The Campbell Soup Ready Meals pouch-that-turns-into-a-bowl garners the Highest Achievement Award from the Flexible Packaging Assn.’s annual competition for innovation. And another five packages earn Gold Awards for Packaging Excellence; Printing & Shelf Impact; Technical Innovation; and Sustainability.

FPA’s Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards were presented Tues. night, Mar. 1, at a gala dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, FL, to kick off the 2016 FPA Annual Meeting.

We start with the best of the best:

1. Highest Achievement Award
Campbell Soup Ready Meals retort pouch by Bemis Co. Inc.

It’s a pouch. It’s a bowl. It’s a convenience that consumers will crave. Shelf-stable retort pouch for Ready Meals from Campbell Soup make microwave heating and subsequent eating quick and easy, especially away from home. The pouch self-vents, making it effortless to heat up the food. Once hot, an easy-open tear converts the pouch into an eat-from bowl, so people can enjoy a hot and tasty meal at work or home, work or wherever. FPA shares these additional details: “The microwave-friendly design includes cool touch zones, Magic Steam technology and controlled venting to eliminate hot or cold spots.”

See our earlier coverage of Campbell’s Ready Meals packaging here.

NEXT: Lay's Summer Promotion of personalized digitally printed snack bags

2. Gold Award: Printing & Shelf Impact
Lay's Summer Promotion by Emerald Packaging Inc.

Picnics, barbeques and parties with friends and family help make summers memorable. Frito-Lay wanted to tap into that positive mojo. So for its Lay’s Summer Promo, it invited customers to submit their own photos. Snack bags were then digitally printed with the customer’s submitted picture, creating a customized ecommerce product and personal experience. A unique bar code on the package links the photograph to the package and the package to an individual consumer, ensuring that customers get the right packages. According to Kevin Kelly, owner/CEO of Emerald Packaging, the entire package is digitally printed on an HP Indigo 20000 press, carefully matching the brand’s colors with its conventionally printed bags as well as incorporating the variable data (photo and bar code) for each package.

NEXT: Kohinoor Anti-Slip Bag

3. Gold Award: Printing & Shelf Impact; and Gold Award: Packaging Excellence
Kohinoor Anti-Slip Bag by Flex Films (USA) Inc.

Micro-embossing on the finished laminate film prior to bag making gives this premium rice bag special anti-slip properties. Stacked bags stay in place, whether on a shelf in the store or at home, or on a unitized pallet stacked several feet high. Added in register, the micro-embossing is selectively positioned in the center of the bag (at the point of maximum contact with the other lay-flat bags for a high coefficient of friction). But it doesn’t mar the packaging graphics or interfere with the barrier properties of the bag because it only alters the surface of the film. Additionally, FPA tells us that “It is also so designed that it does not physically puncture the film surface so that barrier properties remain unaffected and there is no development of micro-pores that allow mites or micro-organisms to enter the package.”

NEXT: Dispos-a-vent barrier pouch for medical devices

4. Gold Award: Technical Innovation

Dispos-a-vent barrier pouch by Oliver-Tolas Healthcare Packaging

For medical device packages that are autoclave (steam) sterilized, Dispos-a-vent offers a “flexible” alternative to lidded trays and other rigid packaging. In addition to withstanding the high-temperature autoclave process, this barrier pouch prevents moisture egress, keeping devices protected from losing moisture and sterilized until point of use.

NEXT: Fresh N Tasty Bakery 12-Count Cookie Pouch

5. Gold Award: Sustainability
Fresh N Tasty Bakery 12-Count Cookie Pouch by Robbie Manufacturing

In-store bakeries know how appealing the delicious smell of fresh-baked cookies is. The new Fresh N Tasty bakery pouch—with its large viewing window—adds an element of visual appeal on top of that. Additionally, the barrier pouch assures that cookies stay fresh for longer than alternative packs, such as rigid clamshells or coated-paper bags, even after opening, thanks to its resealable zipper. With a convenient carrying handle, this slim pouch minimizes storage space in home pantries.

NEXT:  Daisy Brand Sour Cream Squeezable Pouch

6. Gold Award: Technical Innovation
Daisy Brand Sour Cream Squeezable Pouch by Sonoco Flexible Packaging

There’s a new way to dispense a dollop of sour cream: a gentle squeeze. This new Daisy Brand sour cream package may resemble a stand-up tube, but it’s actually an inverted, wedge-shaped pouch fitted with a valve dispensing closure. Consumers of any age can now enjoy controlled dispensing that is drip free for less mess. Dispensing right from the package also means there are no utensils to clean up, which also keeps the condiment from getting contaminated from other food that might be stuck to the spoon.

NEXT: A lucky 13?

Read about the 13 flexible packages winning Silver Awards in the 2016 Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards competition booklet on the association’s website.

1. 12 oz. Tis the Season Gingerbread Ground Coffee by American Packaging Corp.

2. 3.8 oz. Natural Great Granny Crunchy Apple Chips by American Packaging Corp.

3. 6 lb. Dr. Teal Epsom Salt Magnesium Sulfate by Plastic Packaging Technologies LLC

4. 4 kg. Bio-vita Granules Seaweed by Paharpur 3P

5. Birla White Walcare WPP Bag by Flex Films (USA) Inc.

6. Cowboy Bath by Berry Plastics Corp.

7. 8 oz. Pouch for Duke’s Mayonnaise by ProAmpac

8. Morton Scented Epson Salt SUP by Coveris

9. Petsmile Pet Toothpaste by Glenroy Inc.

10. Printpack Photochromic Bag (Self Promotion) by Printpack

11. Smithfield Foodservice Package by Bemis Co. Inc.

12. SureSeal Dairy Films by Liqui-Box Corp.

13. White Lily Flour Box Pouch with QuickZip by ProAmpac