Winners in Pro Carton/ECMA Award 2013 named

The winners in the 2013 Pro Carton/ECMA Award competition have been announced, with Carton of the Year going to the Twinkle Box champagne packaging produced by Van Genechten Angoulême.

Nearly a third of the entries to the Pro Carton/ECMA Award were new in 2013. The awards were presented on September 19 at the ECMA Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Prizes were awarded in eight categories: Box Femme Fatale eau de parfum (pictured, below) won in the beauty and cosmetics category, and was produced by Antilope using its recently installed Highcon Euclid digital cutting and creasing system; the beverages prize went to Biercée Gin, produced by Smurfit Kappa Van Mierlo; confectionery was won by Nut Box produced by Du Caju Printing; pharmaceuticals went to the Nicorette Pandora Box, produced by A&R Carton; shelf ready and display packaging was claimed by the Coverit Samples Display, produced by Lucaprint; food was won by the Party Packaging Lovely Cookies entry produced by Remmert Dekker; non-food went to the Sloggi Men Match entry, produced by MWV Graz; and the volume market cartons prize was won by the Kleenex "slim" pack for facial tissues entry, produced by MMP CP Schmidt.

These entries were produced using materials from a number of suppliers, including MeadWestvaco, Sappi, Iggesund Paperboard, Stora Enso and Metsä Board.

Carton of the Year was awarded to the Twinkle Box, produced by Van Genechten Angoulême using material from Stora Enso and Mayr-Melnhof Karton.

The entry was designed as isotherm packaging for the Diamond Collection of Moët & Chandon, and keeps the champagne chilled for up to two hours. The Twinkle Box also only covers approximately two-thirds of the bottle, and the champagne can be poured directly with the bottle in the chilled box.

The judging panel said the diamond pattern of the packaging “makes it unmistakeable”, while the “distinguished ribbon for carrying conveys an air of casual chic”.

Most Innovative Design was awarded to the Deltaclip International, produced by Schut Hoes Cartons using Stora Enso cartonboard.

The design emulates the function of a paper clip, and is manufactured in large quantities and folded asymmetrically.

The Sustainability prize was awarded to the ChocOlé entry, produced by Van Genechten Nicolaus, Cologne on Metsä Board material.

Further a President’s Special Award was presented to the entry Illuminated packaging for Bombay Sapphire, produced by Karl Knauer KG and Rox Asia Consultancy using Tullis Russell cartonboard.

Satkar Gidda, chairman of the judging panel, said: ‘It is fair to say that this was a very intensive judging session, simply because the quality of the entries caused much debate.

‘What was remarked more than once was the attention to detail in many of the entries and we could see that consumer benefit, functional, aesthetic or both, had been considered.

‘We saw total integrated thinking such as carrying the product characteristics through onto the packaging which serves perfectly to help communicate the brand values and brand qualities.’

The winning cartons and other shortlisted entries are to be displayed in the Package Printing Workshop feature area at Labelexpo Europe 2013, taking place September 24-27 in Brussels, Belgium.

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