In 2025, the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) celebrates its 75th anniversary, a milestone the judges were alerted to as they started the process of picking the best packages for this year’s Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards competition.
The three judges met over two days in November to discuss the attributes of the nearly 70 entries. Although it was founded in 1950, FPA started the awards competition a bit later, with 2024 marking the 69th annual awards event. The winners will be announced during the FPA 2025 Annual Meeting, which is being held from March 5 to 7 near Miami.
“We felt that the quality of the entries this year was outstanding,” said Scott Wilkins, one of the judges who is the founder and lead consultant at Scorcia Packaging Resources in Texas. “They did a great job of representing the industry as a whole across the various market segments. They showed what is happening in this industry.”
Wilkins was joined by Chris Lyons, group president and publisher of Packaging Impressions magazine in Pennsylvania, and Bilge Altay, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. At FPA’s headquarters in Annapolis, Maryland, the judges went through the entries one by one to pick the winners in six categories: expanding the use of flexible packaging, technical innovation, sustainability, printing, shelf impact, and packaging excellence. On the first day of judging, they scored each entry on its merits. They deliberated on the second day to finalize the winners.
The judges awarded gold and silver awards, with some categories having multiple winners based on what the judges determined. Those winners were notified earlier this year of their awards. But the Highest Achievement Award that goes to the packaging showing overall excellence is not announced until FPA’s Annual Meeting, which will be held at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura, Florida. The awards will be given out during a special breakfast on Friday, March 7, 2025.
Trends
The judges noticed several trends during their deliberations, particularly when it came to sustainability. For example, numerous entries touted compostability attributes or recyclability.
“Many products were showing sustainable solutions and are fully recyclable,” Wilkins said about the contest, especially when it came to compostability performance. He noticed what he calls “a paperization” of flexible packaging. “There were several curbside recyclable paper structures that were entered this year.”
One package was a paper bag with a thin layer of translucent recyclable paper that offered barrier protection, which isn’t easy to achieve, he added.
“I found it interesting that companies are using more paper,” Wilkins said. “We are going to continue to see that trend. One of the biggest hurdles in that area is performance to try to get barrier protection and sealability into that paper structure. And there were some strong technical solutions this year. It shows the industry is meeting those hurdles.”
Some winners were plain-looking packaging that was noted for their sustainability achievements such as a compostable butter wrapper from Novolex. The judges pointed out that the wrapper doesn’t use intentionally added per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
“The science behind this is challenging,” Altay said. “A lot of states are banning PFAS, so it is a highly researched area right now in packaging.”
The wrapper protects the butter while making the wrapper easy for consumers to open, according to the description submitted with the entry.
“It is extraordinary when you think about all the people who craft the amazing attributes that we saw. Overall, we had a fine representation of some of the great innovations out there.”
Chris Lyons, group president and publisher of Packaging Impressions magazine
“The wraps are manufactured from a renewable paper base and use environmentally friendly ink,” the description also said.
A package for organic asparagus received much attention because a clear plastic bag was used, replacing a thick rubber band that many supermarkets use when displaying the vegetable. The bag is compostable, but it also will reduce food waste by preserving the asparagus
longer than the rubber band, the judges pointed out. The judges discussed at length an entry for a commercially compostable package submitted by Printpack that was used by Frito-Lay at Super Bowl LVIII. The packages were eye-catching while also allowing consumers at the Super Bowl to drop the packages off at designated containers so the waste could be sent to a commercial composting facility.
“It is innovative, and it is sustainable. And it potentially is leading the way toward a more sustainable, compostable world order,” Lyons said. “There is a lot there.”
While there is potential for the technology to become widespread, it is not unique, the judges said. And in this case, the package was for a specific event—the Super Bowl—where the collection and infrastructure allowed for easy shipment to a commercial printing site.
“That is not the standard of recyclability in today’s world,” Lyons said.
The judges noticed a transition for some products from plastic bags to paper such as a package for whole potatoes from ProAmpac.
They acknowledged the technical achievement while also noting that the transition to paper will not work for other foods such as potato chips, where paper products wouldn’t provide adequate barrier protection.
They discussed another ProAmpac package for pet food that is fiber-based and yet has barrier and moisture protections that still allow it to be recyclable curbside, according to the company’s description.
“With this, everybody can recycle it,” Lyons said about the pet food package.
Visual Excellence
Like most years, many entries were in the printing and shelf impact contest categories.
Altay said the best entries had strong color consistency and high-resolution details in graphics. With digital printing, the samples showed the versatility in short-run productions that maintained color consistency comparable to long runs, she added.
“The high-quality results highlight the innovation and printing skills that the industry has today,” Altay said. “There were remarkable color matches.”
The judges were impressed with many entries in printing and shelf impact, with shelf impact receiving the most awards among the six categories.
When talking about one package for rolled oats, the judges pointed out that the fruit on the package is so lifelike that consumers would want to pick them up and eat them off the package.
“There were very appealing, eye-popping representations of products,” Wilkins said about the visual categories generally. “And the ability of some of these packages to pop off the shelf within their category was highlighted in the print category, too.”
Lyons pointed out that the packaging industry demonstrated an ability to leverage digital printing technology to personalize packaging. “The opportunities there are massive,” he said.
A Boon Coffee package from Integrated Plastics Packaging, a 10-pound rice bag from Paharpur 3P, and a Goldfish® Crisps package from Printpack led some of the discussions about shelf impact.
“The rice packaging looks outstanding,” Wilkins said.
“I like the Boon package a lot—the use of gold on black,” Lyons said. He suggested that the packages lined up on a shelf four wide and several packages deep would truly stand out.
A Starbucks® coffee package from American Packaging Corp. also received wide attention from the judges, as well as a Beggin’® Bacon dog treat package from Printpack.
The judges noted when packages missed the mark because of imperfections in the material or the print registration being slightly off. And they appreciated when companies gave detailed descriptions about their packages, allowing the judges to fully understand what they were looking at as they went along the tables of contest entries in FPA’s conference room. Some package entries, however, had few details, which led the judges to give lower scores because they weren’t clear on what they were judging.
Labeling
The judges noticed that a number of the packages did not display the sustainability achievements clearly on the packaging, pointing out that consumers will want to know what advances have been made toward recyclability or compostability.
Dan Felton, FPA president and CEO, did not participate in the judging, other than to offer guidance. He suggested that packaging companies and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies might be hesitant to add sustainability language on labels because of efforts in some states such as California to restrict what can be claimed on packaging. Until those labeling rules are clearer, companies will be hesitant to tout advances that might appear to regulators to be greenwashing, Felton said.
“There were so many packages that were in the sustainability category but didn’t mention it on the package itself,” Lyons said. “It is an opportunity for FPA members in their engagement with CPGs to talk through what they want to do. But for the consumer to understand the important advances by FPA members and CPGs to try to address the subject of sustainability, labeling is an important opportunity to elevate the conversations.”
The judges also marveled at what they knew would require elaborate collaboration among the CPGs, converters, designers, printers, and others along the supply chain to make the packages work from technical perspectives while also being attractive and easy to use for consumers.
“It is extraordinary when you think about all of the people who craft the amazing attributes that we saw,” Lyons said. “Overall, we had a fine representation of some of the great innovations out there.”
Editor’s note: In the feature photo, the contest judges and Dan Felton, FPA president and CEO who is seated in the center, look over some of the entries in the annual contest. The awards are to be handed out to winning companies on March 7, 2025, at FPA’s Annual Meeting near Miami. From the left are Bilge Altay, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York; Scott Wilkins, founder and lead consultant at Scorcia Packaging Resources in Texas; Felton; and Chris Lyons, group president and publisher of Packaging Impressions magazine. Photo by Thomas A. Barstow.
Thomas A. Barstow is senior editor at FlexPack VOICE®.