On January 9th, 2023 – WPO (World Packaging Organisation) announced the winners of the WorldStar 2023 Awards, and Result Group is a proud winner in the categoryof Fresh Fruits and Vegetables with its Australian Table Grapes Traceability Pilot.
WPO (World Packaging Organisation) is a unique organisation contributing the growth of a sustainable global packaging.
In another record year, the Awards registered 488 entries, from 41 countries, growing from 440 competitors from 37 countries in 2022. “These numbers confirm that WorldStar is the most prestigious and important packaging award in the globe”, celebrates Soha Atallah, WorldStar Coordinator and WPO Vice President of Events.
Packages eligible for WorldStar Awards are those that have already received a national or regional packaging award from a packaging competition that is recognised by WPO, during the last 2 years.
In 2022 Result Group was awarded Silver in “Outside of the Box Design” with the Australian Table Grape Association (ATGA) traceability pilot for the 2022 (AIP) Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) Awards.
The Australian Table Grapes Traceability Pilot is one of the largest traceability and authentication projects deployed in Australia. The outstanding achievements are the result of collaboration between Australian Table Grape Association, Agriculture Victoria, Perfection Fresh Australia, GS1 Australia, and Result Group. More than 840,000 units of table grapes, including bunch bags, clamshells, and cartons, were labelled with a unique serialised QR code, further enhanced with the use of GS1 Digital Link standards and exported to over 15 markets in the Asia Pacific Region.
“Agriculture Victoria is delighted to have been part of this award-winning pilot program by funding and partnering with the Australian Table Grape Association to pilot the use of Results Group traceability software with growers and exporters in the sector. We’re committed to working with industry to implement new traceability systems that maintain Australia’s competitiveness in international markets and ensure the safety and trustworthiness of produce delivered to overseas consumers. It’s a fantastic outcome to receive this industry recognition and I congratulate everyone who has been involved in this pilot program,” stated Agriculture Victoria Chief Executive, Matt Lowe.
To assist grape growers to connect with consumers and supply chains as well as consumer safety and quality standards, Result Group introduced an industry customised traceability platform, a label printing and management programme, NiceLabel, as well as process automation and scanning technologies, designed to collect end-to-end shipping data. The overall concept was to sell more Australia table grapes by proving authenticity and provenance. Setting high-quality Australian produce in a space of its own … all done with virtually no disruption to current grape harvest and packing processes.
Traceability is often viewed as an “evolving” technology, the recognition of an Australian company developing Australia’s export credentials “challenges” that theory. The technology exists, has been deployed and it can be done cost effectively, delivering a strong return on investment.
“In future, traceability will likely become a mandatory requirement, so it’s positive that the Australian table grape industry has a traceability package – now globally recognised for its innovation – for growers to embrace,” added Jeff Scott, ATGA CEO.
We’re really proud of the pilot and thank the Victorian Government for their support of the project. Thanks also to technology provider Result Group and producer-exporter Perfection Fresh for agreeing to participate in the pilot. To win a world award is an exciting achievement for the Australian Table Grape Association. There was a lot of thought and strategy that went into our traceability pilot to make sure it would be a success.”
The process of the traceability project starts at the farm, where the polybags that will be exported to over 15 markets in the Asia Pacific Region are given unique serialised GS1 Digital Link – enabled QR code labels. Labels also provide crucial traceability information about consumer pack units, cases, and pallet numbers, as well as time and temperature tracking information that was captured through the cloud database, in order to combat all types of food fraud.
The digital twin integrated in the QR code labels ensures that each one is unique and traceable.
Luke Gibson, a Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer, Perfection Fresh commented, “This significant award recognises the strong collaboration between a team of experienced and skilled stakeholders working together to overcome challenges and achieve a result, Perfection Fresh was proud to be part of this pilot project.
Packaging is the most important touchpoint for customer and consumer communication. This technology gave us, as a brand owner, the opportunity to ensure product safety and quality across the supply chain as well as obtain direct feedback from users on our product experience.”
Result Group are deeply honoured to have been chosen as a winner of the 2023 WorldStar awards among our global peers and to see the new technology utilised by the pilot enhance authenticity and provenance across the fresh produce sector.
“Winning the award is very humbling and a great recognition for our hard-working and dedicated team. Collaboration with current system vendors and developing interoperable protocols is always a challenge and requires trust and respect. The upside, it opens up new opportunities in the traceability sector, as we continue to strive to further innovative solutions in the Australian market. We couldn’t have done it without our partners, the Australian Table Grape Association, Agriculture Victoria, Perfection Fresh Australia, and GS1 Australia, so this is a joint triumph,” said Michael Dossor, Result Group General Manager.
WorldStar program highlights the global significance of packaging innovations by promoting technology and innovative solutions, recognising and inspiring packaging experts, and collaborating with brands to explore new ideas.
This is a fantastic opportunity for the packaging community to continue working in the space, finding the most effective solutions and share with the rest of the world.
“We would like to congratulate all project participants in this great achievement. This award is recognition that Australia has the capabilities, technology, and drive to be the world leader in traceability across agricultural sectors, but a lot still needs to be done.
We encourage industry and Australian governments to build on this success and turn traceability into a real differentiator of Australia agricultural exports in international markets,” said GS1 Australia Chief Customer Officer Marcel Sieira.
The complete list of winners is available both in WorldStar or WPO webpages – www.worldstar.org or www.worldpackaging.org – and they will be awarded in a Gala Ceremony on 6 May, during Interpack 2023, in Düsseldorf (Germany), to which Result Group will be present.