WorldStar Awards 2021: COVID-19 e-commerce dominates record-breaking year, Mondi claims eight awards

25 Jan 2021 --- Despite the challenges of 2020, the World Packaging Organization (WPO) received more submissions to its WorldStar Global Packaging Awards than ever before.

The WPO judging panel received 345 entries from 34 countries for the 2021 awards, compared to 325 entries and 318 submissions for the 2020 and 2019 awards, respectively. 

WPO vice president Soha Atallah tells PackagingInsights she was expecting a lower participation from companies due to the financial and economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Therefore, the abundance of award applicants was a “comforting surprise” for WPO president Pierre Pienaar.

PackagingInsights delves into the 194 unique winners of the Worldstar Packaging Awards 2021, bringing new solutions to the environmental sustainability and packaging hygiene challenges of an “exceptional” 2020.

Smaller countries well represented
Besides the higher-than-expected amount of applicants, another surprising factor for the 2021 WorldStar awards was the large number of entries from smaller countries, says Pienaar. 

“Some of these countries usually don’t get involved to the same extent as the larger countries. This, too, is encouraging and gives us a rather positive perspective for future years.”

The countries most awarded are Japan, with 26 awards, followed by China (22), the US (14), Australia and New Zealand together (13), and Czech Republic and Turkey taking 12 each. 

“Also of interest was the number of clever and unique ideas. I was impressed particularly with the number of submissions from countries that have in the past not partaken in any significant way,” adds Pienaar. 

Now to the winners
Applicants could submit their packaging innovations in the following categories (number of winners in brackets):

• Beverages (39)
• Food (31)
• Packaging materials and components (31)
• Health and personal care (22)
• Transit (22)
• Household (10)
• Electronics (10)
• Other (8)
• Luxury (7)
• Medical and pharmaceutical (6)
• Point of sale (5)
• Labeling and decoration (3)

Notably, consumer packaging giant Mondi took home a total of eight awards, five of which were awarded to its corrugated solutions division within the Transit category.

“In the last four years, Mondi Group received 24 WorldStar awards, more than any other packaging company in the world,” Armand Schoonbrood, COO of Corrugated Solutions, tells PackagingInsights. 

Mondi nabbed eight awards, with its corrugated solutions division claiming five within the Transit category.Restricted access to brick-and-mortar stores has surged e-commerce, creating the need for safe, durable packaging boxes and mailers, all while falling under the sustainability umbrella.

“We place great emphasis on evolving existing solutions and setting new standards,” adds Schoonbrood.

“In particular, our two awarded e-commerce solutions EvelopeMailer and SupremeBox-4 height showcase how effectively our product designs respond to quickly changing and demanding industries.” 

Last year, Innova Market Insights pegged “Packing an e-Punch” as a top packaging trend. Incessant growth in online retail channels and the rising demand for corrugated board is taking e-commerce packaging to new frontiers, which has since been accelerated by the COVID-19 home food delivery surge.

Mondi’s other three awards were for its recyclable thermoforming film for meat and sausages, Performing packaging for supermarket retailer Rewe Austria and One Piece for point of sale packaging.

Extra safety for food packaging 
The Food category prized innovations replacing plastic F&B packaging with paper, such as Graphic Packaging International’s PaperSeal Tray Packaging System and Sealed Air’s thermal insulation TempGuard for chilled food items.

A newcomer to the laureates club, Israel-based W-Cycle impressed the judges with its compostable food tray called SupraPulp made of bagasse.

Meanwhile, SupraPulp submitted its non-coated, paper-based formed food tray, suitable for hot, wet, and greasy foods. It does not leak or absorb liquids and oils. Also, it can heat food up to 270 ˚C and freeze it in as low as -40 ˚C.

SupraPulp addresses two COVID-19 crisis phenomena: a boom in takeaway food deliveries and consumers freezing more food at home to reduce trips to the supermarket.

“The way to our simple solution was challenging and we had to reinvent ourselves to get there. That, to me, is innovation,” Lior Itai, CEO and co-founder of W-Cycle, shares with PackagingInsights, commenting on SupraPulp’s win. The SupraPulp food tray upcycles dry pulpy residue left after the extraction of juice from sugarcane for its production.

Outside of food packaging, Austria-based strapping company Teufelberger took home an award for its Tewe SoPrim polypropylene binding straps in the Packaging Materials and Components category. 

PackagingInsights previously spoke with the company’s sustainability manager on why using recycled materials is not a functional option for the straps, and how industrial plastic recycling infrastructure can be improved.

WorldStar’s purpose
WordStar Global Packaging Awards exemplifies the continual advancement of the state of packaging design and technology. Each year, WPO recognizes “the best of the best” in packaging innovations from across the globe.

WorldStar’s larger objective is to increase awareness on the importance of packaging in improving life quality through environmentally conscious and hygienic designs. It also aims to create “a living standard of international packaging excellence from which others may learn.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WPO turned to virtual judging for WorldStar 21 with two judging rounds. 

All winners will be recognized in an Awards Gala Ceremony in May 2021, “most likely” taking place virtually this year.

The winners for the special categories – President’s Award, Sustainability Award, Marketing Award and Packaging that Saves Food Award – will be revealed during the ceremony.

Pienaar assures that WPO will continue to review the categories, thus ensuring due relevance is always maintained.

Responding to how the other award winners are providing inspiration, W-Cycle’s Itai says:

“Imagining a solution to a problem is the key and the other winners are a living proof for that. They imagined and they made it a reality! That ability to imagine what is not there and to make it a reality is inspiration.”

By Anni Schleicher