Three Ardagh Group Customers Win Clear Choice Awards

Unveiling the Year's Top Glass Packaging Designs

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardagh Group, Glass – North America, a division of Ardagh Group and a leading producer of glass containers for the food and beverage industries in the United States, is pleased to announce that three of its customers were awarded Clear Choice Awards by the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI).

Ardagh Group manufactures the award-winning glass packaging for Wicked Weed Brewing's 500ml Sour, McIlhenny Company's TABASCO® brand Diamond Reserve Pepper Sauce and Monster Energy Company's Caffé Monster.

For the second consecutive year, Wicked Weed Brewing has won a Clear Choice Award. This year, the unique beer bottle Ardagh Group manufactured for Wicked Weed Brewing won GPI's Clear Choice Award in the Beer, Cider and Flavored Alcoholic Beverage category. The Wicked Weed 500ml Sour collection captures the perfect blend of a classic Belgian beer bottle and a champagne bottle, with a 29mm cap and neck that accommodate a wine cork to finish the presentation. The long neck, beveled base and deep punt help set this innovative beer package apart from the pack, and showcase the brand's premium spot on the shelf.

The elegant glass bottle Ardagh Group manufactured for McIlhenny Company won GPI's Clear Choice Award in the Food category. An American tradition since 1868, McIlhenny Company has a rich history of packaging its TABASCO® Sauce in glass containers. For the brand's 150th anniversary, McIlhenny selected the finest peppers on Avery Island, mashed with a small amount of salt, then aged – some for up to 15 years – and blended with sparkling white wine vinegar, resulting in its TABASCO® brand Diamond Reserve Pepper Sauce. To celebrate this exceptional sauce, it is packaged in a 187ml sparkling wine Champagne Green glass bottle. The TABASCO® brand Diamond Reserve Pepper Sauce bottle is finished with gold label decoration and a gold foil seal, and packaged in a special-edition sealed gold box to make this a collectible.

The Newcomer to Glass Packaging category was awarded to the unique glass bottle Ardagh Group manufactured for Monster Energy Company. Monster Energy Company shook up the category with the first sleek, 13.7oz premium glass bottle for Caffé Monster. The coffee has a "take no prisoners" attitude with a glass package to back it up. The tall, slender, square glass bottle delivers on market differentiation, and the traditional coffee house chalkboard font on the label provides a premium, unique look on the shelf. Both the label and cap feature the Monster Claw to ensure consumers that this coffee is brewed with killer Monster flavor and supercharged with Monster Energy blend.

The winning glass containers were selected by an independent panel of food and beverage packaging professionals, including Tom Bobak, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, American Craft Beer LLC; Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor, Packaging World; and Denise Purcell, Head of Content for the Specialty Food Association.

"Ardagh Group is proud to have earned more than 90 Clear Choice Awards during the last 29 years," said Alex Robertson, Chief Commercial Officer of Ardagh Group's North American Glass division. "We continue to demonstrate our commitment to innovation and new product development, and are pleased that many of the world's leading brands continue to choose glass packaging because of its ability to preserve product integrity, its beautiful shelf appeal and its endless recyclability."

Since 1989, the Clear Choice Awards has honored consumer product goods manufacturers who find unique ways to use glass packaging to tell the story of their brand, create glass packaging designs that stand out on the shelf, and help brands meet sustainability goals.

"The 2018 Clear Choice Awards bring into focus the connection brands can make with consumers through eye-catching, sustainable and innovative glass packaging," said Joe Cattaneo, Acting Executive Director, GPI. "Every year, the vast majority of new products launched in beer, wine and spirits are packaged in glass containers, and these Awards celebrate the design leaders."

The Clear Choice Awards are sponsored by the Glass Packaging Institute, the trade association representing the North American glass container manufacturers.

Awards were presented during BRANDPACKAGING's Packaging That Sells Conference in Chicago.

Further Information

Gina Behrman, Director, Marketing & Communications at Ardagh Group, Glass – North America, gina.l.behrman@ardaghgroup.com, 317.558.5717

Paula Polei, Manager, Marketing & Communications at Ardagh Group, Glass – North America, paula.polei@ardaghgroup.com, 317.558.5732

Ardagh Group is a global leader in glass and metal packaging solutions, producing packaging for most of the world's leading food, beverage and consumer brands. We operate more than 100 facilities in 22 countries, employ approximately 23,000 people and have global sales of approximately $8.6 billion. www.ardaghgroup.com