Alufoil Trophy 2016 - The Winners
Alufoil Trophy 2016 winners set the standard for originality and performance
Once again the Alufoil Trophy competition has underlined the versatility and practical advantages of aluminium foil to create highly original new developments as well as fresh ideas to enhance existing products
The aluminium foil sector's annual premier awards competition, the Alufoil Trophy brings out the best in both multinational and specialist foil manufacturers and converters. This year is no exception with 65 entries across the five major categories producing 10 outstanding winners, plus an Overall Excellence winner, which scored extremely high marks in all categories.
"The sheer variety and diversity of the entries clearly demonstrates how innovative the alufoil sector can be," commented the head of this year's judging panel, Louis Lindenberg, global packaging sustainability director at Unilever. "There was a very fine line between those who won an Award and those who missed out, such was the highly original thinking and quality of manufacturing which went into all the products entered."
"Even for regular, well established and popular packaging formats, such as containers and aluminium closures, there were a huge amount of fresh ideas combined in the need for performance, sustainability and visual impact. Consumers and the environment will both benefit from these clever, yet commercially viable products," he added.
The Alufoil Trophy is organised each year by EAFA, the European Aluminium Foil Association. The association's executive director Guido Aufdemkamp expressed his satisfaction at the outcome of the 2016 judging. "Each entry is judged on its own merit before we compare the relative strengths against others in the same category. It is a very rigorous judging process and those who win an award can truly feel they have achieved a notable success."
The competition is open to products which are either made from aluminium foil or contain aluminium foil as part of a laminate, structure or packaging system, as well as aluminium closures. Categories cover every aspect of aluminium foil usage across many diverse markets, particularly those for packaging and technical applications. The classifications are Consumer Convenience; Marketing + Design; Product Protection; Resource Efficiency; and Technical Innovation. The judges also have discretion to award an Alufoil Trophy for products displaying excellence across a number of categories, or for an outstanding or clever application
THE WINNERS
Consumer Convenience
- Ampac Flexibles: Protein Shake Pouch
- Ardagh Group and Amcor Flexibles: "All in One Fondü"
- Constantia Flexibles: Ofen-Fleischkäs' - ready for baking @ home
Marketing + Design
- Alupak and Lavít: Lavít Capsule
- Guala Closures: Sunrise
Product Protection
- Constantia Flexibles: Sustainer - environmental friendly Alufoil Container Systems for Petfood
Resource Efficiency
- Amcor Flexibles: Formpack Ultra
- Constantia Flexibles: CONSTANTIA Blister Eco
Technical Innovation
- Amcor Flexibles: LuxPrem+
- Hydro: HyLectral
Overall Excellence
- Huhtamaki Flexible Packaging: Refilly
Summary
Consumer Convenience
A portable fondue pack for ultra-convenience, an ovenable container system for pre-cooked meats and a pouch to meet modern lifestyles and tastes.
A unique package for Emmi's "All In One Fondü", a ready-to-eat cheese fondue, delivers the cheese dip in a microwaveable metal bowl with an easy-peel opening made of aluminium foil. The lid comprises Amcor Flexibles' AluFix® Retort Pro membrane, which is part of Ardagh Group's convenient lid system Easy Peel®.
The complete packaging concept offers an easy, quick and clean preparation of a cheese fondue at any time. All you need is access to an oven or microwave to heat the container and then the cheese mix can be kept warm using a cradle, which forms part of the pack, and a tea light - with the holder made from alufoil of course!
Constantia Flexibles has designed and manufactured an aluminium foil tray and lid system, Ofen-Fleischkäs' - ready for baking @ home, which contains pre-cooked meat preparations. They enable easy and convenient baking directly in the packaging for a range of meat-based products, which can be quickly and hygienically removed prior to consumption.
The aluminium tray has a double function, on one side it protects the product throughout its shelf life, on the other it serves as baking tray for food preparation in the oven. It has been developed for German consumers who like to eat freshly baked Fleischkäs' at home.
The Protein Shake Pouch is a super lightweight, stand up re-closable pouch, for EZY Pro 10 manufactured by Ampac Flexibles. It ticks all the boxes for 'on-the-go' consumers and sports men and women who need a nutrition boost, but not the inconvenience of a large or heavy pack.
EZY Pro 10 contains only a protein powder inside, which is activated by pouring in water through a 21mm wide spout. The extra wide spout makes filling and drinking easy. Compared to rigid packaging there is no requirement for headspace air inside the pack. And during drinking there is no air intake back into the pouch because of the collapsing nature of the pack.
Marketing & Design
Taking the tamper evident band on closures to a new level and opening up a different beverage market to capsule technology.
Developed for a customer in Mongolia, but with worldwide potential, the Sunrise aluminium closure from Guala Closures takes the art of closing, and opening, a spirit bottle to a new level. The closure combines a highly visible tamper evident, tear off band within the aluminium shell, together with plastic non-refillable fitments for security, plus an easy pour mechanism.
But the whole concept looks good too. The overall creative and technical design incorporates the band very effectively, making it an integral part of the visual impact on the supermarket shelf. The aluminium closures can be customized with the standard printing processes,such as hot foil, silkscreen and offset, both on the top and side - while the band can also be branded with embossed logos.
Taking capsule technology into a new market for cold beverages, using a container entirely made from aluminium foil, has been successfully achieved by Lavít and Alupak, through the joint development of the Lavít Capsule.
The single serve capsule for the Lavít Cold Beverage System meets current lifestyle trends, as well as bringing many practical advantages. Lavít says it wanted to create a system which enabled consumers to mix their beverages perfectly every time. While most single serve beverage capsules are punctured to mix the drink, these capsules are cracked, peeled open and the liquid mixed within the capsule, leaving no residue. And, of course, after use they can be completely recycled.
Product Protection
Keeping petfood in perfect condition while meeting both environmental and legal challenges
Sustainer, an alufoil container system, has been specifically developed by Constantia Flexibles as a BPA free, "BPA NIA", pack for petfood. Not only does it preserve the product but it still retains all the advantages of a retortable pack while meeting both sustainable and new regulatory requirements for these types of containers. All this thanks to a new, water based lacquer system for both the container and the die cut lid.
The "BPA NIA" (Not Intentionally Added) container, in addition to dispensing with the use of Bisphenol A or other Bisphenols, also eliminates the need for the use of chrome as a surface treatment. It has all the established features of conventionally used high barrier, solvent based lacquers, such as heat resistance and sterilizability.
Resource Efficiency
Getting the best out of blisters, performance and sustainability for pharma packaging
A lidding foil has been devised by Constantia Flexibles, for pharmaceutical products that require a lower barrier. CONSTANTIA Blister Eco consists of tissue paper laminated with a thin aluminium layer, resulting in a material that is 23% lighter than a standard lidding foil.
The share of aluminium in the product is 40%, compared to standard foil at approximately 90%. The new lidding foil also uses renewable raw material paper and less lacquer coating, making it highly sustainable, says Constantia. In addition it has excellent barrier properties compared to thermoformed blister bottom film. Water vapour barrier properties are greatly enhanced compared with both unformed and thermoformed lidding made from traditional PVC-based materials.
Amcor Flexibles has introduced a new cold form blister product, Formpack® Ultra, which can be elongated more than standard cold form solutions. The result is cavities that can be drawn deeper and with sharper wall angles than ever before, enabling blister cards to be designed up to 50% smaller, or more cavities to be added to the same blister card area.
Depending on the exact dimensions of the blister and the size of the forming station in the packing line, the manufacturer can increase the number of blisters produced per forming
cycle. If the blister is smaller the number of blisters in each reel of packaging also increases, helping to reduce reel changeovers, along with associated setup/changeover waste.
Technical Innovation
Replacing the traditional tin overcap for spirits and a battery foil helping to generate power in remote places demonstrate alufoil's technical excellence
LuxPrem+ is a new alufoil overcap created by Amcor Flexibles aimed at the premium spirits market. Made from a special aluminium based material developed in-house by Amcor the intricate design features ensure that LuxPrem+ rivals the traditional tin overcap used by the majority of European premium spirits brand owners, says the company.
The new overcap contains two layers of aluminium and incorporates an optimised tear band to facilitate opening. The material can be finished in a variety of ways to create a strong brand identity. It also offers excellent online crimping performance.
HyLectral a special battery foil, developed by Hydro, ensures unmatched constant surface quality, eco-friendlier battery production and an optimum efficiency in use, it says. Thanks to a new chemical degreasing process, after rolling, the company has achieved a foil with as-rolled robustness, plus constant cleanliness of the surface. This allows it to be used as cathode current collectors in Lithium-Ion batteries, which require high metal purity and ultra clean surfaces.
This cathode material is a breakthrough in batteries for renewable energy technology, to secure either electro-mobility or stationary power, particularly in remote locations. It can serve as the catalyst for a reliable transition from fossil based sources of power supply to renewable.
Overall Excellence
Recognising a product in aluminium foil which performs exceptionally at every level and with outstanding characteristics in every category
Refilly, a 3-dimensional round pouch consisting of four elements, all produced of aluminium-based laminates, created for Italian coffee specialists illycafé by Huhtamaki Flexible Packaging, proved to be the highlight of this year's Alufoil Trophy competition.
Scoring heavily in every category it was entered, it proved to be a most emphatic winner of the Overall Excellence award. The tailor-made flexible refill pack, created in close collaboration with the machine supplier Optima, easily pushes into an existing 250g illy metal can. It is easy to open, keeps the aroma intact and reduces waste weight of empty packs by 80%, says Huhtamaki.
It weighs less than 20g and can be squeezed after using to give a minimal waste-volume. However the award not only recognised its undoubted performance but also the look, feel and even the name Refilly which, the judges unanimously agreed, was highly marketable and totally appropriate to such an engaging and effective pack.
