category:
Special Judges’ award
Dixie SmartStock Touchless Cutlery Dispenser
Georgia-Pacific
Judge’s comment:
Each member of the panel of judges for the QSR/FPI Foodservice Packaging Awards loved the Dixie SmartStock Touchless Cutlery Dispenser from Georgia-Pacific. Think of it as a battery-powered vending machine for disposable cutlery. The restaurant operator loads the device with forks or spoons, and patrons pull them handle-first from a dispenser at the bottom. The tines of the fork and bowl of the spoon are never exposed, thus sparing patrons the indignity of eating with a utensil that has been handled on the business end by someone else.
In addition to this improved hygiene, Georgia-Pacific also noted improved sustainability, pointing out that there is less consumption and waste versus open bins, as their research indicates the SmartStock dispenser reduces use on average by 29 percent compared with open bins.
The only problem? It’s not exactly packaging in the sense that these awards recognize. Nonetheless, the judges did what judges do and reserved the right to recognize the Dixie SmartStock Touchless Cutlery Dispenser with a special judges’ award to honor what they thought was, to put it in technical terms, pretty cool.