CANS OF THE YEAR AWARDS - SPG Events

nated from the canmaking process, reducingplant emissions. Demonstrating that itstechnology is competitive in China, ToyoSeikan’s award-winning 50cl cans are madewith the latest ‘dry-DWI’ technology withaTULC co-extruded aluminium canstock atits latest plant in Guangzhou.Environmental concerns were alsobehind the Gold winner in the Prototypecategory, Tubex, which has developed itsaluminium aerosol cans using powderbasedinternal coatings and water-basedexternals. This enables, along with the useof part-recycled aluminium for the body, astronger sustainability message to be communicatedby customers.The Ends, Caps & Closures categorywas tightly contested. While Crown wonwith its full-aperture beverage end forCastle Lager, it was a close-run race withNestlé’s Nan infant formula can. Thisuses a new Deep-Drawn lid with a membraneend developed by Impress thatenables the usual plastics scoop suppliedto be housed without being placed in theproduct. While that won the Silveraward, Impress also scooped the Bronzewith the latest incarnation of its easyopenfood ends. The Optilift end fromImpress takes the benefits of offeringmore finger access under the tab a stepfurther by exploiting the vacuum createdin the can during processing to draw thepanel away from the tab, creating morespace beneath it on cans supplied forFrench canned food specialist WilliamSaurin.Nestlé was the customer for two othersimilar products that were recognised inthe awards for Food Three-Piece. Brazil’sRimet designed and manufactured a moreconventional but highly-attractive canwith a membrane for Nestlé infant formulawhile Metalúrgica Mococa showedhow expanding the top and bottom of thecan body enhanced the look of cans forNescafé Cappuccino.A Brazilian canmaker also scored in theFood Two-Piece category but not with thesort of can you’d expect. Cookie cans areusually made using three-piece techniqueswith lock seams and slip lids: for cookiemanufacturer Dauper, Metalgráfica Rennerprovided a solution that ensures thecan has a vacuum seal until opened byusing a drawn (and highly decorated) bodyto which the slip lid is a close fit. The centreof the lid has a tiny hole that is sealedby a peel-off label that when removedreleases the vacuum, using a principlesimilar to that developed for wet foods byBrazil’s Rojek.Like the Gold-winning Crown beverageend, Renner showed that crossover technologiesare just one route to new innovationsin metal packaging.DECEMBER ● THE CANMAKER © 2010 Sayers Publishing Group 29