Now on YouTube, the 2008 Glass Packaging Insitute Clear Choice Awards Winners
Consumer packaged goods manufacturers choose glass for new product introductions, purity, and sustainable positioning

Las Vegas, NV, May 5, 2008 - The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) named the winners of its 2008 Clear Choice Awards during a Presentation and Reception at the Luxor Hotel and Casino on May 5, 2008. CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRESENTATION VIDEO
This year’s Awards recognized twelve consumer product goods (CPG) companies and their achievements in expanding the frontiers of glass packaging design.  Also honored was the Orange Community Recycling Division of the Orange County Solid Waste Management Department with GPI’s Recognition for Outstanding Sustainable Practices.

"Through designing and using glass packaging for your brand, you are leading the way in providing your customers with what they really want-a ‘pure,’ ‘premium’ and ‘sustainable’ product," says GPI President Joseph Cattaneo.  "Choosing glass for a food, beverage, or cosmetic product is an environmentally friendly decision that allows for a package design that creates superior shelf impact and brand loyalty."
The 13 Clear Choice Awards winners include: Miller Brewing Company; White Wine Rocket Company; Truco Enterprises, LP; Q Tonic; XanGo, LLC; Phillips Distilling Company; Sake2me, LLC; M.A. Gedney Company; Tizane Beverages; Avon Products, Inc.; Cadbury Schweppes Beverages Americas; Red Gold, Inc.; and the Orange County Solid Waste Management Department for Orange Community Recycling. 

"A change from can to glass resulted in an increased viability for a product that is key to Red Gold’s future... Our product was previously sold in a 17 oz. can that had a pull-top.  From 1997 to 2004, our sales had declined 63 percent due to one thing, our package... After we switched to the new 16 oz. squat glass jar, we saw an immediate response.  Our cases sold went up 14 percent and our salsa now has more compliments than any product in our lineup," said Colt Reichart, Assistant Marketing Analyst, Red Gold, Inc.

The 2008 Clear Choice Awards judging panel included representatives from the packaging academia, packaging design and the packaging trade media: 

• Bob Moore, Packaging Science Professor, Clemson University
• Dan Mishkind Principal, PURE BRANDING, LLC
• Iris Zavala, Managing Editor of Packaging World magazine
• Lauren R. Hartman, Senior Editor of Packaging Digest magazine
• Mark Ksiazewski, Design Director, Balducci’s Food Lover’s Markets

The entries were judged on aesthetics, creativity, marketability, and form and functionality.  All 2008 Clear Choice Award winners received an engraved, one-of-a-kind Clear Choice Award created by internationally-renowned, Smithsonian-exhibited glass artist, Tim Tate.  Winners also received industry recognition and brand building media coverage.

According to the 2008 Clear Choice Awards Winners:

[Vitro] took a design that was a ‘10’ in their difficulty scale and made sure our creative dream came true. You took our design to the number one mojito mix on the shelf within the mixers, allowed it to turn 40 percent faster than our closest brand competitor, which I feel is due to the structure, and increased our sales 103 percent year to date, which is more than doubling its size from last year. 
Robin Utay, Creative Director, Cadbury Schweppes Beverages Americas

From the beginning, we knew there was no other choice, it was the clear choice, to use glass for our product because it embodied everything that we could think of in a beverage that offered high quality and gave our customers a feel and a taste that was unadulterated and didn’t change the taste after we made the product.
Charles Pucciariello, CEO, Tizane Beverages

[I] am truly grateful to be accepting this Clear Choice Award...for Miller Chill...In response to consumer enthusiasm for new tastes and experiences, we’re pleased to have introduced this chelada-style beer. 
Candace Walters, Design Manager, New Product Development, Miller Brewing Company
 
At White Rocket, every new brand is a collaborative effort in creating a concept that has a true reason for being for satisfying a true consumer need and expectation.
Mark Feinberg, Vice President Marketing & Business, White Rocket Wine Company

We had the desire to improve the form and function of our club-sized On the Border salsa container for the club stores...[We] now have a great new container to offer our retail customers as well as our final consumer.
Steve Slack, Vice President of Operations, Truco Enterprises, LP
 

Q Tonic is honored to receive the Clear Choice Award...[Tonight’s] award is a wonderful recognition that the Q Tonic glass package is a stellar as the liquid it holds. We are grateful to the Glass Packaging Institute for the award.
Jordan Silbert, Founder, Q Tonic

[In] five and a half years, we’ve become a billion dollar brand.  This bottle image has become iconic in the wellness industry.
John Digles, Chief Marketing Officer, XanGo, LLC

Thank you to the Glass Packaging Institute [along with our partners and]...our distributor network across the country that have helped us make UV Vodka one of the fastest growing vodka brands in the United States.
Cameron Matches, VP & Director of Sales in Canada, Phillips Distilling Company

Our objective was to create a premium product with a premium package, and we could not have done so, without a high-quality glass bottle...[We] are honored to be standing beside some of the packaging industry’s leading companies.  And, we are delighted that the efforts of small, innovative companies like ours are recognized by the Clear Choice Awards in the glass industry.
Tadd Cortell, Brand Development, Sake2me

Gedney recognized the consumer demand and the health benefits for organic, and in 2005 launched their private brand name, Del Monte, and have since that time taken on a host of other wonderful private label customers and have enjoyed growing the organic market.
Michelle Timmers, Purchasing Manager, M.A. Gedney Company

I accept this Award on behalf of Orange County citizens, the elected officials, and the businesses that participate in our recycling program.  It’s through the hard work of those businesses, the employees of those businesses, and the employees of the recycling program that Orange County’s recycling programs are a success.
Robert Taylor, Recycling Programs Manager, Orange Community Recycling Division of the Orange County Solid Waste Management Department

The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) is the trade association representing the North American glass container industry. Through GPI, glass container manufacturers speak with one voice to advocate industry standards, promote sound environmental policies and educate packaging professionals. www.gpi.org

CLICK HERE TO VIEW CLEAR CHOICE AWARD VIDEO