Alufoil Trophy winners shine again at WPO WorldStars 

The 2019 WorldStar competition continues to recognise the performance of aluminium foil as a major packaging material.

No less than four products, which had already won the coveted Alufoil Trophy earlier in 2018, picked up WorldStars for 2019. The competition is organised by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO).

In the food category, Constantia Flexibles International, from Austria, received a WorldStar for the Cat Milk in Aluminium Portion-Pack. Animonda´s Milkies portion-packs contain 15g cat milk in four different variations. The aroma must be perfectly protected throughout the 12-month shelf life, so aluminium packs proved ideal, due to their excellent barrier properties.  Opening, dispensing and disposing of the totally recyclable packaging is very clean, hygienic and easy. The long shelf life is another advantage to consumers.

Another food category WorldStar went to Huhtamaki Flexible Packaging Germany for its new 3-layer laminate, Lamineo, which uses extrusion rather than adhesive in its construction. Between the PET and aluminium foil, an extrusion layer is placed instead of adhesive. This layer increases the distance between these two dimensionally stable materials, which strengthens the rigidity, according to Huhtamaki. This reduces the amount of PE by up to 20% without any loss of performance or rigidity.

Ready2Cook Skin Packaging Solution

from Plus Pack AS of Denmark also received recognition in the food category. These innovative containers improve product presentation – like standing up on shelves – as well as consumer convenience, resource efficiency and simplified storage and distribution. Skin packaging onto aluminium containers offers a fresh solution for foods as well as maximum flexibility for the consumer, as the container can go directly from the chilled cabinet to the oven or even BBQ.

Rounding off a dominant food category performance, the Tetra Fino Aseptic 100 Ultra MiM, from Tetra Pak Italy, was chosen for its ability to enable dairy and juice drinks to be distributed in carton pouches at room temperature, and subsequently turned into frozen products in shops or at home. This means producers can tap into the USD72 billion global ice cream market without the need for additional investment in chilled distribution systems.

“The continued success, at the WorldStars, for the aluminium foil sector once again demonstrates the valuable contribution our Alufoil Trophy competition makes to improving packaging globally,” said Henning Grimm, Manager Communications of the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA). “Foil rollers and converters continue to be at the forefront of packaging innovation and design. The addition of a WorldStar confirms the leading role aluminium foil plays in modern packaging solutions,” he added.