Dairyworks Dominate Packaging Category At NZ Cheese Awards

Dairyworks Dominate Packaging Category At NZ Cheese Awards

South Island-based company Dairyworks is celebrating its first foray into the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards with a major champion award and four gold medal wins.

The Dairyworks kids range, which hit New Zealand shelves in August last year, was named the winner of the Caspak Champion Cheese Packaging Award at the official awards ceremony and gala dinner last Tuesday night (March 4).

Dairyworks dominated in the packaging category with an additional four gold medal wins for its Kids Range, Slice Range, Mini Slices Range and Resealable Blocks Range.

This success is the result of two years of hard work to bring the entire new Dairyworks range to the market. “This is very much a joint effort and an award that we share with a lot of people including the talented teams at Brother Design and Multivac,” Dairyworks Director, Margaret Cross, said.

The kids range forms part of Dairyworks’ extensive 22-strong product line-up all launched in August.

Cross admits that while they were breaking category norm by producing predominantly brown packaging across a large range focused on convenience and reducing product wastage, the category was ready for something different.

Since launch, the brand has experienced rapid growth and enjoyed continued sales success, Cross said.

“What we’ve seen from research is that Kiwis are increasingly time-poor and looking for options that are healthy and convenient, all while reducing wastage. Dairy is an expensive item, so by producing packaging that reseals with smaller portions (such as slices) the consumer will experience less wastage and enjoy fresher, tastier cheese.”

However, it’s not just the innovative packaging that caught the judge’s eye. The kids ranges’ strong design and appeal to families also proved a winner.

In the packaging award category, judges are looking for creativity, innovation and functionality, and the way design is used to attract consumers to the product.

Award judges noted Dairyworks kids ranges’ clever and fun use of characters to pique children’s interest and encourage further consumption of non-processed cheese.

“Cheese is an incredible source of protein for Kiwi kids, so while developing this range we thought hard about creating appeal for this age-group all while controlling portion size and developing something suitable to pop into lunchboxes,” Cross said.

Dairyworks enlisted the help of Brother Design, with Business Development Manager, Jenny McMillan, highlighting that the brand work they’ve done across the range shows the power of great design.

“It’s really pleasing when sales success and awards success come together,” McMillan said.

“Brand and packaging design is incredibly important because it plays its part at the most important moment - the decision to purchase.”

Brother Design’s Debbie Hyde, who designed the Dairyworks packaging, said a lot of thought, craft and attention to detail went into creating the final product.

“We set about creating designs which will have instant appeal and stand out in the dairy category, connect with consumers, and reflect the convenience of the packaging formats,” Hyde said.

“This is a key part of why the Dairyworks packs work so well, and it’s great to have that recognised.”

The cheese loving monsters that appear on the kids packs are proving particularly popular and will play an integral part in the brand’s story moving forward. “There’s more to come from our family of monsters, so keep an eye out for them!,” Cross said.

ENDS

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