Aseptic bottle design wins KHS award

FILLING and packaging systems manufacturer KHS has named the winner of its design challenge competition for 2018. The company which launched the student competition together with the School of Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Münster, Germany last year, tasked participants to come up with ideas for aseptic bottles specially for sensitive products.

Students developed 3D models, a brand image and marketing strategy for different beverages, some of which were invented by the students themselves.

The bottles were judged in July by the school’s professors, Torsten Wittenberg and Rüdiger Quass von Deyen, and by KHS’ bottle design experts. The awards were then presented at the University of Applied Sciences in Münster on November 22.

“Developing germ-free bottles is a big challenge. The students’ designs are of a very high quality this year, too, and more than satisfy the requirements of the task they were set,” said Arne Wiese, Bottles & Shapes product manager at KHS Corpoplast GmbH in Hamburg.

Birch tree water packaged in germ-free PET from grand prize winner the Bereza team.

The winners

Students designed bottles with capacities between 180ml and 750ml capacities. They were free to choose the size and shape and the flavour of the content: from alcohol-free punch through tea with added fruit to fruity slush a whole range of beverages was presented, all of which contain ingredients which necessitate aseptic filling.

The Bereza design ultimately topped all other entries. The product, water extracted from birch trees, promises a natural experience and absolute purity which is retained by the germ-free bottle. “Thanks to the curved ornaments worked into the material the design is reminiscent of the leaves and roots of a tree. This well-coordinated concept from product to bottle had us convinced,” said Arne Wiese.

The second placer was the Kinko design, a set of two bottles containing a relaxing and an invigorating fruit juice beverage, and in third place, the Quokka, a cold coffee brew with added fruit.

KHS guides the student designers

The projects were developed in close cooperation between KHS and the students. In addition to a trip to the production shop in Hamburg, the budding designers profited from permanent supervision by KHS experts. “The students were very thankful for the opportunity to confer closely with their KHS mentors. This gave rise to a number of interesting specialist discussions with our experts which both sides benefitted from,” confirms Wiese. The students’ designs are also to be shown to select customers who will be asked to indicate their interest in the new products. Based on the good results of the competitions held to date, KHS aims to again invite entries for the award in 2019