Thinking Outside the Box
Sun Centre wins Highest Achievement Award with new package design
Jim Pease founded Sun Centre USA Inc. in 2015, leveraging his experience in the packaging industry to create a company that handles all packaging needs. From custom tooling to technical and mechanical support, Sun Centre’s expertise and engineering have driven innovation and delivered solutions for customers.
Those efforts paid off. The company received two Gold Awards—Expanding the Use of Flexible Packaging and Packaging Excellence—in the Flexible Packaging Association’s (FPA) Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards Competition for 2026. The awards were for the company’s POUCH3™ Cuboid Packaging Format, which also won the Highest Achievement Award. The awards were presented during the FPA 2026 Annual Meeting, held in Orlando, Florida, in March.
Innovation efforts
The team at Sun Centre works to solve problems in the global packaging industry with engineered-to-order, or ETO, machines that develop new packaging formats that address sustainability concerns.
Sometimes, to think outside the box, you need to redesign the box.
Pease’s experience with various packaging formats—such as stand-up, side gusset, and flat-bottom pouches—led him to identify areas for improvement. For example, pouches often fall short on sustainability due to issues such as limited recyclability and excessive secondary packaging and headspace.
Pease began his work on POUCH3™ by looking at current box formats. Common formats do their job—they hold the product. However, POUCH3™uses the benefits of box-type packaging to reduce headspace and secondary packaging for a lower environmental impact.
The inspiration came from a request for a “very small flat-bottom pouch.” However, the opening on a bag of this size would not have been practical. The company created an opening on the long side of a side-gusset bag and added a closure. From there, the company added the “side gusset” to the top of a flat-bottom pouch, which allowed for a closure to be easily added to the top of the bag.
Several Sun Centre team members spent significant time refining the format to meet customer needs. POUCH3™ draws inspiration from existing formats to create a “Franken-Pouch” that encompasses the benefits of pouches already in the market.
It maximizes the potential of cuboid packaging, including flour bags, sugar bags, and certain drink cartons. Cuboid packaging has the least headspace compared to other pouch formats. It also enables efficient use of space in shipping containers, as the package’s rigid shape reduces air in the packaging and in the secondary containers. That efficiency reduces the carbon footprint.
POUCH3™ can handle any zipper format. And POUCH3™ also allows for six artwork panels to display a product’s details without interruption in the artwork from seals.
Unlike other cuboid packaging, POUCH3™ can be used across a range of applications—such as pet products, lawn care items, coffee, and cannabis—due to its film strength and versatility in zipper and handle capabilities. This pouch reduces the required packaging in all formats by 25%–40%.
POUCH3™ also uses mono-LDPE (low-density polyethylene) films to enhance recyclability.
Appealing to consumers and brands
We need to reduce, reuse, and recycle our products.
Worldwide, countries are now enforcing extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws that require manufacturers, producers, and brand owners to take financial and operational responsibility for the entire life of their products—from initial design to disposal. Some companies are now panicking about how to comply with these new mandates.
Sustainability begins with the reduction of wasted materials. With POUCH3™, customers can have a full pouch—not a half-empty one. The reduced materials in POUCH3™ align perfectly with new EPR regulations.
This new format also uses recyclable films instead of the paper-based film typically used in cuboid packaging. By using recyclable films, it takes less energy to produce the material than paper-based films, while still making it easy for consumers to dispose of the pouch without adding to landfills.
While this pouch benefits consumers and the environment, it is also favorable for manufacturers, as it allows them to use existing filling and pouching machines.
Meanwhile, brands and manufacturers want to create a better image for packaging. Their customers need to feel good about a product, and brands know that packaging creates the first impression.
Pease has a glass-half-full mentality, but—like many of us—he sees that today’s pouches are always half-empty. With half-empty packaging, the customer’s impression starts out negatively, as the wasted space makes them think they are not getting the most for their money. Consumers will appreciate POUCH3™ because that waste has been minimized.
POUCH3™ will help pave the way for the new generation of packaging by addressing concerns about sustainability, costs, and overall customer satisfaction.
Sean Pease is production manager at Sun Centre USA Inc.
Two Gold Award Winners Discuss Their Entries
Ten companies won Gold Awards in the 70th annual Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards competition. The awards were presented during the Flexible Packaging Association’s (FPA) 2026 Annual Meeting, held in March in Orlando, Florida. Two of the Gold Award winners agreed to discuss their entries in detail by answering some written questions.
Integrated Plastics Packaging
Based in Dubai, Integrated Plastics Packaging won an International Gold Award—Printing for its Just Chill Powdered Beverage Stand-up Pouch.
FlexPack VOICE®: Tell us how you came to develop the pouch.
Integrated Plastics Packaging: The artwork and concept were provided by the brand owner, who had a clear vision of achieving a premium and striking shelf presence. We carefully calibrated cell depths and angles during cylinder engraving and carefully managed dot gain across all eight colors. The gold embellishments and fine detailing were handled with precision to maintain vibrancy without over-inking. Our goal was to ensure that every element—from the background pattern to the product imagery—was reproduced with sharpness and consistency. The final result is a visually rich, high-definition pouch that reinforces the brand’s identity and delivers strong shelf impact.
FPV: Who was involved in the development of the packages, and what was that process like?
IPP: The project was executed through close coordination between our cylinder-making team, printing department, quality control, and sales team. While the graphics were provided by the customer, our internal teams were responsible for adapting them to the gravure format and ensuring the final output met both technical and visual standards. The collaboration was smooth and focused on excellence in print reproduction.
FPV: Was the printing process the same as ones used for other packages?
IPP: Yes, we use our high-speed rotogravure printing process across all our packaging work. However, in this case, we elevated the execution by paying close attention to color balance, ink laydown, and register alignment to do justice to the customer’s detailed artwork. It’s a great example of how strong collaboration and precision on press can take a design to the next level.
FPV: Any final thoughts?
IPP: We’re honored to have received this recognition from FPA. This award validates the behind-the-scenes craftsmanship required to execute high-quality rotogravure printing. While the creative vision came from our customer, we are proud to have played a role in translating that into a final product that delivers standout presence and consumer appeal.
PAXXUS, Inc.
PAXXUS, Inc. won three awards for its StreamOne® Px Recycle-ready Lidding: Gold Award—Packaging Excellence; Gold Award—Technical Innovation; and Silver Award—Sustainability.
FPV: Tell us how you came to develop the package.
PAXXUS: Our Stream® product line is a recycle-ready mono-polymer solution that evolved from a technology originally developed for high-heat sterilization of medical devices. Once the requirements for PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation) were established, customers were demanding a mono-polymer blister lidding solution for pharmaceutical applications. Starting with our existing all-polyester lidding technology, StreamOne® was developed by making targeted modifications to the seal and peel performance to meet the needs for pharmaceutical blister lidding, while still maintaining the recycle-ready benefits of the Stream® product line.
FPV: Who was involved in the development, and what was that process like?
PAXXUS: Our R&D team led the development, working closely with both blister-forming film manufacturers, blister machine companies and, most critically, customers throughout the process. That collaboration was key, as it allowed us to ensure the material performed as expected not just in the lab but also on commonly used commercial equipment and in real applications. By working with those partners involved early and often, we were able to fine-tune the solution to meet market needs with confidence.
FPV: This won Gold Awards for Packaging Excellence and Technical Innovation as well as a Silver Award in Sustainability. Talk a bit about those attributes.
PAXXUS: What makes StreamOne® Px unique is how it brings high performance and sustainability together without compromise. The real breakthrough is the proprietary peelable polyester sealant, which allows the lidding to seal consistently to APET blisters and peel smoothly without tearing or leaving residue. It runs efficiently on existing blister equipment, achieves a child resistance F-rating of 3m to 4m while ensuring 100% usability for adult testing. And it replaces traditional multilayer laminates with an all-polyester, recycle-ready solution. That combination of technical innovation, usability, and sustainability is what really sets it apart.
FPV: How do you intend to market the package?
PAXXUS: We plan to initially focus on pharmaceutical manufacturers that have strong corporate sustainability objectives and a desire for change. The market feedback has been overwhelmingly positive so far, helping validate the need for this type of solution in the pharmaceutical space. That early interest has already led us to develop additional lidding solutions tailored specifically for pharmaceutical blister lidding applications. Stay tuned.
