At the Glass Trend Day, which the Glass Packaging Action Forum organises every year, the best new products packaged in glass have now been awarded the "Product Innovation in Glass 2024" prize. An organic sunflower oil in reusable glass and a premium ice cream in glass won the race.
Every year, the Glass Packaging Action Forum awards innovative new products packaged in glass from the food and beverage industry received the Möbius strip in glass. This year marks the eleventh time that the „Product Innovation in Glass“ award has been presented.
In the „small companies“ category, the handcrafted Premium ice cream from Elvis Bogicevic e.K. from Bargteheide won over the jury, and visitors to the Glass Trend Day at the Flora in Cologne also voted the ice cream in a glass their „crowd favourite“. Elvis Bogicevic, who runs the young company together with his brother Drazen, is delighted with the award. „There is no better packaging for ice cream than glass, but in the shops you only find cardboard cups and plastic packaging. We wanted to be different and therefore opted for glass.“ The brothers run four ice cream parlours in northern Germany and had the idea at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to also sell their ice cream through retailers. What began as a „survival measure“ during the lockdown has long since become a successful second branch of the company become.
The jury's verdict: „With Elvis ice cream, Elvis and Drazen Bogicevic deliver an all-round convincing product. The handcrafted premium ice cream presents itself in an attractive 400 ml jar with a customised ice cream cone look. The colourful paper labels and the matching resealable metal lids, which pick up on the colours of the eight available varieties, contribute to a harmonious and high-quality overall look. Plans for a deposit system also show that the brand is continuing on its innovative path. Elvis ice cream sets new standards in packaging innovation and offers a convincing overall package that impresses in terms of design, enjoyment and sustainability.“
First reusable bottle for cooking oil
In the „Medium and large companies“ category, the Organic sunflower oil in a returnable bottle from Bio Planète Ölmühle Moog through. Last year, the company replaced disposable bottles with reusable bottles and, with the launch of the reusable range, simultaneously Europe's first reusable system for cooking oil launched. „Glass bottles have to be melted down at around 1,600 degrees Celsius to produce new bottles. This still happens with an estimated 320 million disposable cooking oil bottles that are disposed of in German glass containers every year. In the past, we have therefore always looked for solutions to make the glass bottle more sustainable. Now we have them,“ says Judith Faller-Moog, founder and CEO of Bio Planète. The project was jointly with the start-up dotch realised. The full-service provider wants to make reusable bottles standard for pre-packaged foods such as oils, vinegars, pickles and sauces and has developed a 0.5 ml standard bottle especially for oils, which all oil producers and oil brands can use to sell their products and customise using the labels. The bottles are returned and collected by consumers via deposit machines in the shops of retail partners. dotch takes care of the return, cleaning and redelivery of the bottles to the oil mills such as Bio Planète. Currently, eight Bio Planète oils are already available in returnable bottles.
What the jury says: „With the ‚Bio Planète Sunflower Oil of German Origin‘, Bio Planète Ölmühle Moog GmbH presents an impressive innovation in the field of food packaging. This high-quality sunflower oil is not only obtained from regionally grown organic sunflowers, but also scores highly in terms of its sustainable and attractive packaging. The clear, elegant and robust glass bottle features a striking shoulder a generous area for a meaningful label, which optimally conveys the quality of the contents. With the practical recyclability of the bottle, the Ölmühle a convincing overall package, that appeals to both environmentally conscious consumers and lovers of first-class oils.“
The nominees
The nominees included the Teaballs from Teaballs GmbH, which, according to the jury, give tea a completely new form. A petite 20 ml glass vial presents around 150 small tea extract pellets that can be dissolved in either hot or cold water to create a tasty tea drink.
Also nominated in the „Small Companies“ category was Move for Nature Sauvitage dry 0.75l in a returnable bottle from Heuchelberg Weingärtner eG. The new Sauvitage grape variety reduces the ecological footprint by minimising the need for plant protection measures. The glass packaging comes as a returnable bottle with its very own characteristics and not only offers an elegant look, but also enough space for a label that convincingly communicates the sustainable message of the wine, says the jury.
The „Medium and large companies“ category included Hitchcock fruit vinegar compositions from Valensina GmbH in clear glass bottles and Chantré Crème from Rotkäppchen-Mumm Sektkellereien GmbH among the nominees. The cream liqueur bottle impressed the jury with its full sleeve in a floral design with a tear-off perforation on the side for clean separation of the packaging components during disposal.
