Last month, we reported on the winners of the German Packaging Institute’s German Packaging Awards 2024. Now, in a unique opportunity to gain insight into the jury process, we spoke to jurors Simone Marquardt, head of Packaging Development & Packaging QA at Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli; Norbert Menzel, head of Packaging Technology at Beiersdorf; and Christoph Waldau, CEO of B+P Creality – learning more about their experiences on the panel, the entries that impressed them this year, and the packaging trends they’ve noticed.
First things first, could you tell us a bit more about yourself and your professional background?
SM: Yes, for sure, I would like to. First of all, hi, my name is Simone Marquardt. I was born in the south of Germany and studied Packaging Technology at the Hochschule der Medien which is located in Stuttgart.
After finishing school – I remember well – I searched for a long time to find a study programme which combined my personal interests. So, I started Packaging Technology because of the technical content, but also because of the creative subjects. Now I know, it is much more than this.
To work with packaging is the best way to work on a technical basis, be creative, influence the market with sustainable ideas, and have different, varied tasks at work every day.
Okay, sorry. I will come back to your question. I get excited when I talk about my job.
After Stuttgart, I started as a Packaging Developer for skincare products at Win Cosmetic/Dalli Group. I was responsible for the development of sun care, skin care and natural cosmetic products.
The next step in my career was to work as a Team Leader for Packaging Development Personal Care. As a team, we developed all the packaging in cooperation with production and marketing. A few years later, I switched to the head office at the Dalli Group in Stolberg and replaced my former boss as Head of Packaging Development.
And now, a few years later, I work as the Head of Packaging Development and Packaging QA at Lindt and Sprüngli Germany.
NM: I started my career in the packaging industry in 1981. In 1989, I moved to Beiersdorf AG, where I took on various responsibilities in the area of packaging development for consumer goods.
Currently, I am heading the packaging technology team in the global packaging organization.
CW: I am the CEO of Berndt+Partner Creality, the agency of holisitic packaging for design, innovation, and sustainability.
Please could you give us an introduction to the German Packaging Award and what it’s like to be a judge?
SM: The Deutsche Verpackungsinstitut e.V. (dvi) is the organizer of the largest European packaging competitive exhibition. Almost 250 submissions from 13 countries are part of the German Packaging Award 2024.
Therefore, it was a lot of work for us 27 independent jurors. At a two-day meeting, we reviewed, discussed, and evaluated all submissions personally and as a team.
The winners of the German Packaging Award 2024 come from Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and the UK. In addition, the dvi had innovations from Denmark, France, Israel, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Hungary and the USA. The innovations cover the entire range of materials, from glass to wood, flexible plastic, rigid plastic, metal, paper, cardboard and cardboard, multi-material and new material through to corrugated cardboard and composite material.
At least one innovation won a prize in each of the ten categories of the exhibition.
It is very interesting to accompany the jury meeting and be a part of it. As interesting as it is, it is also difficult. No idea was worse than the others. Everything was highly professional and really good. And from these, selecting the submissions that are the very best is a big challenge.
It was very exciting to exchange ideas with the other jurors and find out their opinions and views. Everyone brings a different focus and completely different experiences. Through this activity, I was able to gain a lot for myself and my work and was also able to share my own experiences.
In summary, I can say that the time-consuming work as a juror was instructive and inspiring for me.
NM: The German Packaging Award is the most prestigious and largest packaging award in Germany. It is organized by the DVI, which every year invites all relevant companies along the entire packaging value chain – from packaging raw materials to the packaging industry, B2B and consumer goods industry, and consumer retail as well as logistics – to submit their most innovative new developments for the German Packaging Award.
A selected jury of experts from the entire packaging value chain evaluates the submissions in various categories and awards German packaging prizes for the most innovative solutions, which will be presented at an awards ceremony.
CW: It’s great to see the innovative strength of the industry, both from the perspective of the branded goods industry and the packaging industry. As a juror, you gain great insights, and on the other hand, you can incorporate your many years of experience into the evaluation.
What are some of the major packaging innovation trends that were represented in this year’s awards?
SM: Due to the diversity of the categories, every focus is included. This makes it possible to cover an enormous range of innovations and to offer even small companies and students a platform. Of course, it also shows in how many situations and areas packaging takes place in our life nowadays.
To talk about the trends, I have to tell you the different categories:
- Design
- Digitalization
- Functionality and Convenience
- Logistics and Material Flow
- Sustainability
- Overall Concept
- Material Substitution and Reduction
- Reusable
- Recyclability and Use of Recycled Materials
- Junior Employees
- New Material
- Packaging Machines
- Technology and Software
- Presentation of Goods
- Economic Efficiency
For example, in the Sustainability and Reusable categories, a realistic option with corresponding added value for the market must be presented. In the Economic Efficiency category, it is important to look into the smallest detail of the process/product that needs to be improved in order to ultimately stand out. I just want to take two examples to show you that there is no “one trend”.
The trend is definitely that the requirements for packaging are becoming more and more complex. It is no longer enough to just handle one or two demands/standards. We had a lot of submissions that combined looks, sustainability and cost-effectiveness, current legal situations, and so on. This will continue to be the trend. So I will say it is “complex packaging demands while looking simple”.
CW: Above all, the major topic of sustainability in the area of packaging. Development is taking place at all levels: in terms of improving recyclability, reducing the use of materials in general, using more recyclates, but also in terms of new packaging systems.
In my view, seeing sustainability as an opportunity for innovation is an important step. After all, we can only achieve our sustainability goals with innovation and creativity.
NM: Sustainability and solutions that increase efficiency in packaging production, processing, and logistics are, as in previous years, the dominant trends.
Could you identify one innovation which particularly impressed you this year, and talk a bit about why you liked it?
SM: I was particularly impressed by, for example, Small Cup, Big Impact from DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH and Pöppelmann GmbH & Co. KG, and ReZorce Circular Packaging from Zotefoams plc.
These participants presented new types of packaging that can be used with the same currently existing production machines. The old machines/machine parts also do not need to be replaced and can outlive their regular time of usage, which in turn continues the idea of sustainability.
Also, the material is completely optimized – one with a significant reduction of polymer, and the other is more recyclable now. The properties of the packaging are also comparable to the previous and the product is therefore adequately protected.
And what’s more, the consumer still doesn’t have to get used to it (due to the almost identical appearance). To combine all these parameters and make it useable and economically feasible is extremely impressive.
NM: There are several innovations that have impressed me. Particularly around packaging materials, you can find some impressive solutions that can replace insufficient or non-economic recyclable materials without any loss of performance.
I particularly like solutions where the close cooperation between industry, technology providers, logistics, and retail become visible and innovative sustainable packaging concepts are developed. I am particularly impressed with a standardized reusable bottle for cooking oil that can be returned for refilling via the usual deposit machines for beverage bottles.
CW: It is difficult to single out a single winner from the large number of fantastic prize winners. The world of packaging is so diverse that each individual winner has achieved an outstanding result.
How do you expect the packaging landscape to change in between now and the next edition of the awards? What are some emerging trends that we should be looking out for?
NM: In the area of sustainability, we still face major challenges. A great need for action is needed to find innovative, efficient, and consumer-oriented solutions. So, from my perspective, it’s quite easy to predict that this will be a key driver of innovation for the German Packaging Award in the coming years.
Digitalization will also play a greater role in optimizing efficiency, and I also expect more solutions to lead to more interaction with the consumer.
CW: The trend towards paperization will certainly continue and paper will penetrate further areas previously occupied by plastics. In the area of plastics, the use of mono-materials will be further promoted and the use of recyclates will continue to expand, especially in the non-food sector. I also expect to see an increased use of flexible materials over rigid containers.
SM: Here we are definitely faced with the challenges presented by the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). What the award and its participants show is that the diverse demands placed on us by the PPWR can be solved. Many of the submissions are exactly in this vein.
Thus, the PPWR will not only determine the actions of the industry, but also encourage the industry to produce new creative ideas.
First of all, the minimum quota for the use of recycled content leads to the push for different recycling streams to scale up. For example, the submission from Saperatec GmbH and Dr. Schumacher GmbH shows us how to use packaging material out of the rejects from beverage carton recycling. With this, they make the polymer part reusable as rLDPE for flexible packaging.
All these exciting challenges will certainly play a big role until and in the next award in 2025.
Finally, I would like to mention that the award ceremony and the nomination of the Gold Award will take place on September 24th 2024 as part of FACHPACK in Nuremberg.
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