One-hundred and seventeen entries from 31 Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC) www.ppcnet.org   members were judged as part of the 68th annual National Paperboard Packaging Competition. The best in paperboard packaging over the past year were honored in a special awards ceremony at PPC’s Fall Meeting and Leadership Conference on October 14, 2011 in Orlando, FL.  

Seven industry leaders and designers in the packaging field adjudicated this year’s competition, which took place over the course of three days in July at PPC headquarters in Springfield, MA.

‘Bring on the Gold’ wins gold

This year, the top National Paperboard Package of the Year award was presented to Graphic Packaging International, Marietta, GA, for its limited-edition Cheerios Bring on the Gold 2010 Olympics Hockey Shoot Out cereal box, which featured a 3-D interactive hockey game on its back panel. Even though the intricate game has many complex pieces, the carton was designed in such a way that it could be run through General Mills’ high-speed packaging line, thus keeping costs to a minimum and getting the product to market quickly.

Graphic Packaging was also awarded the Folding Carton of the Year and the prestigious Innovation Award for its Mars Chocolate’s Valentine Heart family of packages. Each unique, heart-shaped box was glued to hold a bag of M&M’s in place and then hand-locked via a tab on its back panel. To keep the smallest carton from tearing when loading the M&M’s bag, Graphic Packaging designed an innovative die-cut relief area that was glued for added strength.

 “The top winning entries this year are exceptional examples of what kind of ingenious packaging structures can be created with paperboard, which is unique in that it is a sustainable, recyclable, and renewable substrate,” says Kim Guarnaccia, Director of Marketing and Communications for PPC and the coordinator of the competition.