IN Brief:
- GrabLok won the Innovation Gallery at Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026 after a visitor vote across the two-day NEC Birmingham event.
- The closure targets takeaway and delivery operations with a linerless, tamper-evident format designed for speed, visibility, and lower waste.
- The runner-up compostable sachet pointed to the same wider direction of travel: food packaging formats are being pushed to improve both function and end-of-life performance.
Westpak Group has taken the top spot in the Innovation Gallery at Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026, with visitors selecting its GrabLok™ linerless tamper-evident bag closure as the standout packaging development from a ten-product shortlist.
The result puts a foodservice packaging application at the centre of a competition that organisers say drew a record number of visitor votes during the NEC Birmingham event on 11 and 12 February. Packaging Innovations & Empack markets the show as bringing together more than 450 suppliers and 7,000-plus visitors, giving the award broader significance than a judged-only product prize.
GrabLok™ is designed for takeaway and delivery bags, where operators need a closure that can be applied quickly at peak periods while still providing visible tamper evidence. Event materials describe the format as a linerless label on a perforated roll, removing backing paper waste and allowing single-step application across bag sizes. That combination of speed, waste reduction, and order-integrity protection appears to have resonated with visitors in a market still adjusting to the scale of app-based delivery.
The award also underlines how packaging development in foodservice is shifting away from improvised seals and toward purpose-built formats. Westpak’s foodservice offer already includes tamper-evident delivery bag systems aimed at reducing complaints about missing items and avoiding staples or separate sticker applications. GrabLok™ moves the proposition further toward a roll-fed closure format that adds branding flexibility alongside tamper evidence.
Second place went to a compostable liquid sachet developed by Futamura UK, Repaq, and GK Sondermaschinenbau. The pack uses Futamura’s NatureFlex™ cellulose film technology, which the company says is derived from wood pulp and certified for both industrial and home composting. Its placing suggests visitors were responding not only to security and operational efficiency, but also to end-of-life options for hard-to-recycle flexible packs.
Taken together, the two highest-placed entries point to a familiar pressure in food packaging development: formats are being asked to do more at once. They must run at service speed, preserve product integrity, reduce avoidable material waste, and fit tightening expectations around disposal. Packaging Innovations & Empack returns on 24 and 25 February 2027 at the NEC Birmingham.
