Preserve & Protect

Published: June 01, 2007, By By Claudia Hine, Managing Editor

The newly reincorporated North American Packaging Assn. (NAPA), Alexandria, VA — which combines the membership of the National Paperbox Assn. and the Canadian Paperboard Packaging Assn. — held its 2007 annual meeting at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando, FL, April 18-22. Billed as a “Leadership Challenge Boot Camp,” attendees heard the drill on leadership tactics and strategies, while tackling the hard issues of sourcing and supply management, the impact of mergers and acquisitions on the packaging industry, and China's containerboard marketplace.

Despite the boot camp theme, NAPA's event offered plenty of family-friendly events to keep the littlest soldiers occupied as well. Festivities included a night at Universal Studios and tours exploring outer space at Cape Canaveral and the world of chocolate-making at Farris & Foster.

NAPA also presented awards for its annual packaging competition, which received entries from 72 international rigid box and folding carton industry firms. Here is a look at the top two winners.

Best Folding Carton

Utah Paper Box Co., Salt Lake City, UT, wins the Lorne Ballance Award for Best Folding Carton with the “Sweet's Twist” carton for Sweet's Candy. Replacing a plastic bag, the carton is designed for unique product visibility and market exposure by replicating the “twist” end of a packaged candy paper wrapper.

Innovative graphics and the patented “twist” closure design — a collaborative effort among Sweet's Candy, Utah Paper Box, and Struck Design — are claimed to help propel the product off the store shelf and allow the cartons to stand out in the competitive and crowded confection packaging environment.

Best Rigid Box

The “Hard Rock Presentation” box, manufactured by Taylor Box Co., Warren, RI, takes the C. Taylor Kew Award for Best Rigid Box. Designed for Rimco Marketing Products to hold collateral materials for a condominium project for Hard Rock Hotels, the box is called an outstanding example of luxurious and protective promotional packaging.

The standard tray with five-panel cover design is covered with a foam pad and then wrapped with FiberMark Fiori By Corvon Astrea Black, a latex-saturated decorative covering material. Multiple technologies and exceptional exterior decoration processes create a high-end look with easy product accessibility.

NAPA bestowed 32 Gold Awards and 106 Excellence Awards in 30 end-use classes and five judges' categories. For more information visit www.paperbox.org.