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.