Winners show great engineering skills and design flair to demonstrate excellence in alufoil

First a peelable lid blister pack provided by Amcor Flexibles for Merck Sharp & Dohme Australia (MSDA). The EMEND® Tri-pack Formpack® with peelable lidding is used for medication to prevent nausea and vomiting caused by certain anticancer medicines. Due to the alufoil in both the lid and bottom web, the blister provides total barrier protection, as well as making it easier to handle for the patient.

This format is now being introduced into other MSD packaging sites. In Australia it has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of impacted products found by patients, helping to reduce costs, while increasing the drug's efficacy.

For the food sector VERSO, a patented spout that pops up at each opening, integrated into an aluminium closure, offers an excellent pouring speed with precise dosage control, says the designer and manufacturer Guala Closures.

Created specifically as a screwcap closure for standard olive oil bottles VERSO is made of an aluminium shell and an integrated plastic pourer which is very easy to open and reseal. For the consumer the controlled dosing is achieved through a special telescopic pourer system, while a patented drip recovery system stops unwanted drips which ensures the pourer stays clean and hygienic during use.

Guala Closures’ VERSO was also awarded an Alufoil Trophy 2014 in the Technical Innovation category. (See below)

Beverage producer Belmoca is packaging five flavours of premium coffee in shiny, diamond faceted, aluminium capsules created with Amcor Flexibles material. The eye-catching design, incorporated onto the shape of the container surface, has helped to distinguish this premium brand in the fast growing market for coffee capsules.

In addition the capsules entirely compliment the company’s promotional slogan "Belmoca - a diamond in your cup", helping to underline and differentiate the high product quality. In addition to the design the alufoil offers a high barrier for aroma protection and allows for optimal storage of these aromas and tastes, guaranteeing the freshness of the product. The diamond faceting also brings additional strength to the capsules, reducing the potential for impact damage.

The SAVIN PREMIUM closure from Guala Closures is a winning combination of an aluminium outer shell and aluminium inner liner with patented thread. These offer improved sealing as well as enhanced branding opportunities, says the company.

An in-house innovation, the aluminium closure is dedicated to still wines. The aluminium inner cap, with integral thread, greatly enhances the quality appearance of the closure, as the thread is not visible from the outside, leaving the large uninterrupted outer surface for decoration - so combining new technology with a modern look. It is suitable for standard glass bottles and can be made in a range of finishes: matt, metallic, satin or gloss. Top decoration can be either printing/foiling or embossing.

WIT, or Wine in Tube has been developed as a new packaging concept for quality wines which is a ‘totally original merging of materials’ - in this case glass and aluminium. It is a patented glass tube, sealed with a crimped aluminium closure, suitable for both wine and spirits.

Developed by Guala Closures in conjunction with WIT France, the INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) and Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers the designers says WIT can fulfil a number of functions. It can be an interesting and original gift pack, a highly distinctive sample, or an unusual and high impact display for retailers.

The first award went to CONSTANTIA Safemax, a resilient container comprising ribbed alufoil plus lidding foil, developed by Constantia Flexibles. It enables a drug delivery device to be extremely well protected from moisture ingress while also shielding it from damage due to impact or movement during distribution.

Developed in conjunction with customer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the pack comprises a very high barrier container, based on a deep draw aluminium tray, plus a consumer friendly peelable lidding foil. GSK’s design brief was for the development and industrialisation of a radically different method of containing, protecting, and delivering a vitally important inhalation device to the global market.

The company and its partners utilised their expertise in aluminium conversion technology and knowledge of the material’s packaging attributes to deliver a world first for inhalation device supply.

Picture: © GSK

A second Trophy in this category went to Gascogne Laminates and dy-pack Verpackungen which used a standard gauge alufoil liner to create a sack which offers maximum product protection for a range of sensitive products.

The SAFEdy sack incorporates a clever deaeration system which enables efficient filling as the air can escape through perforations in the liner. In addition the alufoil creates an highly effective barrier to moisture, air or gas and can also keep odours in - ideal for a wide range of dry filled goods.

The alufoil is visible on the inside of the sack and not covered by a second moisture containing paper layer. In combination with the perforation system and an innovative overlapping technique for the paper layers, a very high grade of protection and prolonged stability of the contents is possible.

Ecopla, part of the Nicholl Group, stacked up some impressive numbers in savings on material usage, transport and energy costs for its CE 137 R Easytin N/B smooth wall cup, compared with standard cups, used to pack a range of pastry speciality desserts for a French customer.

A new alloy allows a harder temper to be achieved in the annealing process, which helps to maintain rigidity. The result is a material that is 17% thinner and 16% lighter than standard gauge cups, while offering better mechanical characteristics, says Ecopla.

Figures from the company, based on production of 10 million cups, demonstrate that 5.7 tons of material could be saved. In addition, the weight of a full truckload is reduced by more than 1500Kg.

Italian printing specialists Rotoprint Sovrastampa was recognised with an award for its ‘total recycle overprint’ process, which has helped save multinational dairy and food producers Parmalat the costs of recycling reels of alufoil printed to lid a discontinued product and enabled its use on a completely new line.

The customer wanted to launch a new flavour for its Frutta al cucchiaio brand, but held in stock a large amount of alufoil lidding material with a redundant design. It was possible to completely change the old packaging with a very high quality finish.

It has saved 100% of the surplus alufoil, saving on the cost of landfill and transport. Also it helps reduce carbon emissions as the old material is not destroyed and there is no need to produce another roll from virgin stock.

Constantia Flexibles achieved an award in this category for CONSTANTIA Perform, a sterilisable lidding foil developed for Greiner Bio-one’s VACUETTE® PREMIUM Safety Needle System Tube-Touch. The VACUETTE® blood collection safety device incorporates a tube holder which is sealed with a puncture resistant aluminium lidding foil to ensure the interior is sterile and offers good barrier resistance and toughness.

This lidding foil, developed for client Greiner Bio-One, can be laser marked and uses an abrasion-resistant overlacquer. Constantia says the foil allows easy and clean opening without filaments at the tube, it can be sterilised with gamma radiation, offers optically perfect print layout and perfect positioning in the machine, as well as high mechanical consistency against abrasion.

The VERSO, a patented spout that pops up at each opening to avoid oil spread, which is integrated into an aluminium closure, achieved a second award for Guala Closures. Designed specifically as a screwcap closure for standard olive oil bottles the system comprises an aluminium shell and an integrated plastic pourer.

It is a good example of the combining of two materials, in this case plastics and aluminium, to make a novel and effective packaging system. The spout can be fitted to the standard range of aluminium closures for oil. This device has been specifically designed for oil viscosity, while the controlled dosing is achieved through a special telescopic pourer system which pops up at every opening.

Guala Closures’ VERSO was also awarded an Alufoil Trophy 2014 in the Technical Innovation category. (See above)

A cross-category award, this recognises a remarkable achievement, application or design using alufoil which takes the material to a new level.

Frith’s Flexible Packaging received this award for an outstanding decorative print finish on the Bugatti limited edition, wooden cigar humidor made for Integral Logistics. The box incorporates engraved aluminium foil crafted to give a 3D effect on the lid, creating a unique affect and enhancing the point of sale appeal.

The bespoke print and embossing process, known as Dufex, involves the foil being laminated and then printed using special inks on a lithographic printer. To emboss the printed material a master engraving of the graphic is hand produced to create the final 3D, almost holographic, effect. Once the alufoil is applied to the humidor box lid it is finished with a high gloss piano lacquer.