DuPont (dupont.com) has announced its 2017 winners of the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, honoring companies that have demonstrated major advancements in packaging technology to address the diverse and particular needs of consumers in markets around the world.

This year’s Diamond Award, the highest honor, was awarded to the Fritz™ Water Vest, which allows people in developing countries to carry up to 20 pounds of water easily and safely. Judges felt this is an out-of-the-box solution for a significant global problem and was designed with an overwhelming sense of the greater good. The vest is antimicrobial, ergonomic and reusable.

“The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation demonstrate how creative, committed and agile the packaging industry is in addressing global issues and consumer needs,” says Bernard Rioux, global packaging leader, DuPont Performance Materials. “This year’s winners included solutions for novel food storage, fermenting food products, premium beauty products, new packaging materials to target millennials and more. This competition brings out the very best of everyone in the packaging industry, and we are thrilled to see innovators raising the bar each year.”

Now in its 29th year, the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is the industry’s longest running, global, independently judged celebration of innovation and collaboration throughout the value chain and is recognized globally as the leading awards program in the sector. The international competition honors innovations in packaging design, materials, technology and processes. An independent panel of packaging experts evaluated nearly 150 entries from 24 countries and recognized those that excel in the categories of technological advancement, responsible packaging and enhanced user experience. In addition to the award noted above, the judges awarded five diamond finalist award winners, nine gold winners and six silver winners based on “excellence” in one, two or three categories.

 “The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is exciting because of the global nature of the competition. It is objective, you don’t have to use DuPont materials, and there is no entry fee,” says Lead Judge David Luttenberger, CPP, global packaging director of Mintel Group Ltd. “DuPont brings a great variety of disciplines of expertise for the judging panel to really get a global perspective across design, engineering, retail, converting, and academia, which helps us hone in on what’s important and what’s valuable about packaging.”

2017 DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation Winners (Click here for complete descriptions and images.)

Diamond Winner

• Fritz™ Water Vest (Solutions Inc., USA)

Diamond Finalists

• Compostable “Pizza Pod” (Zume Pizza, USA)
• Cryovac® OptiDure™ Abuse Bag (Sealed Air, USA)
• Light-weight sustainable agrochemical auto-stackable 15L PET containers (Dow AgroSciences, Germany)
• MGI JETvarnish 3D Digital Decoration Process for Folding Cartons & Labels from Marrs Printing & Packaging (MGI, USA)
• Plantic™ R: Ultra-high barrier renewable and recyclable packaging material (Kuraray [Plantic Technologies Ltd.], Australia)

Gold Winners

• Design realization with breakthrough technology enhancing productivity and less footprint (AMOREPACIFIC, South Korea)
• Ice Cream Mini Cup 140ml: Closure PP In Mold Label with spoon inside, Cardboard Cup and Alu/PE sealing (FRONERI, Brazil)
• Insignia Freshtag (Insignia Technologies, UK)
• MosquitoPaQ™ OUTDOOR ZONE no-bite SPATIAL Repellent Pouch (PPi Technologies GROUP, USA)
• New packaging combining tradition and science (CJ Cheiljedang, South Korea)
• Peelfit™ Can (CROWN Food Europe, France)
• PepsiCo’s Granola Goes Nuts Cross – Directional Laser Scored Flow Wrapper (PepsiCo and Printpack, USA)
• Skol Beats Secret – Red Glass (Owens Illinois, Brazil)
• Vento™: Advanced coffee packaging with integrated degassing system (Amcor Flexibles, Switzerland)

Silver Winners

• Direct Object Printing for Full Package Decoration (Plastipak Packaging, Inc., USA)
• Farmacy Beauty – Honey Potion Renewing Antioxidant Hydration Mask (VP+C, USA)
• “FUJI・M・O”, Flexible packaging for the inkjet-gravure hybrid printing machine (FUJI TOKUSHU SHIGYO CO., LTD, Japan)
• How2Recycle®, the next generation recycling label for packaging (GreenBlue, USA)
• Kellogg’s® Nutri-Grain® Bakery Delights Tactile Packaging (Bemis Company, Inc., USA)
• Lightweight 20-ounce Vitaminwater® container with PowerStrap™ and Active Hinge™ technologies (Amcor Rigid Plastics, USA)

Click here for complete descriptions and images of every 2017 DuPont Award for Packaging Innovation winners.