Starcke and Grano are pleased to announce that their collaboratively designed and produced packaging for Arctic Blue Gin has won an award in the joint Nordic packaging competition ScanStar 2023. The total number of entires in the competition was 33, of which 17 received an award. The entries represented a wide range of packaging solutions, from logistics solutions to gift packaging.
The ScanStar competition has been held annually since 1969 by the Scandinavian Packaging Association SPA. The competition is open to all packaging solutions produced or used in the Nordic countries.
The competition jury appreciated especially monomaterials and simple solutions, in which good design makes the package easy to use and recycle afterwards and also provides a good protection to the product. The jury described the packaging jointly produced by Starcke and Grano as a beautiful carton box that utilises many different printing techniques. The jury also praised the fact that the packaging can be recycled as normal cardboard despite the impressive detailing and foiling.
The Arctic Blue Gin packaging is also ideal for the global market
The cooperation with Finnish gin distillery Arctic Blue Beverages kicked off based on their search for a high-quality Finnish packaging provider. Grano was first contacted about the project by Ari-Veli Starcke, chair of the board of Starcke, a long-term partner of Arctic Blue Beverages. The idea to enter the ScanStar competition came from Grano’s Production Director Markus Jensen-Eriksen when the packaging started to attract attention from customers and packaging industry professionals alike.
Due to the popularity of the gin, Grano and Starcke produced several different versions of the packaging and label for different markets around the world. For the packaging aimed at the American market, the companies used a photograph by Eeva Mäkinen, which also served as the basis for the surface of the winning packaging.
The surface of the packaging features gleaming northern lights, which were created through foiling. The trees, logo and fell are multi-level embossed, and the base material for the packaging consists of paperboard produced by Metsä Board. The foiling was carried out by Starcke, while Grano was tasked with printing the image with four-colour offset printing and applying a layer of protective varnish on the surface. The end result was a premium packaging solution worthy of the gold award winning gin that can also be recycled. The recyclability of the packaging was taken into account from the very beginning, as it was in line with Starcke's and Grano's corporate social responsibility values.
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