OF Packaging co-founder and director Joe Foster has been awarded the lifetime achievement award within the WorldStar Packaging Awards 2020 programme.

Conducted by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), the award was one of two elected from all over the world. Keith Pearson from South Africa was the other recipient.

Foster won the award for his work in creating an evolved understanding of flexible packaging and the place it holds in society.

Foster has been passion about flexible packaging for most of his life and has run four flexible packaging businesses across four countries over the last forty years and according to WPO, is proof that he sees beyond what flexible packaging is, to what it can be.

He has provided countless free innovation and sustainability presentations and seminars to a variety of industry sectors, as well as sessions for large private corporations and global clients overseas.

The recognition and awards won by both Foster and Omniverse Foster in both packaging and business spheres have also been of great importance to his win. He was awarded the 2029 PIDA Industry Packaging Professional of the Year Award for his 40 years in the flexible packaging industry, amongst others.

OF Packaging has also won numerous PIDA Awards.

Foster was also the first to multiple markets with short run digital printing and local pouch-manufacturing, offering services across South Africa, UK, Australia and New Zealand before most other packaging companies.

Foster has also helped engineer the pouch machine currently used by O.F. Pack.

“The Lifetime Achievement in Packaging Award was established with the aim of acknowledging and rewarding excellence in all aspects of packaging science, technology, design and application across every country around the world,” WPO president Pierre Pienaar said.

“The discipline of packaging is one that is truly global. The World Packaging Organisation is in a unique position to identify leading practitioners from around the world who have consistently pushed the boundaries in advancing the art, science and application of packaging to serve the needs of an ever more demanding society.

“These prestigious awards will celebrate and preserve in perpetuity the collective achievements of these innovators.”

The honourees will be recognised during the WorldStar Award Ceremony & Gala Dinner, in Dusseldorf, Germany, on 8 May.

In addition, four A/NZ entries have been shortlisted as finalists for three of the WorldStar Packaging Special Awards, also run by the WPO.

The finalists from A/NZ are:

• Plantic RV Skin Packaging Materials (PlanticTechnologies, Australia) for the President’s Award
• Woolworths Bakery Plant Fibre Tray (Woolworths, Australia) and LewisRoad 100% rPET Milk Bottle (#Pact, New Zealand) for the Sustainability Award
• Hazeldene’s Chicken Farm and Sealed Air for Cryovac Darfresh on Tray (SealedAir, Australia) for the Packaging that Saves Food Award.

“What makes this recognition even more meaningful is that no ANZ packaging innovation has ever been recognised or shortlisted in the President’s Award and two of the three finalists in the Sustainability Award are also PIDA 2019 Award winners,” Australian Institute of Packaging executive director Nerida Kelton said.

The winners of each award will also be announced during the 2020 WorldStar Packaging Awards at Interpack in Duesseldorf, Germany on 8 May.