The winner of this award, YFYJupiter, took a hard look at conventional bicycle packaging at a time when both retail and online bike sales have exploded. This type of packaging has remained more or less the same for the past half-century, relying on various unsustainable materials.

The materials currently used in bike packaging include plastic film, cable ties, and expanded polyethylene (EPE) foam, in addition to corrugated, rubber bands, and staples. YFYJupiter’s simplified, lightweighted packaging design uses far fewer components, all of which are either recyclable or reusable.

In its packaging design, YFYJupiter aimed to eliminate single-use plastic — a material favored by bike manufacturers in Southeast Asia — while still protecting the products during shipment, either to retailers or directly to consumers. The new design reduces packaging components from 67 to a mere 13 and cuts the number of packaging materials from six to four.

The design features a corrugated Kraft box constructed without staples or hot-melt adhesive; all dunnage is made from die-cut corrugated. A reusable hook-and-loop strap system further stabilizes and protects the bike’s front wheel, handlebars, and seat post. The package is easy to open, provides faster product removal and assembly than conventional bike packaging, and provides an engaging unboxing experience for consumers.