
THE INTERNATIONAL JUDGING PANEL
The judging Panel of WorldStar is composed of WPO Board members which consist of leading packaging professionals and Executive Directors of National and regional Packaging Institutes for more than 60 countries.The judging panel usually meets in November of each year for the judging process. The jury's decision is final.The jury has the right to exclude entries which do not meet the conditions of entry.
JUDGES FOR WORLDSTAR 2025

Silvio Colombo
Education Director Instituto Argentino del Envase
ARGENTINA


Nerida Kelton
Executive Director Australasian Institute of Packaging
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND


Lindy Hughson
President International Packaging Press Organisation
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND


Ernst Krottendorfer
Managing Director Packforce Austria
AUSTRIA


Luciana Pellegrino
President WPO I ABRE
BRAZIL


Mariana Soto
Gerente CENEM
CHILE


Wang Guanzhong
Deputy Secretary General of the Design Professional Committee China Packaging Federation(CPF)
CHINA


Li Ling
Director of International Cooperation Department China National Export Commodities Packaging Research Institute (CEPI)
CHINA


Suzanne Moulle
Deputy Executive Secretary APECI
COTE D'IVOIRE


Drena Milijevic
Director Institute of Packaging and Graphic Arts Tectus
CROATIA


Jorge Luis Díaz Rosabal
Specialist in Testing to Packaging National Center for Packaging of Cuba
CUBA


Iva Werbynská
Managing Director Czech & Slovak Packaging Institute SYBA
CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA


Nadim Elias
Chairman Egyptian Chamber of Printing and Packaging Industries
EGYPT


Antro Säilä
Managing Director Finnish Packaging Association
FINLAND


Peltier Fabrice
Designer INDP
FRANCE


Oliver Berndt
Head of Events & Marketing German Packaging Institute
GERMANY


Kofi Essuman
Executive Institute of Packaging Ghana
GHANA


Dimitris Mandis
Chairman AGMPM
GREECE


Shekhar Amberkar
Assistant Director & Head - International Packaging Centre Indian Institute of Packaging
INDIA


Ariana Susanti
Director Indonesian Packaging Federation / IPF
INDONESIA


Afshin Fakhr
CEO Iranain Institute Of Packaging
IRAN


David Little
Chair The Irish Packaging Society
IRELAND


Shira Rosen
Chairwoman Israeli Packaging Institute
ISRAEL


Alessandra Alessi
Communication Manager Istituto Italiano Imballaggio
ITALY


Takehiro Kaneko
Manager Yoichi Somoyama
JAPAN


Sarah Hudaib
Project Manager JOPACK
JORDAN


Joseph Nyongesa
Chief Executive Officer Institute of Packaging Professionals Kenya
KENYA


Sandra Muizniece - Brasava
Chairman of the Board Packaging Association of Latvia
LATVIA


Soha Atallah
WPO Vice President, Marketing WPO, LibanPack
LEBANON


Corne Huijben
Manager Gouden Noot NVC Netherlands Packaging Centre
NETHERLANDS


Ahmed Alex Omah
Executive Director Advanced Institute of Packaging Professionals Nigeria Ltd./Gte.
NIGERIA


Kari Bunes
CEO Den Norske Emballasjeforening
NORWAY


Ayman Sbeih
Secretary General PFPPI
PALESTINE


Krzysztof Niczyporuk
President Polska Izba Opakowań / Polish Chamber of Packaging
POLAND


Andrey Zagorskiy
Board Member NCPack
RUSSIA


Yahya Khaliffa
Head of Printing and Packaging Department Riyadh Polytechnic Inst.
SAUDI ARABIA


May Yap
Chairperson Packaging Council of Singapore
SINGAPORE


Vanessa von Holdt
Marketing Institute of Packaging South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA


Nacho Csuí
General Manager Aespackaging- Graphispack Association
SPAIN


Ananda Munasinghe
Past President Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging
SRI LANKA


Mikael Gällstedt
Head of the Swedish Packaging Guild, Chairman of Scandinavian Packaging Association, Project Manager or Scanstar competition Swedish Packaging Guild
SWEDEN


Aslihan Arikan
Consultant ASD Turkish Packaging Manufacturers Association
TÜRKIYE


Christine Williams Walala
Government Affairs Coordinator Tanzanian Industries of Printing and Packaging Association (TIPPA)
TANZANIA


Nopparat Viriyakitpattana
Researcher Thai Packaging Centre (TPC)
THAILAND


Hager Fenniche Ben Mami
Marketing Manager Packtec
TUNISIA


Charles Muyanja
President IPPU
UGANDA


Veronika Khalaydzh
president Club Packagers of Ukraine
UKRAINE


Habiba Al Marashi
Co-Founder and Chairperson Emirates Environmental Group
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES


Ian Schofield
Consultant IOM3 Uk
UNITED KINGDOM


Jane Chase
Executive Director Institute of Packaging Professionals
USA


Nohelia Barrios
Executive Director Camara Venezolana del Envase (CAVENVASE)
VENEZUELA

JUDGING CRITERIA
FOR WORLDSTAR MAIN CATEGORIES
The judges consider the following criteria:

Protection and preservation of contents

Sales Appeal: On-Pack Branding/ Marketability

Ergonomics

Quality of Execution

Sustainability

Cost Reduction, economy of material, and cost saving

Ease of handling, filling, closing, opening and reclosing

Creativity and Innovation
JUDGING CRITERIA
FOR WORLDSTAR SPECIAL CATEGORIES
Marketing Award:
- The overall success of the packaging to represent the equity of the brand and relevance to the product
- The point of difference that gives it a marketing edge encouraging purchase
- The packaging that best creates value to the consumer based on interaction, emotional connection or usability
Sustainability Award
- SOCIAL: Benefit to Society
- MATERIAL: Responsible raw materials sourcing, including materials from renewable resources
- SOURCE REDUCTION: weight reduction when compared to the previous package or to general packs in its class
- ENERGY: Optimization during transportation, storage and use
- RECOVERY: Re-usability, recyclability, recoverability, post-consumer material recycling, ease of disposal
Packaging that Save the Food
- The packaging solution has shown to reduce food losses or food waste in a relevant amount.
- Appropriateness, adequacy, convenience
- Innovative but feasible
- Sustainability
- Communicates to consumers that the package is saving food or reducing food losses/food waste
- Benefit to Society/Community
Accessible Packaging Award:
- Packaging must be easy to open and use for those with limited functional abilities.
- Innovation for accessibility
- Packaging shall be fit for purposes
- Packaging labelling information shall be highly legible
JUDGING PROCESS
The Judging process for WorldStar is conducted over 2 phases usually in the month of November of each year.
- The first phase is done online where each judge assess each WorldStar entry remotely and individually and puts a score based on the above judging criteria
- The second phase is a live deliberation session via zoom meeting or physically to assess the shortlisted entries and to select the special award categories.