Barton Group Inc. of New York has been named a winner of a 2015 Silver Edison Award for its innovative “Squeezy Straw” packaging.

For over a quarter century, the prestigious Edison Awards have recognized innovation in product and services design, sustainability and marketing, establishing itself as one of the highest accolades a company can receive in the name of innovation.

Almost 6,000 companies, products and services worldwide were considered for the 2015 Edison Awards, and 417 were nominated. Of those nominees, 166 were named finalists, and The Squeezy Straw was one of two silver award winners in the Consumer Goods – Food & Beverage Packaging Category. (The other silver award winner was Dow Chemical Company.)

“We are honored to have won this prestigious global award,” says Barton Group President Lew Barton. “Our Squeezy Straw packaging is a new single-serve dispensing pouch with its own built-in, integral sipping straw.

“By combining pouch and straw into one product, we can reduce packaging and storage costs, accommodate all kinds of liquids at all temperatures, and reduce environmental impact,” Barton explains. “In addition to liquid products like water and beverages, we are also developing new applications for semi-solids like yogurt. We’re making this patented technology available for licensing, and it is under consideration by some of the world’s leading consumer product companies.” 

The awards are named after Thomas Edison, whose extraordinary new product development methods garnered him 1,093 U.S. patents and made him a household name around the world.