Sweet Smell of Success
- Published: June 01, 2002, By Claudia Hine, Senior Editor
Rigid box and folding carton firms from around the world were honored by the National Paperbox Assn. in its 52nd packaging competition. A total of 147 awards were presented to 26 boxmakers at the association's 84th annual meeting, held May 1-4 at the Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, FL.
Best of show awards went to the top-scoring entries in each category.
For more information and a complete list of winners contact NPA, 901 N. Washington St., Ste. 700, Alexandria, VA 22314; 703/684-2212; paperbox.org.
Folding Carton Best of Show
All Packaging Co., Aurora, CO, won best of show for a carton designed to package Shoyeido Japanese incense. The product is delicate and expensive.
Constructed of 80# Carnival cover stock from Champion Intl., the individual carton features a special reverse-tuck end, with special Yugi flap, designed to prevent incense from coming out of the bottom. An accordion insert of 0.012 solid bleached sulfate, which holds the individual incense sticks, was aqueous coated to permit the product to slide out easily. The top closure provides easy access to the different sticks of incense. A ten-pack counter display structure, which also utilizes Carnival 80# cover stock, features a tuck top and Houghland (1-2-3) bottom closure with special windows. The package is manufactured on Bobst and Mitsubishi equipment.
The box must reflect the high quality of the product and present it in a way that supports the traditional aspects of Japanese incense, explains John Jervis, account manager at All Packaging. “Shoyeido is a 300-year-old company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. They insist on maximum quality in everything they do.” The carton utilizes two-color foil stamping and embossing, with metallic gold printed on the inside of the top flap for instructions. The accordion insert is flood-coated in black on both sides. Silk screening is used to differentiate each of the 15 types of incense.
Jervis reports the use of Champion's Carnival stock is very unusual in a folding carton. “The stock is crisp and colored all the way through to avoid white showing on the cut edges. It worked out just beautifully.”
Rigid Box Best of Show
The London Fancy Box Co. Ltd., Dover, Kent, U.K., earned best of show in the rigid box category. The Hugo Boss gift box, created for Procter & Gamble to package eau de toilette and body lotion, combines a conventional fabric zipper with traditional cardboard box technology to achieve what is described as a stunning effect. Designed by Colin Duncan, the innovative twin-lidded zipper box may be the first example of this type of construction.
Judges marveled at the precision with which the two zipper halves join. The company reports a range of sophisticated jigs is used to ensure perfect zip alignment at a rate of more than 10,000 units/day. The main components are made using Emmeci box covering machinery, and the zips are assembled and attached in-line with the covering machinery.
Extremely strong and efficient, the gift box presents a totally new look at the retail level. London Fancy Box reports the pack was very well received by the marketplace, particularly in Germany and the U.K., and in many stores the product was selling out on arrival.
