PPC AWARDS

Published: April 01, 2001, By Claudia Hine, Senior Editor

A package that combines holographic foil and vivid colors is used to reflect the uniqueness of the Infusion Basketball, a new product being introduced by Spaulding Sports Worldwide.

Eye-catching graphics are just part of the reason this package won the President's Award for Inland Consumer Packaging, Leominster, MA, in the Paperboard Packaging Council's 2001 National Paperboard Packaging Competition. The side panels are used effectively to explain the features of the product, and the structural design allows consumers both to view and touch the basketball.

The PPC presented the awards for the 2001 competition at its annual spring meeting in Chicago, IL, March 19.

Mead Packaging, Atlanta, GA, received the Structural/Technical Innovation Award for the DuoStrap Can Pack. Entries in this category are submitted without graphics.

Made for Coca-Cola, this package contains a newly patented, easy-to-use handle for comfortable carrying. A patented rollout device allows for easy opening and dispensing. There is also a special device that allows the consumer to open the end panel easily.

One of the judges, Jim Peters, editor-in-chief of BrandPackaging magazine, praised the carton companies for being more responsive to consumer needs. He said more of the beverage cartons had an extra fold on the handle to protect people's hands, and other packages had features making them easier to open.

Fourteen packages received Gold Awards, and Caraustar Custom Packaging Group took five of them. The company's Randleman Carton Plant produced a beverage carton for A. Smith Bowman Distillery's Virginia Gentleman designed to replace an easy-carry bag. The judges said the carton ships well, is easy to store, looks good on the shelf, and protects the product. The reproduction of a family-owned painting of a hunt on the package is an important part of the product's marketing.

Caraustar's other winning packages were:

• Decadent Cookies Chocolate Collection for Pepperidge Farm by the Ashland Carton Plant.

• Goodie Ship and Goodie Ball Items for Kong Co. by the Denver Carton Plant.

• Car and Boat Care Products for Mequiar's Inc. by the Kingston Springs Carton Plant.

• Candy Bar Factory for Hershey Chocolate by the York Carton Plant.

Retired Union Camp executive Tony Ruvo, also a judge, said he detected an overall expansion of quality in the entries. Packaging enhancements that he normally associates with cosmetics, such as embossing and gold stamping, are now being used across the board.

Other judges for this year's competition included Dr. Kay Cooksey, associate professor, Packaging Science, Clemson Univ.; Don Crossley, retired Rock-Tenn Co. executive; Dick DePaul, president, DePaul Assoc.; Dr. Harold A. Hughes, professor, School of Packaging, Michigan State Univ.; Jeannie Spitler, freelance graphic designer; Jack Williams, retired Green Bay Packaging executive; and Nathan Franklin, packaging student, Clemson Univ.

For more information contact PPC, 201 N. Union St., Ste. 220, Alexandria, VA 22314; ph: 703/836-3300; fax: 703/836-3290.

Other Gold Award Winners

• Bert-Co Graphics, Los Angeles, CA — The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection for Fox Home Entertainment, and Greeting Card Factory Deluxe for Nova Development.

• Dixie Printing and Packaging Corp., Glen Burnie, MD — Book and Bunny Gift Pack for Frankfort Candy and Chocolate Co.

• F.M. Howell and Co., Elmira, NY — What is the Best Medicine? for Warner Lambert.

• Inland Consumer Packaging, Harrington, DE — Anheuser-Busch Budweiser Clydesdale Holiday Limited Edition Gift Set for Anheuser-Busch.

• Rock-Tenn Co., Kimball, TN — MaxFli Elite for Dunlop Slazenger Group.

• Somerville Packaging, Montreal, Que., Canada — Crown Royal “Special Reserve” for Seagram and Sons.

• Thoro Packaging, Corona, CA — Christmas Promotion for Bijan Fragrances.