The Excellence Awards – hear from the judges

The jury has sat and the tension is mounting but the finalists won’t be revealed until the beginning of August.  But here’s a sneak preview of the jury’s initial thoughts immediately after their meeting:

• Satkar Gidda from the international brand and packaging design consultancy SiebertHead, chairman of the jury: “I particularly like several examples where the originality of thought was there. You can combine that with creativity to create a real wonderful expression of packaging design and a piece of communication with the consumer. The originality of thought was great and the attention to detail is even more impressive than ever before.”
• Designer Susanne Lippitsch concurs: “I also agree it is incredible that you always see genuinely new designs, there is always something you haven’t seen before. I like the challenge every year and I am really pleased with the number of great entries.”
• Lotte Krekels from retailer Carrefour, Belgium: “It’s always a surprise because of the amount of creativity. You can see the trend moving to Save the Planet, to a more sustainable way of thinking. You really feel this with all the entries that they say we reduce plastic, we have another solution instead of plastic. It’s nice and it’s creative.”
• Andrea Bottan, Regional Strategic Buyer at Nestlé: “For me it was the first time, so it was a new experience. I was impressed by the variety of packaging most of which, in fact, I’ve never seen in the shops. Overall the level was very high.”

Tony Hitchin, General Manager at Pro Carton said: “I think the amount of debate amongst the jurors was even more lively than last year.  There was a good number of entries in all the product categories with perhaps not surprisingly confectionery and luxury goods attracting the highest numbers of entries.  It’s really tough to select the finalists and the winners as all the entries have something to commend themselves.  But the judges always ended up reaching a consensus about which were the very best of the best.” Horst Bittermann, the new President of Pro Carton commented: “The Award is the most important event in our industry because it showcases the entire diversity of the European cartonboard and carton industry every year. We are therefore constantly developing the Award further, and this time we have revised the categories to better reflect the actual market segments.” Horst added: “Cartons are a powerful sales-promoting packaging material and contribute to environmental protection by reducing damage to the packaged product and food waste. Cartonboard as a material is produced from renewable resources, is biodegradable and almost completely recyclable - all these characteristics embody the recycling economy that we should strive for in all areas.” The entire Supply Chain joins in the vote Once the finalists have been announced, in early August, you will be able to have your say by casting your vote on the public voting page at www.procarton.com.  You can check out the most innovative ideas the folding carton market has to offer, vote and share your favourites amongst your friends and colleagues.  And one lucky voter will win an iPad Air!