Who's made the final cut in the 2020 PIDA Awards?

The finalists have been announced for the 2020 Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design Awards (PIDA), which recognise companies and individuals who are making a significant difference in their field across Australia and New Zealand. The awards are coordinated by the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) and are the exclusive feeder program for the WorldStar Packaging Awards. The 2020 PIDA winners will automatically be eligible for entry into the 2021 WorldStar Packaging Awards.

The Packaging Innovation & Design of the Year company awards recognise organisations that have designed innovative packaging within five industries: food, beverage, health, beauty & wellness, domestic & household, and labelling & decoration.

The PIDA also sees finalists in a number of special awards, such as the Sustainable Packaging Design Special Award, Accessible Packaging Design Special Award and the Young Packaging Professional of the Year Award.

The 2020 Packaging Innovation & Design of the Year Award (Food) recognises organisations that have designed innovative packaging within food packaging and process. Entries are judged on Sustainable Packaging Design Considerations and what packaging changes they are undertaking to meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets. Finalists for this category include:

• Arnott’s Cracker Chips split case innovation
• BioBag World Australia for compostable cucumber wrap
• Disruptive Packaging for Uniqcor for cold chain environments
• OF Packaging for Local Legends novelty shaped pouches
• Planet Protector Packaging for the Lobster Protector
• Platypus Print Packaging for the Youfoodz Meal Kit
• Primo Foods for the Red Range Slice Pack

The Packaging Innovation & Design of the Year Award (Beverages) recognises organisations that have designed innovative packaging for liquids or dry tea, coffee, water and soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages. All entries are also judged on Sustainable Packaging Design Considerations and what packaging changes they are undertaking to meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets. This is a WorldStar Packaging Awards category. The finalists in this category include:

• Brownes Dairy for renewable gable top milk carton
• Coca-Cola Amatil for 100% recyclable rPET bottles
• Ecolean for the Bannister Downs Dairy WA chilled pasteurised range
• JUST Water plant-based reusable water bottle
• O-I Glass ANZ for the Millie fruit juice range

The 2020 Packaging Innovation & Design of the Year Award (Health, Beauty & Wellness) recognises organisations that have designed innovative packaging within cosmetics, toiletries, personal hygiene, supplements, vitamins, perfumes, hair, body and oral care. The category also includes packaging of all medicines and medical equipment packaging. All entries are also judged on what packaging changes they have undertaken to meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets. This is a WorldStar Packaging Awards category. The finalists in this category include:

• Pact Group for the New Zealand Earthwise Glow Labs brand of PCR 100% rPET bottle range
• Kahuku Natural refillable stainless-steel range of cleansers and liquid soaps

The Packaging Innovation & Design of the Year Award (Labelling & Decoration) recognises the addition of content to a pack which creates a unique of innovative appearance, function or communication. This includes labels, sleeves, tags, coding/markings, etching, directly applied inks or by any other similar process. Entries are also judged on Sustainable Packaging Design Considerations and the changes they have undertaken to meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets. This is a WorldStar Packaging Award Category. The finalists in this category are:

• NCI Packaging & DuluxGroup for the Porter’s Paints superior crafted paint can range
• UPM Raflatac & Kiwi Labels for the CUSTOM-PAK rPET Cherry Punnet with self-adhesive label, permanent adhesive that is also washable at the PET recycling plant

The 2020 Accessible Packaging Design Special Award recognises packaging that is accessible, intuitive, easy to open and innovative. Accessible design includes measuring techniques, understanding injuries caused by packaging and consumer satisfaction levels with packaging accessibility. This award is sponsored by Arthritis Australia and Arthritis New Zealand. The finalists for the award are:

• Ecolean for the Bannister Downs Dairy WA chilled pasteurised range
• Reckitt Benckiser for Gaviscon Dual Action Sachets

The Sustainable Packaging Design Special Award recognises companies that have developed innovative packaging or processing solutions that incorporate sustainability considerations. Elements include social, material, source reduction, energy and recovery. One of the winners will receive a custom EcodEX packaging and environmental assessment valued at $10,000. This is a WorldStar Packaging Awards Category. The finalists in this category are:

Birdstone Collective & Orora Cartons for the recyclable Telstra Sleeve.

• Birdstone Collective & Orora Cartons for the recyclable Telstra Sleeve
• Brownes Dairy for its renewable gable top milk carton
• Coca-Cola Amatil for the 100% recyclable post-consumer recycled rPET bottles
• ecostore for 100% Ocean Waste Plastic (OWP) limited edition hand wash
• Nestlé Australia for the KITKAT Chocolatory recyclable e-commerce solution
• Omni Group for the PerformX 100% recyclable stretch wrap
• ORORA Fibre Packaging for the recyclable moulded paper inserts
• Pact Group for New Zealand’s Earthwise brand of PCR 75% rHDPE household cleaning range
• Planet Protector Packaging for the Lobster Protector, and for its home compostable mailer pouch
• Sealed Air Brand Protective Packaging for the TempGuard kerbside recyclable packaging for pre-packaged, temperature sensitive goods
• UPM Raflatac & Kiwi Labels for the CUSTOM-PAK rPET Cherry Punnet with self-adhesive label, permanent adhesive that is also washable at the PET recycling plant

UPM Raflatac & Kiwi Labels CUSTOM-PAK rPET Cherry Punnet with self-adhesive label, permanent adhesive that is also washable at the PET recycling plant.

The Young Packaging Professional of the Year Award provides incentive and recognition to young professionals who are currently working in and wish to continue their path within the packaging industry. The finalists in this category are:

• Alison Appleby, Member Resource & Program Coordinator at APCO
• Christopher Moffatt AAIP, Quality Control Coordinator & Product Developer at Caspak Products
• Kelly Wade, Scientist, Scion (New Zealand)

The 2020 Australasian PIDA winners will be formally announced virtually in April.

Top image: Brownes Dairy renewable gable top milk carton.