Showcasing innovative solutions against food waste and food loss, the Save Food initiative honored the winners of its awards and its international project competition at Interpack 2026, thereby delivering significant impetus along the entire value chain.
The Save Food project competition casts a specific spotlight on projects that make an effective contribution to reducing food loss and waste, particularly in the areas of processing and packaging. At the same time, it reflects the initiative’s mission, which is to promote more responsible use of resources in food production and processing and to bring concrete solutions to where they are most urgently needed.
The winner of this year’s Save Food project competition is Trueways Enterprises with the “Edible Primary Packaging Innovation Pilot” project, which is being realised in partnership with the Institute of Packaging Professionals Kenya. The project’s approach is to develop edible primary packaging based on fruit leather, with the aim of reducing both food loss and packaging waste by processing surplus or non-marketable fruit into a new packaging material able to replace conventional plastic solutions.
This solution is effective at multiple points along the value chain: it reduces post-harvest losses, avoids packaging waste and opens up new opportunities for sustainable packaging solutions, especially for small and medium-sized companies. The award is also linked to financial support for the project’s continued development and practical implementation.
Award-winning packaging solutions at Interpack
Alongside the project competition winners, the recipients of the Save Food Design Awards and the Sustainability Design Awards were also honored at Interpack 2026. The award ceremony took place in the context of the Save Food Expert Talks, which for the first time brought together experts from business, science and practice to discuss current challenges and solutions for reducing food loss.
The Save Food Design Awards distinguish solutions that reduce food waste and loss – from materials and technologies to all-round end-to-end concepts.
The award winners in 2026 are Grupolantero / Laninver, Greiner Packaging and Innoscentia. Their award-winning solutions address various points in the value chain – from the more effective protection of sensitive products through the extension of shelf life to the reduction of spoilage via the application of innovative packaging concepts and technologies. In doing so, they help to reduce food loss during handling, transport and consumption.
The Sustainability Design Awards recognize products, machines, systems and services that make a positive environmental impact and have a reduced CO₂ footprint – for example through material efficiency, recyclability or innovative system solutions. Alfa Machine Kourtoglou, IRPLAST and AeroFlexx Packaging Company were awarded in this context.
The focus of the awards lies on solutions that specifically reduce the use of materials and environmental impact while meeting functional specifications at the same time. The solutions include resource-efficient packaging systems, recyclable materials and new approaches to flexible packaging that combine ecological and economic demands.
With these awards, the Save Food Initiative underscores its role as an international platform for innovation and cooperation. The award-winning projects and solutions demonstrate that food loss reduction is only made possible through the interplay of packaging, processing, logistics and new business models.
The Save Food Initiative was launched in 2011 by Messe Düsseldorf and Interpack, the world’s largest trade fair for the packaging sector and related process industries. Since then, it has been working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UN Environment), among others.
The World Packaging Organization (WPO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) were added to the list of important partners who continue to support the initiative today with their commitment and technical expertise. As a global alliance, Save Food is committed to reducing food loss and waste in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. A special focus is placed on innovations from the packaging industry.
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Naresh Khanna – 10 February 2025
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