show, organized by Messe Düsseldorf, in Germany.
Besides the normal categories – Beverages, Electronics, Food, Health and Beauty, Household, Luxury, Medical and Pharmaceutical, Other, Point of Sale and Transit – there were awarded projects in special categories, those being the President´s Award, Sustainability, Marketing and the new special award, Packaging that Saves Food.
Another new category is Life Time Achievement. The judges, from all over the world, elected: Anne Emblem (UK), Dharma Ratnayake (Sri Lanka), Sergio Haberfeld (Brazil) and Soren Ostergaard (Denmark). “The Lifetime Achievement in Packaging Award was established with the aim of acknowledging and rewarding excellence in all aspects of packaging science, technology, design and application across every country around the world”, explains Thomas Schneider, WPO President.
Tom adds: “The discipline of packaging is one that is truly global. The World Packaging Organisation is in a unique position to identify leading practitioners from around the world who have consistently pushed the boundaries in advancing the art, science and application of packaging to serve the needs of an ever more demanding society. These prestigious awards will celebrate and preserve in perpetuity the collective achievements of these innovators.”
On the also new Save Food category, the Gold Star Award was given to Flexomed, from Spain for the Ethylene Absorber Bag, which reduces food loss by 3% - 9%. The process of absorbing the ethylene, delays the ripening of the fruits.
Picking up some awards during the evening were Camargo Embalagens, from Brazil, with the Capa Pack. The package was developed as part of an innovative marketing campaign of a local coffee brand. Camargo collected the Marketing category award, as well as the President’s Award.
Besides creating the new Save Food award at WorldStar, WPO also participated in the Save Food Initiative, from Messe Düsseldorf, during Interpack. According to WPO´s Sustainability & Food Safety Vice President, Johannes Bergmair, from Austria, “Save Food is a topic related to the whole supply chain that´s why 15 WPO members, from different parts of the world - Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, India, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands, UK, APO (African Packaging Organization) and APF (Asian Packaging Federation), presented packaging solutions and concepts to prevent food waste in WPO booth at the innovationparc.”
The winners of all categories of WorldStar 2017 can be viewed at www.worldstar.org and WPO webpage www.worldpackaging.org. The entries to WorldStar Packaging Awards 2018 are open for entry on 1 June with a closing date of 6 October, 2017. The online registration can be done at www.worldstar.org.
Press information and interviews request:
Liliam Benzi – ldbcom@uol.com.br - +55 11 99989-1597
The complete set of WorldStar Ceremony photographs are now available to view.
