The Glass Packaging Action Forum honours the best and most innovative products from the food and beverage industry that are packaged in glass with the „Product Innovation in Glass“ award. The Trend Day Glass industry event took place for the eleventh time on 18 May 2017 and once again provided the festive setting for the awards ceremony for the winners and runners-up.
The organiser had once again invited representatives and decision-makers from the bottling industry and the trade, this time to the small hall of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. The Glass packaging action forum is an initiative of the container glass industry in Germany and part of the umbrella organisation of the German glass industry, the Bundesverband Glasindustrie e. V. The Glass trend day is an event organised by Ardagh Glass GmbH, BA Glass Germany GmbH, Bayerische Flaschen-Glashüttenwerke Wiegand & Söhne GmbH & Co. KG, Glashütte Freital GmbH, Glaswerk Ernstthal GmbH, Heinz-Glas GmbH, J. Weck GmbH & Co. KG, Noelle + von Campe Glashütte GmbH, O-I Sales & Distribution Germany GmbH and Verallia Deutschland AG. The approximately 250 participants were able to Exciting lectures by high-calibre speakers and Practical examples from the food and beverage industry.
Coveted glass trophy
The award has been in existence since 2014, so 2017 was the fourth time the prize has been awarded in the three categories "Small companies" (up to 50 employees), "Medium and large companies" and 2017 was the. The submission period began on 16 January 2017 and ended on 9 April 2017, after which an independent jury evaluated the submissions and nominated the following for each of the two categories the three best and determines the winners. As every year, the following could take part all food packaging and/or beverage bottling companies, that pack products in glass.
Naturally, consumers and the trade public will also be informed about this honour: The award-winning products and the companies are presented to the trade and general press by the Glass Packaging Action Forum through high-profile activities. On the one hand, the „product innovation in glass“ thus receives additional attention, and on the other, the company's sustainable packaging strategy is also brought to the attention of the public.
Interesting and innovative products
Lemonade, beer, barbecue sauces, fruit spreads, sausages, vegetables, yoghurt, ice cream, garden herbs or food colouring: there is little that cannot be packaged in glass. Potential winners stand out thanks to a new recipe, special glass packaging or a product that is not typically packaged in glass. The independent jury looked at all the applications and nominated the three best in each category. The experts come from the four areas that are particularly important for the assessment of this award from the perspective of the Glass Packaging Action Forum: Packaging, beverages, food and Design.
Brigitte Bähr has worked as a freelance journalist for „packaging journal“ for many years. She is an expert on the packaging market and is familiar with many new trends and developments. Achim Nieroda is a graduate engineer (FH) in brewing and works as a „Technology“ consultant at the German Brewers Association. Even though his focus is on the popular barley juice, he knows his way around the beverage segment and is an expert in it. Dr Ulrich Nehring is a state-certified food chemist and Managing Director of Institut Nehring GmbH. He is the expert for the food sector. And the fourth member of the team presented the nominees at the Glass Trend Day. Andrej Kupetz is Managing Director of the German Design Council and has been involved in the field of design since studying industrial design. He once again thanked all the applicants, as there were many great products and ideas.
The three nominees in the „Small Companies“ category:
Nominated in the „Small Companies“ category: kukki Cocktails
The kukki cocktails from boozeME GmbH, Berlin, are Ready-to-drink cocktails in a glass bottle, which are stored in the freezer. In addition to alcohol and fruit juices, they also contain ice and fresh fruit. They are available in five different flavours („Sex on the Beach“, „Boston“, „El Presidente“, „Mule“ and „Ladykiller“).
Josef Klemm, Managing Director of boozeME GmbH, Berlin:
„I don't really like drinking beer, so I came up with the idea of the Cocktails with ice in the bottle. In the past, in the small workshop on my parents' farm in Bavaria, I used to freeze the ice cream in plastic bags and crush it with a hammer so that it would fit into the bottles. Of course, I didn't want to stop there. Thanks to my mechanical engineering degree, I was able to build special equipment such as ice moulds myself and carry out the first long-term tests, and the cylindrical ice cubesl were born. Incidentally, we applied for a patent for this, because not all ice cream is the same. The kukki ice cream has to be particularly firmly pressed and of high quality so that the drink becomes liquid when it defrosts and the ice cream remains ice cream. In 2013, I met the second founder of kukki, Saif Hamed, in Berlin during my second degree in electronics. Together we developed machines and devices for other companies.
„That was too boring for us in the long run,“ says Saif. And so we founded our own company in 2014 to further develop the cocktails. Glass is much better for a high-quality product like kukki. Glass is also gas-tight and does not release any (harmful) substances when heated. Another decisive factor is of course that our kukki toaster works with infrared technology, and glass works best here too. We already felt very honoured by the nomination. The „Product Innovation in Glass“ award is our first and makes us incredibly proud. It will pave the way for us to gain more customers and make the trade even more aware of us. - And of course we'll be bragging about it all day long.“
[infotext icon]Decision of the jury: The kukki cocktails offer a harmonious overall picture. The simple, yet modern and appealing design of the Design of the label the contents and their ingredients, which are associated with a high-quality drinking experience, are clearly visible. A ready-to-drink, frozen cocktail with ice and fruit in glass bottles is a Novelty, that has never existed before[/infotext].Nominated in the „Small Companies“ category: MÆNNERHOBBY
Martin Neumann, Managing Director Erste MÆNNERHOBBY GmbH & Co. KG:
„We are a young family business and the idea for the shape and closure came to us together. My wife has good taste and I have an idea of what is available and feasible. And so we decided to use a wine cork for spirits. With spirits, you have very little to no room for manoeuvre when it comes to the packaging material. So the questions we had to ask ourselves were: „What glass colour and what type of closure can we use?“
As the product takes centre stage for us and the packaging should only have a simple and elegant supporting effect here, the Glass-glass combination clearly our favourite. Also because this combination is rather atypical for spirits and yet striking in its simplicity. We are delighted with the nomination. After all, for a company that can still call itself a „start-up“, any kind of honour and attention is extremely important. And of course my wife is also delighted that her good taste has been recognised.“
Nominated in the „Small Companies“ category: Liwo
Liwo from Limo GmbH is a Soft drink, which, unlike many other sweet soft drinks, contains no fast-digesting sugar or artificial sweeteners.
Michael Taheri and Dr Patrick Krell, both founders and managing directors of Liwo GmbH, Wuppertal:
„We developed the idea for Liwo with Prof Kolb from the evalomed Institute for Health Research in Düsseldorf and Prof Kling from the University of Wuppertal. As traditional soft drinks contain a lot of quickly digested sugar or artificial sweeteners, their consumption upsets blood sugar and insulin levels. We thought that there must be a better way to do this and with Liwo the concept of the limo turned on its head. Consuming Liwo is therefore a clever refreshment. A reusable bottle was also important to us in order to take the ecological aspect into account.
We are very proud to have been selected. The nomination is a confirmation of our choice of bottle. It wasn't always easy to place a drink with a customised glass bottle on the market, but it was important to us from the outset to have a concept that was not only innovative in terms of content, but also embodied the right glass packaging and an appealing look. We are naturally delighted about this and are also incorporating it into our communication.“
The three nominees for the „Medium and large companies“ category:
Nominated in the „Medium and large companies“ category: GLÜCK jam
The GLÜCK jam from Friedrich Göbber GmbH, is available in eight different flavours. It consists of 70 per cent fruit and gelling sugar - nothing else.
Michael Berghorn, Chairman of the Management Board of Privatmarmeladerie Friedrich Göbber, Eystrup:
„GLÜCK is characterised by the combination of decades of tradition and the highest level of expertise in fruit preparation with Intensive market research was created. When developing the recipe and glass design, we listened very carefully to what consumers want and what appeals to them. Added to this are the strengths of a family business, the courage to break new ground and an outstanding team. All this together makes up the GLÜCK brand.
The reasons for using glass are the quality and the objective of setting new impulses on the shelf with modern design, in concrete terms this means high value, Transparency and a Clear focus on the content. We are delighted with the award, as it is a wonderful confirmation that we have done a lot of things right at GLÜCK. We therefore also see the nomination as motivation to consistently continue on our path.“
Nominated in the „Medium and large companies“ category: Störtebecker Growler
With the Störtebecker Growler from Störtebeker Braumanufaktur GmbH is a bottle with a small handle as a pouring aid, which can be filled with fresh draught beer in various Störtebeker Braumanufaktur restaurants.
Karsten Triebe, Head of Marketing at Störtebeker Braumanufaktur GmbH, Hanseatic City of Stralsund:
„The idea came about during a business trip to the USA, which I attended myself. The growler has already achieved cult status there in a slightly modified form. It was a creative microbrewer from the US state of Wyoming who developed today's brown half-gallon bottle (approx. 1.89 litres) towards the end of the 1980s. In the absence of his own professional bottling plant, brewer Charlie Otto was looking for a way to market his beer beyond his own bar - and found it in a return to the growler.
Before the spread of bottled beer, it was also common in Germany for a long time to obtain beer for domestic consumption from the pub. In some places, there was even a separate window for selling beer on the street, so that the „Beer to go“ not even having to enter the taproom. In this country, so-called beer siphons made of glass, usually with a capacity of two litres and a ceramic swing top, were widespread.
In order to bring this cult to Germany and Freshly tapped Störtebeker brewing specialities to enjoy at home To be able to offer the best possible quality, the process from the bottle itself to filling and packaging has been completely rethought. The nomination for the „Product Innovation in Glass“ award is an honour for us and a confirmation of our company's innovative strength. It encourages us to think outside the mainstream, both in terms of the beers themselves and the appropriate packaging, and to set the highest quality standards.“
Nominated in the „Medium and large companies“ category: Störtebecker Growler
Anjola is a range of Soft drinks in five different flavours from fritz kulturgüter GmbH. Originally a pineapple lemonade from the 1950s, it was relaunched on the market in various flavours.
Mirco Wolf Wiegert, Managing Director of fritz-kulturgüter GmbH, Hamburg:
„Anjola was founded in 1952 by Johannes Gleske in Hamburg-Altona. The North German original was still sold until 2008, at that time only as pineapple lemonade. We had the idea of developing a new edition and approached the old owner. Today, four flavours have been added to the original pineapple-lime variety (Craft Kola, Mate, Ginger-Lemon and Orange), all of which are now available in a range of flavours. vegan, gluten free, with 100 per cent direct juice from organic cultivation and are free from any additives. The use of returnable glass bottles and thus the complete avoidance of disposable packaging is very important to fritz-kulturgüter GmbH in terms of climate protection, sustainability and flavour quality. What's more, Anjola was already available in glass bottles back then.
The 0.25-litre bottle with a crown cap, which was a little more bulbous back then, has now become a handy 0.33-litre returnable glass bottle with a screw cap - the Pineapple shape has remained. A 25 cent deposit is charged on each bottle, which is a novelty for glass bottles and encourages people to return them. Establishing an unconventional bottle container is a bold step and fulfils the highest design standards. Our bottle is unique, which is why we are particularly pleased and encouraged that our products have been selected.“
Choice of the public's favourite
Afterwards, the audience - excluding member companies of the container glass industry - had the opportunity to vote for their personal favourite from the six nominees. Everyone could cast a vote via TED. Now it got exciting once again. You could see bars on the screen, but no names. After a neck-and-neck race, a clear favourite emerged with 39 per cent of the votes. Who won the three winners were in the final remained exciting until the end. The official award ceremony and presentation of the trophies only took place on the evening of 18 May 2017 following the Trend Day Glass during the get-together at „Au Quai” in Hamburg.
The 2017 winners
Winner in the „Small Companies“ category: kukki Cocktails of boozeME GmbH, Berlin
Winner category „Medium and large companies“ and A crowd favourite: GLÜCK jam of the private marmalade Friedrich Göbber, Eystrup.
