Constar, a leading producer of innovative monolayer PET
containers, has won the 2009 Ameristar Award for Food Packaging with a lightweight PET jar for
LiDestri Foods’ Francesco Rinaldi brand pasta sauces.
Constar’s Ameristar-winning PET jar features the company’s Vertical Compensation Technology™
(VCT™), a panel-less design for hot fill food and beverage products that withstands the rigours of high-temperature processing while approximating the look, rigid in-hand feel, and filling-line performance of
glass. While several beverage products are already packaged in VCT bottles, LiDestri Foods is the first
major company to commercialise Constar’s VCT jar technology with its 45oz Francesco Rinaldi brand pasta sauce, gaining significant performance and sustainability benefits along with brand-enhancing features.
Each year, the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) honours companies that have succeeded in
creating innovative packaging that deliver improved efficiency and sustainability. Constar’s sustainable,
monolayer PET jar for Francesco Rinaldi brand pasta sauces was honoured with a 2009 Ameristar Award.
Ameristar-winning packages will participate in the international WorldStar Awards competition.
In 2008, Constar won both Ameristar and WorldStar Awards for a monolayer PET wine bottle with
Monoxbar® oxygen scavenging technology for French wine-maker, Boisset Family Estates. The
Ameristar Awards will be formally presented to all winners at the IoPP annual packaging summit on 18 May 2010 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago.
LiDestri Foods converted its Francesco brand of pasta sauces to Constar’s PET jars from another PET
container, gaining an improved packaging solution, significant production efficiencies and a unique
branded package design.
Using CONSTruct™ advanced predictive engineering software; Constar designed a jar that is nearly 11% (roughly 8g per jar) lighter in weight than the existing PET jar with side grips that it replaced. The VCT technology provides rigid ‘ribbed’ geometry which eliminates the need for vacuum panels and improves stability. According to John LiDestri, president and CEO for Lidestri Foods, “these
new bottles are labelled and filled 25% faster than the previous container, with less downtime.”