Bohemia, N.Y. – FTA has revealed the recipients of the 2021 FTA Excellence in Flexography Awards, the premier awards program for the flexographic industry.

The award-winning prints and printers were unveiled as part of FORUM 2021’s Awards Presentation, kicking off the Association’s two-week technical conference.

“The Excellence in Flexography Awards are a tremendous opportunity for flexographers to demonstrate their expertise in a variety of printing applications,” said Excellence in Flexography Awards Committee Chairman Lon Robinson of Tension Corp. “This year’s winners produced some truly stellar jobs, making use of state-of-the-art techniques and processes in ways that enhance shelf appeal. It is these printers raising the technical bar, while delivering practical applications, that will continue to transform flexographic printing around the world.”

Recognizing the reality presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the hundreds of print samples entered in the competition were judged remotely in FTA’s Virtual Conference Center. Using high-powered digital microscopes, judges observed each print magnified on their computer screen and debated their quality through more than a dozen scoring criteria.

Six prints rose to the top of their respective categories to claim Best of Show:

The Eton Mess with Chargrilled Dates/Chargrilled Apricots Wrappers, printed by Sunshine FPC Inc (wide web category)
The Lerøy Torsk Lettsaltet Wrapper, entered by Marvaco on behalf of Westpak Oy AB (mid web category)
The Bioré Charcoal Anti-Blemish Scrub Tube, printed by Berry Global (narrow web category)
The Member’s Mark Applesauce Tray, printed by Advance Packaging Corp (combined corrugated category)
The Roundup Multi-Purpose Sprayer Carton, printed by WestRock (preprinted linerboard category)
The M&S on the Bright Side Envelope, printed by Encore Group (envelope category)

Browse the online gallery of prints recognized in the 2021 Excellence in Flexography Awards and read a recap of the judging process in the May issue of FLEXO Magazine.

In addition to the Excellence in Flexography Awards, FTA also announced the recipients of its other honors and awards, including the 2021 Technical Innovation Award, 2021 Sustainability Excellence Award, President’s Award honorees and Hall of Fame inductee.