The Packaging Awards season 2018 started well for the Alexir Partnership with the Simply Cook Meal Kit winning a European Carton Excellence Award.
Packaging Awards season 2018 was fortuitous for the Alexir Partnership in many ways. We had finalists in three different categories of the UK Packaging Awards (Cartonboard Pack, Rigid Plastic and Rising Star) and our stellar player, the Simply Cook Meal Kit, was also nominated in the European Pro Carton Awards and the Packaging Solutions Awards.
The award nominations this year touched all the different divisions of the partnership for the first time ever encompassing design, manufacture, procurement, co-packing and brand development. Well done to the whole team!
The Packaging Awards season 2018 started well for the Alexir Partnership with the Simply Cook Meal Kit winning a European Carton Excellence Award last week. Our Chairman, Robert Davison, picked up the award at the prestigious awards ceremony in the glamorous setting of the House of the Riga Latvian Society. It was a gathering of the leading heads of the European cartonboard and carton industry to celebrate the most creative ideas the industry had to offer. The innovative Simply Cook Meal Kit won the Dry Foods & Beverages category.
The concept of the meal kit allows the consumer to create a restaurant quality meal at home with an easy-to-follow recipe and relevant spices. The concept encourages the consumer to purchase and cook using fresh ingredients and ultimately contributes to the reduction of the black plastic trays containing ready meal options.
Each stage of the user experience has been considered in the design, from positioning the disruptive stands in the fresh food aisles to sit alongside key ingredients, through multi-layered packaging that unfolds like a recipe book.
The design of the pack needed to be vibrant and modern but in keeping with the well-known e-commerce brand. The design challenge was to bring the experience to life through packaging. The structural solution stands upright and confident, delivering shelf impact and a post-purchase experience that takes the consumers on a journey of discovery.
It was the first step into the retail sector so for the brand owners the design was fundamental in their growth plans. The pack needed to be highly functional yet different to its competitors. To achieve the desired pack format specialist folding and gluing equipment were required to achieve the book style pack. A major challenge was to combine all of these features with a pack that could be filled before the final closure.
Structurally, the pack gives the consumer the opportunity to reveal an image of the finished dish along with the required ingredients for that recipe. After purchase the tear strip opening illustrates the easy step recipe and the pots containing the spices.
The material used for the pack is fully recyclable with a minimal use of plastic for the spice pots.
Working across all its divisions, the Alexir Partnership were able to offer design, production of the packaging and also the packing. From concept to shelf, the project was delivered a week early and took 5 months.
Next Jacob Cook , Account Manager at Alexir Brands, won the Rising Star of the Year award at the UK Packaging Awards on Tuesday night. The judges said his entry stood ‘head and shoulders’ above the rest of the category so many congratulations to him!
Tom Sene, Sales Director at Alexir says, “It is always very beneficial for a company to recruit young blood into their business. It gives a different perspective on systems and processes where employees no longer question their place or purpose. Jacob has brought with him a pair of fresh eyes and an inquisitive nature that has questioned certain procedures and encouraged us to make changes where necessary. We hope that this positive characteristic remains with him as he transfers from department to department so that we can continue to take these evolutionary steps”.
“Jacob has also brought with him an extraordinary amount of enthusiasm to Alexir which is contagious across the company. Very clearly he is passionate about his career in packaging and his enthusiasm knows no bounds. This injection of passion and enthusiasm for an industry which is lacking in young people is refreshing to see. Jacob’s natural flair probably lays in sales as he seems to have an ability to read people and converse with them on every level. He listens and reacts accordingly which is a great asset to a member of the sales team”.
“We have taken Jacob to career events and exhibitions deliberately so that he can talk to his peers about the Packaging Industry and inject others with his enthusiasm. We are hoping that he will spear-head an injection of youth into the industry as a result”.
Praise indeed!
Finally we attended the Solutions Awards 2018 on 13th November at the Cafe de Paris, in the heart of London, for a sumptuous lunch and an awards ceremony like no other. The Simply Cook Meal Kit had been nominated in the Packaging category and had made it through to the final three.
The Solutions Awards, organised by Earth Island Publishing, aims to bring together those within print, design and graphic arts who see a bright and successful outlook for the Print industry and recognise that print still plays an integral and central role in the communications world of the future.
However, despite Chris Fuller donning a tie ‘just in case’ it was a close call but the Great British Barber entry from BoxMart pipped us to the post. Well done to them – can we say it was a close shave?!
