CLEVELAND – November 4, 2014 – Tap Packaging received a Gold Award in the 71st Annual North American Paperboard Packaging competition, the industry’s premier competition for carton manufacturers involved in the concept, design, print, performance, and shelf appeal of paperboard packaging.
Sponsored by the Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC) and judged by a jury of packaging professionals, industry experts, and professors, the annual competition showcases the most creative, sustainable, innovative and appealing folding cartons and rigid set-up boxes from both major corporations and small, family-owned box shops. Leveling the playing field, manufacturer names are removed from the entries and each box is judged solely on its ability to compete within the category it has been nominated.
Tap won a Gold Award for its Inca Tea folding carton, which is made from 100% post-consumer recycled material and has a unique design functionality, which attracts attention and strategically utilizes shelf space. The folding carton was converted using RockTenn 18 pt Kraft Uncoated Recycled Board and offset printed with soy ink. The four varieties were gang-run, and each design variation was printed with opaque white ink, black ink, and one spot color. This allowed all four designs to be printed at once, while using spot color to represent each of the different tea flavors.
The Inca Tea box also features a unique custom die-cut sleeve of the Peruvian mountains and a large foil stamped logo, which quickly help tell the story of the 100% all-natural tea. The outer custom die-cut sleeve serves as a closing mechanism as it slides up and then down to protect tea bags from falling out once the Kraft tear-off tab has been removed.
Inca Tea has a very appealing story and sells a quality and all-natural product to a specific health-conscious consumer. The packaging reflects their brand and reinforces the earth-friendly aspects of their tea. As a result of their packaging, Inca Tea has been given prime product placement by their 100 plus retailers.
The Inca Tea box sells either at eye level or on an end cap in the store, and the owner of Inca Tea attributes this success to the packaging design. “We were a new product without brand recognition or past sales history,” says Owner Ryan Florio. “But because our product is unique and our packaging is so different, our product has preferential placement in every store we sell to. This has been critically important to our growth and success over our first few months.”
Founded by the Chilcote family in 1906, Tap Packaging Solutions is located in Cleveland, Ohio, and provides full-service manufacturing of innovative and everyday packaging solutions to the consumer products industry. As an employee-owned company, Tap employees work as a team to increase productivity and profitability. Specializing in the confection, photography, and retail markets, Tap is committed to exceeding expectations in the design and creation of premium folding cartons, rigid set-up boxes, and specialty packaging.
Austin Johnson
Author