Submission Form

2024 North American Paperboard Packaging Competition

Official Rules & Guidelines

Deadline EXTENDED: May 17, 2024.  Submit Today!

Entry fee: $249 per package
Pay for your entries in advance below or submit payment via Judgify. Entries not paid for by May 31st, 2024, will not be eligible to participate.

All entries must be submitted by a current PPC member company.

In addition to submitting your entry write up, be prepared to send the following to PPC Headquarters to complete your entry:

  • At least two assembled cartons (one with product if not perishable)
  • At least two flats of every size

Mail Entries to:
Paperboard Packaging Council
ATTN: Kayla Brown-Frye
1350 Main Street, Suite 1100
Springfield, MA 01103

Prior to submitting your entry, please read our Official Rules & Guidelines.

Before You Submit

Entry Deadline: May 1, 2024
Entry Fee: $249
Entries must be paid for by May 30, 2024, to be eligible to participate.
In 2023, we are moving our submissions to the platform, Judgify, to make the process easier and more collaborative for our members.

All entries will be submitted digitally.

You should be prepared to answer the following:

  • Main Company Contact Information: We’ll contact this person for any questions regarding your entry and will send them information later if you win an award.
  • Package Information: Package Name, Client Name, Retail Category, Award Category. Make sure the package and client names are accurate—we’ll use this information in all future promotions and publications.
  • Designer Names: Full names and companies for your structural designers and graphic designers. We’ll use this if you order an award for them in the future.
  • Materials: Type of paperboard and any other materials you used with a short description explaining why you made that selection.
  • Executive Summary (required): High-Level overview of your entry. No more than 200 words.
  • Customer Objectives
  • Discuss the concept and design (graphic and structural) and how it fulfilled the customer’s objective. Include any special or hidden features of the package that elevate the user experience that may not be readily apparent.
  • Discuss the converting process. Include steps and challenges that led you to fulfilling the customer objectives. Did you use embellishments in a unique way?
  • Describe the distribution and fulfillment process including palletization, cubing, and any significant material savings as a result.
  • Be prepared to attach any relevant photos (max. size 5 MB). Videos not accepted.

In addition to submitting your entry write up, be prepared to send the following to PPC Headquarters to complete your entry:

  • At least two assembled cartons (one with product if not perishable)
  • At least two flats of every size

Mail Entries to:
Paperboard Packaging Council
ATTN: Kayla Brown-Frye
1350 Main Street, Suite 1100
Springfield, MA 01103

PPC reserves the right to photograph all entries and to use photos and write-ups for promotions, publicity, and exposition displays both in connection with the competition and otherwise deemed appropriate by PPC.

Videos & Tips

Eligibility

  • Must be submitted by a PPC member and converted in their facility.
  • Must have been produced and commercialized by PPC members for the first time between January 1, 2023, and June 1, 2024 (excluding the self-promotional category).
  • Packages must consist of at least 50% paperboard.
  • Laminated grades made with E-flute, F-flute, and other micro-flute corrugated qualify, as does molded fiber.
  • Each entry must not have been submitted into a previous PPC competition unless as self-promotion or pre-commercialization.

By submitting an entry into the competition, each company confirms that each entry represents the member’s original design; that all information, descriptions, and explanations provided are true and accurate; and that none of the design, information, descriptions, explanations, or any other material provided with the entry violates or infringes upon the intellectual property rights (including any patent, trademark, copyright, or trade secrets), of any other person or entity.

Write Up Tips

In 2024, PPC has updated the submission form to better help you tell the story of your carton. Each field is thoughtfully created to help you tell the story of your entry to the judges and each write-up is covered in detail in the judging process. The more complete your write-up, the better the judges will understand your entry’s development objectives and impact.

Photos to give the judges a better understanding of the package’s function or shelf presence are encouraged, as are those that show the previous design if the entry is a redesign. Videos are not accepted.

The identity of participating converters is intended to remain anonymous to the judges. Please cover your logo, including dielines wherever possible, and omit your company name in the write-up (excluding the self-promotion category). We do encourage you to specify the brand of paperboard used, even if it was produced by your own company.

Judges and PPC reserve the right to reclassify entries as necessary.

Product Retail Categories: These categories are used to classify your entry to be judged among others in the same category. For example, if you submit a 6 can beverage carrier, you should select Beverage on your entry form.

Categories include: Beverage, Confections, Cosmetics, Foods, Hardware/Houseware, Media, Miscellaneous, Pharmaceutical/Healthcare, Self-Promotional, Toys & Recreation

Award Categories

All entries submitted will be automatically considered in our General award Category. In addition, you may select award categories to also be considered in: Innovation, Sustainability, and Digital Application.

Digital Application Category:
Awards in the Digital Application Category recognize excellent use of digital printing/converting technology. Entries may receive Excellence or Gold awards in the Digital Application Category, and the top entry will receive the 2023 Digital Award. To qualify for this award, the package must have been sold commercially; no self-promotional entries qualify for this award.

Innovation Category:
Awards in the Innovation Category recognize new and unique package or graphic design, converting techniques, or other concepts otherwise new to the industry. Entries may receive Excellence or Gold awards in the Innovation Category, and the top entry will receive the 2023 Innovation Award. To qualify for this award, the package must have been sold commercially; no self-promotional entries qualify for this award.

Sustainability Category:
Awards in the Sustainability Category recognize extremely sustainable packaging, outstanding use of paperboard in replacing a non-paperboard substrate, and/or the fostering of materials reductions for better cubing. Entries may receive Excellence or Gold awards in the Sustainability Category, and the top entry will receive the 2023 Sustainability Award. To qualify for this award, the package must have been sold commercially; no self-promotional entries qualify for this award.

When the entry is a redesign of a previous package, please send the old package if possible. If not, photos/drawings of the “before” and “after” packages are highly encouraged. Also include metrics around savings in packing, palletization, cubing, or shipping if relevant.

Judging Process

Our panel of industry experts travels to PPC Headquarters in Springfield, MA to spend three days judging each year’s entries. There, they break into two teams of judges with a variety of backgrounds and expertise to look at retail categories of entries together. They read through your write-ups and have a meaningful conversation to ask questions, draw comparisons, and finally score each design.

Each entry is scored on three main areas:

  1. Concept, Design, & User Experience
  2. Converting
  3. Distribution, Fulfillment, & Retail

The more complete the write-up for each entry, the better the judges will understand your package’s development objects and impact. Thoroughly answer each prompt which is thoughtfully designed to help you tell the full story of your carton.