Rethinking Materials has crowned Kalpana as the winner of its global innovation challenge launched in partnership with Kraft Heinz.

The competition, led by Kraft Heinz’s R&D packaging team, invited innovators and material scientists from around the world to present cutting-edge solutions that deliver enhanced barrier performance for food protection and extended shelf life.

More than 80 entrants from 25 countries submitted their technologies. After a rigorous selection process, three finalists – Kalpana Systems, Pack2Earth, and Aptar – were chosen to pitch their solutions live on stage to a panel of senior Kraft Heinz executives, who further explored the viability of each innovation in a Q&A session before naming their winner.

What impressed the judges most about Kalpana’s winning solution was its customized barrier solution that could deliver against important shelf-life requirements.

Linda Roman, Director of Packaging at Kraft Heinz and North America R&D Fellow said: “At Kraft Heinz we believe that collaboration is key to driving meaningful impact, and we’re excited to provide feedback and insight to Kalpana to unlock new innovations to evolve our packaging journey. The passion, creativity and ingenuity of all three finalists has been inspiring to see and it fills me with optimism for a more sustainable future for food packaging.”

As part of the prize, Kalpana will be invited to Kraft Heinz’s R&D facilities to receive strategic feedback and mentorship from its Global Innovation team. This support includes guidance on technical scale-up, regulatory compliance, and commercialization pathways.

The Global Innovation Challenge was a highlight feature of the Rethinking Materials summit, which gathers industry leaders, start-ups, investors, and policymakers to accelerate the development and adoption of sustainable material solutions for consumer goods.

For more information about the summit and the Kraft Heinz Innovation Challenge, visit www.rethinkingmaterials.com.