THE finalists and winners of the Beverage Innovation Awards at Drinktec – sponsored by Rexam Beverage Can – were announced at a special awards ceremony at the show in September.
Many of these awards recognised excellence in drinks packaging. with the award for the best packaging design or label going to Ardagh Group (France) for its limited edition Absolut Unique vodka bottles. The best closure award – sponsored by Smartseal – was picked up by US company H2M Beverages for its H2M interactive cap. First appearing back in June, this unique cap was developed for the company’s 989 On Demand beverage. The cap itself is an air-tight, leak-proof vessel containing active ingredients. In this category H2M beat off competition from O-I and Amorim’s Helix Concept cork-glass wine packaging solution. The best bottle in PET award went to Sidel Group for its water bottle design for Société des Eaux d’Aix les Bains. Krones was highly commended in this category for it’s never ending commitment to light weighting. The best bottle in glass (sponsored by O-I), on the other hand, went to BA Vidro (Portugal) for Schweppes Heritage Original Tonic Bottle II. For flexible drinks packaging, the best carton or pouch award was picked up by SIG Combibloc (Germany) with the Combibloc Combidome (pictured). The best can or Alubottle award went to Ardagh Group (France) for its Limited Edition Jean-Paul Gaultier Coca-Cola Contour Bottle.
