PMMI, owner and producer of PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2011 (Sept.26–28, Las Vegas Convention Center), announces that online voting for the PACK EXPO Selects competition is open on Packexpo.com through Sunday September 25, 2011.

This marks the first year all voting has been conducted online, a change that will benefit the finalists as well as the winner, according to Chuck Yuska, president & CEO, PMMI.

“By presenting the awards on site and on the first day of the show, we give the finalists more time to discuss their award-winning entries with visitors to their booths,” Yuska says.

He adds the finalist packages clearly address primary trends, , including sustainability concerns and convenience, expressed by participants in recent PMMI market research.

“In nearly every market study we’ve conducted in the last several years, common themes have emerged. Packaging and processing machinery end users have made it clear they need to meet certain criteria, such as  sustainability, total systems solutions, cost-effectiveness and convenience for the consumer,” Yuska says.

Packages submitted reflected these trends in a variety of ways. For example, one makes it easy for consumers to return the used product for recycling, and another allows consumers to choose how they wish to access its contents.

PACK EXPO Selects finalists will be on display in the Showcase of Packaging Innovations (located in the Lower South Hall, adjacent to The Brand Zone) at PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2011. To see images of the products, and to vote, visit packexpo.com.

“In the months following PACK EXPO, it seems to become clear the finalists packages are trend-setters. I suspect that will be true this year, too,” Yuska says.

Voting closes September 25, 2011.

[Editors: For photos of this year's finalists, contact Kate Achelpohl, PMMI (kachelpohl@pmmi.org or 571.612.3183) or Matt Sedlak, PMMI (msedlak@pmmi.org or 571.612.3213).]

PACK EXPO Selects 2011 FINALISTS

Commercial Package Name:  Heinz Dip & Squeeze Ketchup Package
Company selling Commercial Package:  H. J. Heinz
Exhibitor:  Multivac, Inc. (C-530)
Description:. This improvement on the ketchup pack sachets found at most fast-food and carryout restaurants allows consumers to choose their ketchup delivery method. Peel off the top foil to dip or tear off the ‘cap’ and squeeze.

Commercial Package Name:  Green Giant Fresh
Company selling Commercial Package: Grower’s Express
Exhibitor:  Printpack Inc. (C-1508)
Description: Green Giant gets fresh with the new Green Giant Fresh line of fresh cut vegetables. The new produce packaging includes the Flexis steam valve, a proprietary microwave steam valve from Printpack and Avery Dennison, so consumers can provide their families’ quick, healthy meal solutions with gourmet taste and quality.

Commercial Package Name:  WISP
Company selling Commercial Package: Colgate
Exhibitor:  Printpack Inc. (C-1508)
Description: Colgate WISP is the first disposable mini-toothbrush with a breath freshening bead for a clean, fresh mouth anywhere, anytime. And now, the Wisp helps the environment, too — it’s switched from a 4-pack clamshell to a stand-up pouch. It’s an attractive, yet practical packaging solution: The stand-up pouch stands out on the shelf and has a second life as a mailer consumers can use to send the used brushes for recycling through TerraCycle. Talk about breathing easy!

Commercial Package Name: Intra-Lock Dental Implant Packaging
Company selling Commercial Package:  Intra-Lock International
Exhibitor:  ECONOCORP INC. (C-2419)
Description: Dental hygiene gets cool. This package features automated/robotic packaging with “click-lock” product chamber feature.

Commercial Package Name: Energizer Turn & Lock blister for hearing aid batteries
Company selling Commercial Package: Energizer
Exhibitor: Tegrant Corp., Alloyd Brands (C-1211)
Description: This  easy, convenient trapped blister package keeps hearing aid batteries secure and in the package instead of the bottom of a purse or drawer. The easy-to-turn dial functions smoothly, yet the lock and the click lets the batteries turn; to retrieve a batteries, open a perforated flap in the back and drop that battery into your hand.

Commercial Package Name: Stonyfield Farm Yo Baby, Yo Toddler, and Yo Kids
Company selling Commercial Package: Stonyfield Farm
Exhibitor:  Clear Lam Packaging, Inc. (S-5306)
Description: New packaging for all Stonyfield Farm multipack yogurt cups uses 93 percent renewable resources, primarily plant-based Ingeo PLA (polyactic acid). The renewable materials are produced with about half the energy of petroleum-based packaging, and these new formed yogurt cups are stronger than the traditional plastic.

Commercial Package Name:  Tea Wrap
Company selling Commercial Package: Numi Organic Tea
Exhibitor:  Label Technology (S-5631)
Description: If reducing packaging materials is your cup of tea, this innovative tea wrap package will be too. The package replaces a typical foil structure with a 100 percent-recycled content paper laminated to metalized oriented polypropylene, for a 50 percent reduction in packaging materials overall.