Stora Enso Consumer Boards has presented three talented young designers with prizes in its 2004 Food Packaging Design Awards (FoPDA) competition. FoPDA is an international packaging design competition established to encourage creative young designers to submit innovative food packaging solutions based on paperboard. The next round of the competition will start in February 15, 2005.
Stora Enso Consumer Boards has taken a bold initiative to develop new packaging concepts in cooperation with selected partners. Organized jointly by the company and the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland, FoPDA is an invitational competition for students at sixteen leading design universities in Europe and Japan. The purpose of the contest is to improve existing food packaging solutions and to discover new applications for paperboard in food packaging. "The key issue in the evaluation of the contest entries is innovation. Winning entries must be innovative, practical, suitable for food, environmentally friendly, cost-effective and suitable for commercial production," says Tapio Vapaasalo, Chairman of the Jury and Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki.
Two FoPDA 2004 entries from students at the University of Art and Design Helsinki were awarded a joint Second Prize of EUR 3,000 each. The jury particularly applauded the board-based spice sifter "Salt/Pepper" submitted by Tuukka Rantala for its functional idea and suitability for further development, variability and scalability. "Rip It!", a scalable container for dry food submitted by Sanna Vainikka & Kirsikka Lehtonen was selected for its multiple applications and practical serving and storage solution, which clearly provides the consumer with added value. Ubukata Aleksandra Hariko from Tama Art University, Japan, submitted a design for a luxury container with recipes and ingredients, which was awarded the EUR 1,000 Third Prize.
Exploring the potential of paperboard
"Creating a well-researched packaging solution that is both innovative and suitable for commercial production obviously poses a greater challenge for design students than having to produce just playful or stylish compositions. This is something that we need to think about in design education in future," says Vapaasalo. "Several FoPDA 2004 entries had certain merits and it was clear how they worked. However, the contest was demanding and none of the entries completely fulfilled the criteria established. Consequently, the First Prize of EUR 6,000 was not awarded. Let's hope the participants in FoPDA 2005 can rise to the challenge."
"The market is calling for innovative packaging solutions that differentiate between individual brands and create added value. The aim of the FoPDA competition is to broaden knowledge about packaging design and its potential among design students and demonstrate the attraction and versatility of paperboard in various packaging applications. Fresh thinking among design students could provide a stepping stone for the development of completely new packaging concepts," says Niilo Pöyhönen, Executive Vice President of Stora Enso Consumer Boards and a member of FoPDA 2004 Jury.
Next year, the FoPDA 2005 competition will open on February 15 and close April 30. More information is available at the website www.storaenso.com/food.
Further information
Stora Enso Packaging Boards
Consumer Boards
New Business Innovations
Ms Jalliina Järvinen, Manager, Food Solutions
P.O. Box 4
FIN-15701 Lahti
FINLAND
Tel. +358 2046 26789
Fax +358 3 752 0237