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Companies, organisations and individuals from Germany and abroad have until 31 May 2025 to submit their innovations and best solutions to Europe’s largest showcase for packaging. The award, organised by the German Packaging Institute (dvi), is decided by an independent jury of experts across all materials and sectors in ten categories. Fachpack will host a major industry event for the award ceremony. “Increasing demands of modern societies mean that innovations in packaging are playing an ever more important role. The new solutions not only benefit the economy, but are also an influential factor for people’s quality of life and the protection of our planet. They offer effective and practicable solutions to a range of current challenges such as climate change, increasing resource consumption and the growing demands of modern consumers and economic cycles. Clever, efficient and intelligent packaging safeguards quality of life and paves the way for a sustainable future. That is why we have been promoting innovation with the German Packaging Award for over 60 years. We put the very best solutions in the spotlight and celebrate the people who bring them about,” says Oliver Berndt, Head of Events & Marketing at the dvi at the start of this year’s showcase. “The German Packaging Award is specifically designed as a genuine and transparent showcase,” explains Berndt. Packaging Award winning companies can make a genuine statement and gain that crucial edge in a competitive environment. The award demonstrates their outstanding innovative strength and helps to make a winning case in internal and external communication, with customers, consumers, partners and when recruiting for the best employees. The award is also a great reward for your own team’s work and an extra motivational boost,” says Berndt.

There are ten categories in which products or prototypes can be submitted, ranging from Design, Functionality & Convenience, Product Presentation, Cost Effectiveness and Sustainability to Logistics & Material Flow, New Material, Digitalisation and Packaging Machines (engineering, technology, software). Products can be submitted in several categories at the same time. Pupils, students and trainees have their own special category.

Recent advancements in film design have expanded their advantageous properties for a wider range of applications. In response to these developments—and in anticipation of the requirements set by the new EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)—TPL has expanded its product range to include BOPP films. In addition to standard film types, the company now offers specialized products. These include the broad ultra-high barrier portfolio, selected heat resistant films and low density matt films. BOPP films are known for their excellent moisture barrier and sealing properties, high gloss and transparency, printability, and tensile strength. Additionally, they can be enhanced through various refinements. TPL now offers an extensive stock of transparent and metallized BOPP films in various widths and thicknesses. In addition, ultra-high barrier films, heat resistant and low density matt films are also directly available. Other BOPP films are supplied on request. TPL’s new BOPP films can help businesses achieve their sustainability goals while complying with the EU’s new PPWR legislation, which came into effect in February. The increasing demand for recyclability in flexible packaging presents a challenge for the industry. By using specialized BOPP films, such as ultra-high barrier or heat resistant variants, monomaterial packaging solutions can be designed—enabling recyclability. Beyond its broad product portfolio, TPL also provides technical support for application development and material selection, ensuring compliance with evolving regulations. Ralf Meyer, COO of TPL, states: "With the expansion of our BOPP film range, we are completing our existing portfolio and helping our customers find the ideal packaging solution in a rapidly changing market. This move positions TPL as a one-stop-shop for all types of flexible films."

The high-performance miracle sets new standards. Theegarten-Pactec is now expanding its portfolio with the new and innovative BHS high-speed machine for bouillon cubes. Impressing with an output of 3,000 packaged products per minute, the machine has set a new speed record. In addition, it is also setting new standards regarding economy, packaging quality and hygienic design. Boiled sweets, toffees, chewing gum, or even chocolate bars and pralines: when it comes to the fast and efficient packaging of these sweet treats, so-called small-piece confectionery products, the innovative Theegarten-Pactec solutions will inevitably be part of the conversation. Furthermore, for several years the packaging specialists based in Dresden, Germany, have also been developing and producing solutions for related products such as bouillon cubes. More than 250 machines are already being deployed around the world for this special application. With its new development, BHS, the company is now introducing a machine to the market that promises to elevate the packaging of bouillon cubes to another level. The machine, which is the result of intensive research and development work combined with the specialists’ technical expertise, makes use of the “continuous operation principle” developed by Theegarten-Pactec, which was previously intended primarily for confectionery packaging machines: there are no start-stop movements of the products within the machine during the packaging process, but rather a constant flow of movement. As a result, there are barely any acceleration forces acting on the products. In turn, this enables gentler product handling accompanied by a much higher output.

Multipacks can also be realised for medium quantities. Multipacks are popular with consumers and lucrative for retailers. However, there are hardly any suitable machines to support this process for medium-sized quantities that are simply held together with labels to save material. To fill this gap, machine builder Benner MSA has developed a compact system equipped with Herma 500 label applicators. This multipack machine has a footprint of no more than four square metres and is ideal for situations where an upstream packaging system operates at around 60 to 80 work cycles. "There are, of course, one or two other manufacturers of label-based multipack machines. However, these machines are single-format systems designed for a single product that is produced in extremely high volumes, such as a well-known biscuit snack," says Ilyas Zorla, Managing Director of Benner MSA, based near Karlsruhe, Germany. "These machines are not only very large, they are also very, very fast and can easily run at 700 cycles per minute." The Benner MSA machine, on the other hand, bundles bags into 20 to 30 multipacks per minute. "For many suppliers of, for example, nuts, dried fruit, cereal bars and so on, this processing speed is perfectly adequate - here a higher output would be uneconomical." Together with Herma, Benner MSA has developed something that has probably never been seen before in this form: a label-based multipack machine for "mid-range" products. In this new type of system, the individual, ready-filled bags are transported up a sloping conveyor belt to a height of about two meters. There the bags are fed into a compartmentalized conveyor belt where each compartment receives a defined number of horizontally positioned bags. Two Herma 500 label applicators, one on each side, then apply a preperforated label to form the multipacks. As standard, the machine is designed for bags measuring around 65 x 150 x 25 mm (W x L x H). However, the machine is flexible enough to allow wider products to be bundled. The four side guides of the shaft in which the bags are located can be adjusted to any dimension.

At the end of 2024, Gerhard Schubert successfully passed certification in accordance with the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System and the ISO 50001 Energy Management System. The company is fully compliant with international standards on environmental and energy issues. The packaging machine manufacturer received certification for its environmental management systems in accordance with DIN ISO 14001:2015 and DIN ISO 50001:2018. The company introduced the two new management systems in sustainability in order to improve its energy and environmental performance in line with internationally recognised standards. With the ISO 14001 EMS, Schubert is implementing processes such as minimising environmental impact, increasing resource efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and promoting environmentally friendly practices in its day-to-day business. The focus of the ISO 50001 EMS is on optimising energy consumption and increasing energy efficiency. With the latter, Schubert is also achieving the goals of the company’s Mission Blue Sustainability Initiative, which includes measuring the progress of the respective measures. An early commitment to sustainability The two certifications are the latest highlights of Schubert’s unwavering commitment to the environment. Early on, Schubert laid the foundation for environmentally and energy-friendly processes and infrastructure in Crailsheim. In 2006, an office complex with 4,500 m² of floor space was built on site, with heating and cooling provided by a geothermal heat pump. In 2015, the company added a final assembly hall with approx. 12,000 m² of floor space where a heat pump also uses geothermal energy to heat and cool the offices. With Mission Blue, Schubert initiated a company-wide sustainability initiative in 2022 that is aligned with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and encompasses four fields of action. In addition to sustainable corporate governance and climate-neutral production, these include environmentally friendly machines and sustainable packaging solutions, which Schubert develops with its industry partners. Since 2023, Schubert has been operating its office building and final assembly hall in Crailsheim in a climate-neutral manner using the world’s largest ice storage system, while monitoring on-site energy consumption with over 30 digital measuring points. In the same year, the company installed two PV systems, each with 550 kWp, 30 charging points for electric mobility and an infrastructure for a further 50 charging points.

The company has launched a toolbox to inspire South American brands to create indulgent high-protein desserts. Latin America accounted for 10% of global dessert launches in 2024, with retail sales reaching US$12.7 billion. In Brazil, the region’s largest market, value growth in the sector is rising by 9% CAGR.1 However, in a 2024 survey, 18% of Latin American consumers said they had decreased their consumption of desserts over the past year. Among this group, nearly four in ten (39%) overall, and over half in Brazil, cited “because it’s unhealthy” as a reason for cutting down.1 Furthermore, 79% of Latin American consumers say they wish healthier options were available to them in indulgent food categories.2 Winning back health-conscious consumers by reformulating to combine sensory pleasure with a healthy positioning has therefore become a common strategy, with the permissive indulgence trend now apparent across a range of categories. Increasingly, balancing indulgence with health means the addition of functional ingredients such as protein, rather than just reducing fat, sugar or salt. Research by Arla Foods Ingredients has found that 38% of consumers in Brazil want to see high-protein dessert options in supermarkets.3 The new toolkit features 12 recipes to inspire dairy, health and performance brands to create indulgent high-protein desserts. It showcases ingredients from the Nutrilac® ProteinBoost range, which deliver a creamier, smoother texture, even in low-fat products. Most of the recipes are rich in whey protein and therefore deliver high levels of branched-chain amino acids. Nutrilac® ProteinBoost ingredients also provide functional benefits, improving shelf life and stability in fruity desserts, ice cream and sorbet. As well as recipes for ready-to-eat desserts, such as ice cream, puddings and cheesecakes, the toolkit includes ready-to-mix solutions designed for health and performance brands. A low-fat instant pudding mix offers 20g of protein per portion, while a clear, gelatine solution features Lacprodan® whey protein isolate, which offers a range of benefits for active and performance nutrition.

Snack and Relax: We have got you covered! Maintaining a high standard of quality and compliance is an essential part of building a successful snack food brand. The current snack market is growing at a fast rate but snack food production comes with a number of challenges: preventing physical contamination, handling fragile products such as chips and bars, and keeping a clean production environment in order to prevent the accumulation of hazards like sugar or flour dust.

The use of advanced product inspection technologies helps overcome these challenges with:
• High-speed handling and inspection of fragile snacks

• Effective contamination detection for better product safety

• Reduced product waste with in-line weight verification

• Verification of label contents, including critical information such as allergen warnings

The result: satisfied customers, compliance with government regulations, and a more efficient production process. In this Snacks Newsletter we cover the different inspection solutions that assist in automated snack production, offer a new Industry eGuide for you to learn more about the inspection of snack products, and discuss Italian snack food manufacturer Pata’s over 20 year long relationship with Product Inspection.

Snack and Relax while you read this newsletter!

Delivering Quality Snacks in High Speed Production

Producing snacks such as chocolate bars at high speeds comes with its own set of production challenges, including better product handling to avoid breakages, maintaining a clean production environment, keeping equipment running well, and keeping compliant with food safety regulations. Doing all this while maintaining a rapid production pace is even more difficult. Product inspection technology helps meet these challenges.

Find Out How

Streamline Snack Production: Your Guide to Automated Inspection Solutions

There are numerous points in the vertical and horizontal production and packaging process where product inspection technology can help improve overall product quality and safety. Our recently-released guide explains product inspection applications and where in the production process they are best-deployed.

Read More

20 Years of Partnership: Elevating PATA S.p.A’s Production

PATA S.p.A, an Italian manufacturer best known for their high quality, hand-cooked crisps has been a partner of METTLER TOLEDO for over 20 years. This case study goes through the product inspection solutions which contributed to the production process – specifically metal detectors and checkweighers – and how PATA has benefited from their use.

Discover More

Performing Precision Weighing in Flow Wrap Snack Applications

As a growing method of packaging in the snack food industry, lightweight flow-wrapped packages present unique weighing challenges – both due to the lightness of the material and the speed with which flow-wrapped products can be produced. Learn how advanced checkweighing technologies tackle these challenges and deliver accurate results without sacrificing production speed.

Learn More

In 2024, Bühler increased its profitability and achieved an EBIT of CHF 227 million and an EBIT margin of 7.6%. The equity ratio improved to 52.8%. The company was able to further strengthen its financial stability through improved cash flow and increased liquidity. Although orders declined in a challenging market environment, sales remained stable and Bühler was able to maintain or even increase its market share. Milling Solutions, Bühler's largest business unit, Leybold Optics and the Customer Service division contributed the most to the success in 2024. ‘In an increasingly uncertain global economic environment, we pursued our approach of ‘making things happen’ and continued to invest in innovation as well as training and development. A big thank you goes to our skilled and dedicated employees, who were once again the key to our success in this very challenging year,’ says Stefan Scheiber, CEO of Bühler.

In 2024, Bühler Group sales remained stable at CHF 3.0 billion (-0.8%), while order intake reached CHF 2.8 billion (-9.9%). Exchange rates had a significant impact on this result: in local currencies, sales rose by 2.5% to CHF 3.1 billion, while order intake totalled CHF 2.9 billion (-7.0%). Thanks to the focus on improving productivity, the Group's profitability increased for the fourth time in a row to an EBIT of CHF 227 million (7.6% of sales; previous year: 7.2%). Net profit rose to CHF 189 million, which corresponds to a margin of 6.3% (previous year: 5.9%). As a result, the equity ratio also increased for the sixth time in a row to 52.8% from 51.1% in 2023. With a particular focus on global inventory management, current assets were reduced by 15.8% to CHF 554 million. Together with improved profitability, this led to an improvement in operating cash flow to CHF 379 million (previous year: CHF 69 million) and a doubling of net liquidity to CHF 503 million. ‘Our strong financial position makes us a reliable long-term partner for our customers, industry partners and bondholders,’ says CFO Mark Macus

Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH (WDS) is one of the world's leading manufacturers of confectionery machines and covers the entire spectrum of moulded confectionery products. At ProSweets 2025 in Cologne, WDS showcased a innovation in mogul technology – the MogulPRO featuring a chainless pusher system. In addition to WDS's versatile range of systems for confectionery production in various output capacities, the event also featured service and digitalisation solutions, along with the expanding SweetConnect partner network.

WDS was pleased to welcome an international audience and keen interest from customers and visitors. Carsten Butz, Technical Director at WDS, emphasised: "Personal interaction and meeting at international trade fairs provide a unique opportunity to understand our customers' needs and develop tailored solutions together."

State-of-the-art technology and containment system enable tests with a wide range of materials. Coperion K-Tron located in Switzerland, a global leader in feeding and pneumatic conveying technology solutions, is excited to announce the expansion of its state-of-the-art test center at its facility in Niederlenz. This strategic move is designed to enhance the company's capabilities, particularly for tests involving materials that require containment. The expansion will allow Coperion to conduct more comprehensive and diverse testing, providing customers with a broader range of solutions for their specific material handling needs. The new facility will be equipped with the latest technology and equipment, ensuring the highest standards of safety and efficiency. The addition to the Test Center will feature advanced containment systems for handling all types of materials, including an airlock system with filtration, ensuring the safety of both the testing process and the staff as well as the environment. This will allow the company to better serve industries such as battery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food processing, where containment and hygienic requirements can be a critical concern. "Coperion is committed to delivering the best possible solutions to our customers," said Marco Hadrys, Test Center Manager in Niederlenz. "The expansion of our Test Center is a significant step towards achieving this goal. It will enable us to conduct more extensive tests, particularly with materials that require containment, and provide our customers with even more reliable and efficient solutions."