Enter AmeriStar Competition For Package Design: Deadline May 21

AmeriStar entries are accepted across 17 categories, and include three special top awards: Best of Show Award, Sustainable Packaging Award, and Design Excellence Award. Here's your chance to gain recognition for your innovative package design.

Kim OverstreetSenior Content Strategist, Alignment

Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP)

Apr 26th, 2021

Entries are now being accepted for the Institute of Packaging Professionals’ AmeriStar 2021 Package Awards competition. AmeriStar is one of the industry’s broadest and most prestigious design competitions. Winning packages are displayed at PACK EXPO in the Showcase of Packaging Innovations, and all AmeriStar winners are eligible for the World Packaging Organisation’s WorldStar Packaging Awards competition.

AmeriStar entries are accepted across 17 categories, and include three special top awards: Best of Show Award, Sustainable Packaging Award, and Design Excellence Award.

AmeriStar, one of the packaging industry’s oldest and most anticipated packaging competitions, showcases the most ground-breaking, innovative packages of the year. It provides global recognition for the superb work of your team and positions your company as an innovative packaging leader in the industry. All entries in this year’s competition will once again be critiqued by an in-person panel of experts from around the packaging industry.

Entry deadline is May 21, 2021. Submit your entry here.

Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP)

Kind North America Ceo

Russell Stokes Named CEO of Kind North America

Stokes will lead Kind North America’s efforts to further uphold and expand the Kind Promise, a set of nutrition principles that have guided the company’s innovation since its founding.

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All-Purpose Intelligent Robot Control System

MujinController manages any robotic application guiding the movement of robot arms via machine intelligence, a new category of artificial intelligence that automatically manages potential downtime scenarios through autonomous motion planning.

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Unique Blow-Fill-Seal Solution for In-House Blown PET Cups

Serac presented at PACK EXPO Las Vegas a Blow-Fill-Seal solution for yoghurts and desserts in PET/rPET jars. This solution, which combines an SBL linear blow-molding machine and a linear dosing machine, has been named CupBox.

Swift Prepared Foods to Buy Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats

The JBS USA subsidiary is paying $90 million to acquire the California-based producer of quality smoked bacon, ham, and turkey products for sale to retail and wholesale customers.

Freshly wrapped paperboard trays of fresh sausages emerge from the cling film application system.

Breakthrough in Compostable Film

Management at this family-owned third-generation producer of classic British sausages is hoping its efforts on the sustainable packaging front will be copied globally.

Signode Sgp4332

Strapping Machines Handle Washdown Environments

The SGP’s TüV certified stainless steel versions with IP 56 rating accommodate cleaning and disinfecting, while operating at speeds up to 65 plastic straps/min.

The Fusion L-bar series automatic wrapper for e-commerce applications operates at medium speed.

Conflex Shrink Wrap Applications for E-commerce

The company showcased Clysar confidential film for e-commerce on its L-bar series wrapper at PACK EXPO Las Vegas.

The Trine Modular Labeling Station, as an easy-to-install system to reduce downtime, can both be retrofitted to an existing Trine labeling system or be used with a new Trine system.

Accraply Highlights Upgrades on Trine Modular Labeling Station

Machine has improved throughput, changeovers, and maintenance to enable significant process improvements with minimal line disruption for Trine labelers.

The USDA Launches New Effort to Reduce Salmonella Illnesses Linked to Poultry

The agency is initiating several key activities to gather the data and information necessary to support future action and move closer to the national target of a 25% reduction in Salmonella illnesses.

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Direct-Drive Pick-and-Place Sidebot

Wyzo is the result of 30 years of Delta robot experience, coupled with a vision to deliver a safe and highly efficient sidebot that can add considerable value to operations of all sizes.

Conagra Brands Named Top-Ranked U.S. Company in Sustainable Protein Research and Innovation

The FAIRR Initiative, an investor network that defines material ESG issues, has recognized Conagra for addressing risks in its animal protein supply chain and its expanded plant-based protein portfolio.

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Checkweigher and Metal Detector Combination Systems

Anritsu´s checkweigher and metal detector combination systems provide outstanding weighing accuracy with simultaneous multi-frequency inspection to help find the smallest contaminant.

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Compact Seasoning and Flavouring Unit

Modular unit, capable of easy cleaning and maintenance, ideal for snacks and backed snacks seasoning.

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Plug-and-play Rotary Fryer for Snacks Applications

This compact fryer offers outputs from 100 to 500 kilograms per hour.

From the Wiliot Cloud, information can be accessed and analyzed by brands, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to make more informed decisions along the supply chain.

Wiliot Debuts its “Sensing as a Service” Platform

Wiliot showcased its platform and IoT Pixel technology at PACK EXPO Las Vegas that brings actionable intelligence to reusable packaging in support of more sustainable, transparent supply chains.

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Reimagining Sustainable Packaging through Collaboration

Incorporating more sustainable options into CPG packaging is both a necessity and a challenge. Read about current initiatives to innovate new materials, improve recycling systems, and get closer to a circular economy.

Hemprise Facility

HempRise to Open America’s Largest CBD Producing Facility

Designed and built by Gray, the 100,000-sq-ft site has the capacity to produce 10 metric tons of biomass per day, the equivalent to approximately 8 million pounds of biomass per year.

HY7 CW has a compact and hygienic design to meet international standards.

SACMI Cut and Wrap Machine for Double Twist Style

The company’s next-generation machine allows enhanced brand recognition and maximizes the use of electronics.

Employing six individual filling heads and a single-head seamer, the CB50C uses isobarometric counter-pressure technology coupled with proprietary magnetic flowmeters, to deliver a system capable of one-milliliter filling precision.

Pneumatic Scale Angelus CB50C Counter-Pressure Integrated Canning Line

Machine helps craft beverage producers meet customer demand with isobarometric counter-pressure technology and proprietary magnetic flowmeters.

One Cobra Plus screw vacuum pump replaced three rotary vane vacuum pumps.

Vacuum Pump Improves Lettuce Cooling Process

Switching from three oil-lubricated rotary vane vacuum pumps to one frequency-controlled screw vacuum pump, a lettuce grower eliminated maintenance issues and improved process time and energy consumption.

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Carlos Ludlow Palafox, inventor of microwave-induced pyrolysis for recycling flexible packaging

Alternative for hard-to-recycle packaging waste

Carlos Ludlow Palafox, CEO of Enval Ltd. and the creator of a unique technology based on microwave-induced pyrolysis for flexible packaging including plastic laminates, shares his vision.

Stewart Leeth, chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods, accepts the “Profit with a Purpose” World Sustainability Award on behalf of the company.

Smithfield Foods Wins World Sustainability Award

The company has been recognized for aligning sustainability and profitability through its innovative renewable natural gas programs, which significantly reduce carbon emissions by converting methane from hog manure into clean energy.

Viswanath Puttagunta, president and CTO, Power Central, demonstrates the company's Microsoft dynamics ERP platform.

Power Central ERP System for Small and Mid-size Food Companies

ERP for food makers incorporates barcode mobile apps enabling SQF compliance and rapid growth.

Ferrero Ground Breaking

Ferrero Building Its First-ever North American Chocolate Processing Facility

The $75 million project will be instrumental to Ferrero’s building on its growth in the market, and advance the company’s goal of being a world leader in global confectionery.

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Beckhoff Showcases XPlanar Updates

At PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2021, Beckhoff highlighted is XPlanar materials handling system that uses levitating movers to transport materials for packaging, assembly or transfer.

Cargll Dawson Plant

New Production Facility Supports Joint Venture Between Cargill and Puris

The new Minnesota plant will double Puris’s pea protein production capacity, enabling the company to meet growing consumer demand for sustainable plant-based foods.

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Leak Detection System

At PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2021, Emerson demonstrated its CT4215 leak detection system which uses quantum cascade lasers to detect leaks in real time.

Smithfield benefitted from a lower cost per foot of netting and decreasing the amount of packaging waste to be hauled.

Smithfield Packaging Reduction Nets Savings in Ham Production

Company wins third place in the Project Category of ProFood World's Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards.

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Insights Into the Current Trends in Snacking

Kim Overstreet interviews SNAC International's David Walsh as he discusses current trends in snacking.

Savencia Buys Hope, a Leading U.S. Plant-based Dips and Spreads Brand

The acquisition adds fast-growing, ‘better-for-you’ products to Savencia’s portfolio in the U.S. and provides an opportunity to expand its consumer options for great-tasting, plant-based products.

Vision & sensor cap inspection system

Clever Syrup Capper & Reject System Eliminates a Sticky Situation

Quebecois syrup producer Nokomis Maple Products had a big fill inconsistency and reject problem that often made a sticky mess. An easy-to-use new capper with advanced inspection features made a big difference in reducing rejects and keeping things moving.

Trends in Food Manufacturing: Functional Nutrition, High Pressure Processing, and New Packaging

This year’s PACK EXPO Las Vegas featured several interesting presentations on its Innovation Stages. See highlights around functional nutrition, high pressure processing, and new packaging techniques from Bumble Bee on this Take Five video.