CanTech the Grand Tour 2025 award winners announced
From left to right: Katharina Moller-Racke, senior manager of strategic accounts, and Predrag Ozmo, sustainability director, Ball Corporation; Joanna Ozegalska, senior marketing specialist at Canpack; Javier Rico, sales account Iberia and Kateryna Makogon, product communication specialist, Ardagh; Krzysztof Kazmierczyk, director of sales at Canpack; and Florian Combe, Florian Combe, new product development & graphics manager at Crown Bevcan Europe & Middle East. Image: Bell Publishing
The winners of the 2025 CanTech the Grand Tour Awards were announced at CanTech the Grand Tour’s gala dinner on 1 April at the Radisson Grand Place hotel in Brussels, Belgium.
Wins went to Ardagh Metal Packaging, Ball Corporation, Canpack and Crown over five categories, as well as one highly commended in the decorative category, a specially commended award and the Supreme Winner.
As CanTech editor Alex Rivers stated on stage, Europe is a booming two-piece market for beverage cans, which the jury believed was a contributing reason as to why the awards this year received an overwhelming amount of two-piece can entries.
Aerosols
Ball Corporation: ReAl lightweighted aerosol can for Beiersdorf’s Nivea deodorant
This can took the recycled content of the previous packaging from 50% to 100%, using the company’s ReAl Gen 2 alloy, which also enables maximum lightweighting through impact-extruded technology.
Ball Corporation’s Katharina Moller-Racke, senior manager of strategic accounts, headed to the front of the stage to pick up the first award of the night from conference director, Neil McRitchie.
Limited edition
Canpack: Royal Dutch cans for United Dutch Breweries
The winning can in this category was created for a Dutch brewery to celebrate football with supporters all around the world. Canpack’s Quadromix technology allows cans to be printed with up to four different designs in the same production, which in this case, created striking visuals for the 330ml cans.
This award was collected by Canpack’s senior marketing specialist, Joanna Ozegalska.
Innovation
Crown: Natakhtari gold beer cans for Natakhtari Brewery
Crown’s High-Quality Printing method was applied to this Eastern European can, which celebrates a 12th century epic poem called The Knight in the Panther’s Skin by Shota Rustaveli, featuring themes symbolising love, honour, bravery and justice. To enhance the experience, a QR code on the side of the can takes consumers to an augmented reality experience on Instagram.
Florian Combe, new product development & graphics manager at Crown Bevcan Europe & Middle East, received the certificate and award.
Ends
Ardagh Metal Packaging: H!GHEND on the Alhambra Reserva 1925 by Mahou San Miguel
The end on this sleek can delivers a striking emerald green to help it stand out on shelf, as well as enhancing the classic yet modern appeal of the iconic Spanish beer inside the packaging.
Javier Rico, sales account Iberia, collected the award for the Ardagh team.
Decorative/Speciality
Canpack: Dynami:t Neon and Superbright cans for A. Le Coq energy drinks
These winning cans, created for one of Estonia’s oldest brewery, use special effects that allow the can to ‘glow in the dark,’ offering an extra layer of fun to the packaging, and powerful impact for consumers.
Decorative/Speciality – Highly commended
Crown: Furocity cans
We received another stand-out entry that the jury believed made a worthy contender for the decorative category, so the decision was made for a ‘Highly commended’ award to be given out. Marking a vibrant range for British boxing champion, Tyson Fury, these cans use different designs enhanced with transparent inks and a matte varnish with metallic outlines to add depth and dimension.
Specially commended
Ball Corporation: ReAl lightweighted aerosol can for Beiersdorf’s Nivea deodorant
The Grand Tour 2025 award jury also wanted to recognise one of the entrants for its commitment to sustainability with a specially commended award. The transition to Ball’s lightweight ReAl Gen 2 alloy has resulted in a massive 7,700 tonnes of CO2 saved annually for Beiersdorf, which is well worth celebrating.
Katharina Moller-Racke returned to the stage to collect this special award and celebrate once more.
Supreme Winner
It was then time to honour the Supreme Winner for the night out of the lineup. The jury chose to award Ardagh’s H!GHEND technology. Kateryna Makogon, the company’s product communication specialist, joined Javier Rico to pick up the Supreme Winner Cup.
Congratulations to all our worthy winners this year!
