Flexible Packaging Achievements on Display at FPA

The 2016 Flexible Packaging Association Annual Meeting, held last week at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla., demonstrated that innovation is a powerful force in flexible packaging, and that the industry is poised to continue its rapid growth.

The meeting kicked off on Tuesday, March 1, with the annual presentation of the FPA’s Achievement Awards and Innovation Showcase. Awards spanned categories including printing and shelf impact, technical innovation, sustainability and more.

Bemis Co. earned the FPA's Highest Achievement Award for its Campbell's Soup Ready Meals pouch.

Bemis Co., a global flexible packaging supplier based in Neenah, Wis., earned the ceremony’s most distinguished honor, the Highest Achievement Award. The company’s pouch it developed for Campbell’s Soup Ready Meals earned the award for its incredible versatility and convenience.

The self-venting retort pouch allows consumers to heat up a fresh meal in 60 seconds with no refrigeration necessary. But the pouch’s ability to transform into a bowl once it is open, allowing consumers to eat directly from the pouch and significantly reducing clean up, is what truly sets it apart.

Flex Films and Emerald Packaging took home Gold Awards for printing and shelf impact, while Paharpur 3P, American Packaging Corp., and Glenroy received silver awards.

Flex Films’ won for its KOHINOOR Anti-Slip Bag, which utilizes micro-embossing elements that ensure these large rice bags do not slip off their shelf display. Another impressive aspect of this package is that through the registration process, the micro-embossing has no negative impact on the bag’s graphics. Flex Films’ entry also won a Gold Award for packaging excellence.

Emerald Packaging earned gold in printing and shelf impact for its Lay’s Summer Promotion entry. This twist on Lay’s packaging for its Classic potato chips incorporated digitally printed laminations, which allowed consumer submitted photographs to be printed onto the bags.

Day two of the annual meeting began with Stan Bikulege, chairman and CEO of NOVOLEX and chairman of the FPA board of directors providing a state of the industry report. Bikulege stated that the packaging industry in the United States amounts to approximately $163 billion, with flexible packaging accounting for $31 billion on its own.

From a print perspective, Bikulege said that flexographic printing is still the predominant method, but digital is continuing to gain acceptance.

The food market makes up a large majority of flexible packaging’s market share, Bikulege said, and mentioned that baby food has become a major growth area within that sector.

The morning sessions concluded with a panel on “Packaging Transparency Trends,” moderated by Tony Kingsbury, founder and president of TKingsbury, LLC, and

From left, Ron Sasine, Bill Griesser, David Strauss and Tony Kingsbury lead a panel on packaging transparency.

formerly of Dow Chemical. Panelists included Bill Griesser, founder of Chemical Converting Consultants and formerly of Procter & Gamble, Ron Sasine, the former senior director of packaging for Wal-Mart and currently a principal for Hudson Windsor and David Strauss, head of packaging in technical and production for Nestlé USA.

This presentation focused on transparency throughout the supply chain regarding the materials used in packaging.

For Nestlé, Strauss explained that trust is developed over an extended period of time and requires transparency in food safety and regulations, environmental sustainability and responsible sourcing. After years of building trust, Strauss says that one mistake can bring it all crashing down.

“The pressure is coming partly from NGOs and consumers,” he said. “Ultimately everything goes back to consumers, where it’s paramount for us to build trust with our consumers, which takes years ... But it only takes seconds to damage that trust.”

The third day’s activities included three speakers from outside the industry, who provided illuminating insight into the worlds of business, politics and innovation.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David McCullough provided the keynote address.

First was Carlos Gutierrez, the former secretary of the Department of Commerce and former CEO of the Kellogg Company, who provided “An Optimistic Look at the U.S. Economy.

Howard Fineman, a political analyst for MSNBC and global editorial director for The Huffington Post offered an insider’s look at the 2016 presidential race and finally, the keynote speaker, author and historian David McCullough, whose work has earned him two Pulitzer Prizes, discussed how history can be an essential source of knowledge and strength.

Next up on the FPA calendar of events is the 2016 Fall Executive Conference, which will be held Thursday, Oct. 6, at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago. The 2017 annual meeting will held from March 1 to 3, 2017, at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Fla.