The bright red and yellow plastic “Chicken Fingers Hand” placed first among 156 entries from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The package for deditos de polo grill opens to become a serving container for five grilled chicken pieces in the fingers, and small trays for sauce and mashed potatoes in the palm.

 

The Chicken Fingers Hand also captured First Place in the Children’s Meal Packaging category in the competition and scored a perfect 10 in every evaluation criteria according to eight-year-old Sayla Wangler and her mother, Jeannie Wangler, of Manassas, Va. who judged the category.

 

There are six categories in the annual competition, and the judges select a winner in each category. The category winners then compete against each other for the “Foodservice Package of the Year” designation.

 

“The Chicken Fingers Hand…is a perfect example of a foodservice package that helps increase sales,” said John R. Burke, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI).

 

“The clever design of the package, its size (just right for a child’s portion) and its durable nature (meant to be taken home for future use as a child’s crayon storage unit) captured the judges’ imagination. This is the kind of package that a child will keep until he or she goes off to college,” Burke said.

 

That’s not to say that the Chicken Fingers Hand didn’t have some tough competition. The 52-inch long Big StuffTM Crowd Pleaser Pizza – yes, that’s a four feet, four inches long box for holding 11 pounds of pizza – from Hot Stuff Foods® was one such example. It tied for First Place in the Wow! Factor category with an entry from Firehouse Subs: its Captain Sorensen’s® Datil Pepper Hot Sauce, a glass container shaped like a fire hydrant.

 

The tie in the Wow! Factor category was the first time in the eight-year history of the competition that two packages tied for First Place in one of the categories.

 

In the Consumer Convenience category, the Glide Solo, a simple, yet extremely creative one- piece cup holder, based on an origami fold out concept, won First Place for Tray Innovations Inc. and its founder, Dotison McThay of Chicago. This was the third time in the six years of the QSR-FPI sponsored awards program that one of Mr. McThay’s creations took first place in a category he entered.

 

In the Brand Delivery – Family of Packaging category, the entire foodservice packaging line from Australia’s Guzman y Gomez Mexican TaqueriaTM restaurant chain captured First Place. With its eye-catching black and yellow photo graphics on its take-out bags, cups and wraps, the chain made customers “feel like they were taking home a meal from Old Mexico” rather than Sydney.

 

The competition’s Graphic Design Distinction – Single Package category winner was the enticing four-color Paper Salad Package for McDonald’s Europe. The 360 degree images of crisp salads printed on the package act as a perfect enticement for consumers looking for lighter fare at a chain known for burgers and fries. The container was developed and sourced by HAVI Global Solutions and manufactured by Seda S.p.A. of Italy.

 

In the Product Manufacturing Innovation category, a coffee cup made with a unique In-Mold Label process that applies a paper label to a polystyrene cup during thermoforming won First Place for McDonald’s in Latin America and Asia Pacific, developed and sourced by HAVI Global Solutions and manufactured by Grupo Convermex S.A. de C.V. of Mexico and Perfect Product Disposables of Malaysia.

 

 

For more information, please contact Lynn Dyer, vice president, at the Foodservice Packaging Institute at (703) 538-2800 or via e-mail at ldyer@fpi.org.