Carton of the Year Award 2020 goes to VGP

Ultimate industry prize for sustainable folding carton innovation, the result of a unique collaboration

Turnhout, 8 October 2020 | Van Genechten Packaging (VGP) has been awarded with the prestigious Carton of the Year Award 2020 for its sustainable, innovative and jaw-dropping packaging for the refined Japanese Beam Suntory’s Roku Gin. The winning carton is the result of a unique collaboration with marketing specialists InnerWorkings.

This is a truly amazing and groundbreaking feat. Not only because this is the major prize every folding carton packaging specialist is after, but also because VGP has been awarded at the Pro Carton Event every single year since 2017 in different categories. And even since the awards came into existence, about 2 decades ago, VGP has been one of the top awarded participants.

The future is made today

The European Carton Excellence Award is Europe’s most prestigious industry award event for folding carton packaging solutions. In different categories carton converters present their most innovative, ‘best of’ solutions to an expert jury every year, who do not only judge look and feel, but look at the packaging approach as a whole and how it affects the entire chain, from design to logistics, life on the shelf and environmental impact.

The VGP team in Riga helped InnerWorkings’ design come to life with their technical expertise. VGP assisted, all the way from idea to result, in achieving the maximum in terms of technology, varnishes, hot foil and volumetric design.

Redesign without compromises

Optimal volumetric design combined with a soft varnish, and a unique texture enriched with gold foil has resulted in an elegant and sophisticated look that perfectly matches the brand, and managed to blow away the jury, who call it a “complete carton” and noted the carton’s “six corners symbolize the six Japanese botanicals used in Roku, which means six in Japanese.”

“Aesthetically appealing on shelf, well-constructed and working with the product. Feels good in the hand. The soft touch and graphics complete the package. However, the detail of adding the product story, on the pack, talking about the botanicals as well as a recipe suggestion is all about talking to the consumer, assuring them that they have purchased a premium quality product.”
Carton of the Year Jury Report

Wonderful finishing touch? No more plastics. Out goes the see-through window. That is how a zero-waste future is being made today – without compromises.

Going beyond expectations

Of course, no award can be won without customer trust. VGP always strives to become a genuine customer companion and work together as one. This award is for InnerWorkings and Beam Suntory too, says Marc Büttgenbach, VGP Chief Commercial Officer.

“We always aim to answer the needs of our customers so they can give their consumers the best possible brand experience. Packaging must interact with the shopper: this was a guiding principle here as well. Combining efficiency with sustainability like we did for Roku Gin is a great win-win situation for everyone involved. Including people and planet.”
Marc Büttgenbach, Chief Commercial Officer, Van Genechten Packaging

People and planet

As one of the sponsors of the event this year, VGP is also very happy with the charity donations made to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as VGP cares for a better planet and for its inhabitants.

The official UNHCR website
www.unhcr.org

The official Carton E-vent & Awards website
www.procarton.com/awards/carton-excellence-award/2...

Got a packaging challenge?
Do contact us. We'd love to hear from you.
sales@vangenechten.com