Flexible packaging for consumable goods, a liqueur bottle display stand and a supermarket brochure scooped up eight of the major awards at the recent Pride In Print awards in Wellington, with the 3D display cardboard display box taking home a newly created Structural Design award.
Gravure Packaging in Wellington had two category and a best in process win. The company took home best in category for flexible packing and best gravure process for its Whittaker’s Dark Almond 250g block.
It went on to win best in the industry development and creativity category for its innovative, new release Greenseal flexible packaging, currently used for both sugar and soap products, which it claims will potentially save tonnes of PET plastic film, petrochemical wax and glue from landfill.
APC Innovate, of Auckland, won the structural design award, best print finishing process and best in category for finishing for its Jagermeister three shelf display stand.
Ovato NZ won best in category for industry development and creativity, plus best web heatset process for a 44-page New World supermarket brochure with internal gate folds that was distributed to 1.3 million Kiwi letterboxes.
Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific won best in flexographic process for its Coles Mayan Gold Potatoes 1kg packaging.
A boutique winery was the winner in the best in label category for its Tortoise and the Hare 2016 Pinot Noir, entered by Auckland-based Rapid Labels, which won 13 gold medals on the night. Rapid Label’s medal tally this year put it into the newly created Pride In Print Gold Medal Winners club of 50 plus gold’s.
This club includes APC Innovate and Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific Christchurch. Ovato is one of two printers to be included in the next level up of 100 Gold Medals, joining Service Printers.
Greg Chapman, managing director of Gravure Packaging said they were very pleased with both wins, especially the industry development one, because it highlighted what they were doing in the environmental arena.
“One of our core strengths is in innovation, and with Greenseal, we were asked to improve on an already environmentally friendly soap wrapper by finding an even greener option. We’ve done this by removing all the harmful wax, plastic and glue elements in the heat sealable layer that ends up in landfill.”
The packaging is now biodegradable and recyclable so it can either go into the compost or the paper recycling bin.
Greg Nash, Business Development Manager for APC Innovate said they’d had “a pretty good evening” with 10 gold’s and three major awards.
“We do enter a lot into the awards, but it’s the first year we’ve won a process, category and a new structural design award all at one event.”
He said he was pleasantly surprised that the Jagermeister stand won because they’d entered quite a number but this one obviously had the ‘wow’ factor for judges, even though “it’s something we do every day.”
Packaging and structural design was a big growth area in the industry because digital formats and cutting tables made innovation in display more possible, he said.
“You’ve got to have the wow factor in 3D structural display and promotional space these days.”
Awards manager Sue Archibald says the 2020 awards will have two packaging categories, soft and flexible and rigid packaging.
“Packaging is a big growth area in New Zealand, and we are seeing some amazing products which Pride In Print is all about showcasing. Product diversity is on the rise and with New Zealand being a country that forever pushes boundaries we are seeing some spectacular results.”
She said companies, their designers and printers/packaging experts were working collaboratively working together in this sector to maximise their products, and it is an area that is only going to grow further.
