DUPONT AWARD Celebrating Sustainable Innovation

INNOVATIVE vacuum packaging that reduces food waste by keeping meat looking and staying fresh longer took top honours in DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. Retail packaging that boosts shelf appeal, a robust packaging recycling project and modular industrial packaging that cuts waste and cost captured gold and silver honours.

Several leading brands – Heinz, Kraft, Pepperidge Farm, Cadbury and Unilever – also took home diamond, gold or silver awards in the 24th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, the industry's longestrunning, global, independently judged celebration of innovation and collaboration throughout the value chain.

The 2012 Diamond winner exemplifies the role packaging plays in helping to feed a growing population around the world. "FreshCase packaging technology for meat, selected by the jurors as this year's Diamond winner, addresses the important effort to help ensure food maintains its nutritional value and freshness," said William J. Harvey, president of DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers. "In the face of a growing population with limited resources, food waste from spoilage must be greatly reduced, and innovative packaging solutions will play a critical role in that story."

An expert panel evaluated 200 entries from 21 countries and awarded one diamond winner, five gold winners and 10 silver winners based on "excellence" in one, two or all three categories: Innovation, Sustainability and Cost/Waste Reduction.

Diamond Winner Extends Meat Shelf Life
FreshCase packaging is the first-ever, vacuum package for red meat that maintains the meat's appetising colour through a found-innature proprietary additive in the contact layer of the barrier package.

Traditional vacuum-packaged meat is "purple," deemed distasteful by many consumers who equate colour with freshness. The packaging also extends shelf life 10 times longer than store-wrapped meat. The combination of longer shelf life and more appetising appearance promises to both reduce food waste and increase the availability of proteins in areas further away from food sources.

As an alternative for modified atmosphere (MAP) master packs and packages using EPS/PVC resin technology that dominate the case ready meat segment, FreshCase enables 75% less markdowns/waste than store-wrapped meats, less landfill waste and reduces packaging materials up to 75%, compared to other case-ready formats, thereby improving sustainability. FreshCase by Curwood, Inc - A Bemis Division – USA

Gold for Excellence in Innovation and Waste Reduction
An outstanding example of how innovation can be simple and affordable for consumers, whilst making a splash on store shelves, the new package design for Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats thin rolls and Goldfish Sandwich Bread (Flats) brings life to the bakery aisle and radically changes how bread is displayed.

This new package features a horizontal flow wrap package made of a film lamination that provides excellent seal strength, tear resistance, increased barrier for longer shelf life and, with a reverse printing process, outstanding shelf appeal. Traditional closures are replaced with a pressure-sensitive Sealstrip closure that provides excellent resealability, ensuring that the product stays fresh. Removal of the tray component enables 65% less material to be used, and 25% more packages can be shipped in the same amount of space as the original package, resulting in reduced transportation costs. Pepperidge Farm; CP Flexible Packaging; Printpack, Inc; Sealstrip Corporation – USA

Gold for Excellence in Sustainability and Waste Reduction Ciclo Verde Taeq, a white tea brand from Grupo P?o de A?úcar, is a closed-loop system that brings recycled materials into the production of high-value products instead of being used to make lower value articles and enables societal benefits. This begins with the collection of recyclable materialAir Max 90 LTHR Suede