Leading smart label producer Timestrip has been shortlisted in two categories at this year’s UK Packaging Awards. The prestigious event is the industry’s major awards scheme and Timestrip has been nominated both in the Labelling category and for Innovation of the Year, for its recent venture with CARGO Cosmetics. The firm joins illustrious company in the Packaging Awards shortlist, including consumer products giants Reckitt Benckiser and Procter & Gamble.

Timestrip’s innovative venture with Canadian cosmetics firm CARGO saw a nine-month Timestrip® incorporated into the product packaging for CARGO’s new lip gloss range. The project required Timestrip to come up with three product development firsts: producing a nine-month label; reducing the size of the label to make it considerably smaller than standard Timestrips®; and finally, enabling the label to be activated automatically when the consumer first uses their lip gloss.

The integrated Timestrip® is embedded in the cap of CARGO’s lip gloss and is activated when the consumer pushes it fully into the cap before using the gloss for the first time. The Timestrip® then monitors a period of nine months – the recommended ‘shelf life’ of a lip gloss – clearly indicating when that time is up and the product should be discarded.

By shortlisting Timestrip in the Innovation category, the awards team has recognised a product innovation that is not only functional, but also meets the demanding aesthetic requirements of the cosmetics sector.

Timestrip’s Joint CEO, Reuben Isbitsky, is understandably pleased with the nominations: “We worked closely with CARGO to enable them to be the first to market with this technology and we have been pleased with the success of the project. Much of our work is ground-breaking in terms of labelling technology and it’s very satisfying to have those innovative qualities officially recognised with these nominations.“

With a record number of entries for this year’s UK Packaging Awards, competition will be particularly stiff. The judging panel includes top buyers from Tesco, Asda, B&Q, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, as well as representatives from a host of leading brands and packaging guru Robert Opie, founder of the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. Their decisions will be announced at the formal awards ceremony, which takes place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Central London on 4th November.

Timestrip works with market-leading companies in many industries worldwide; the company’s success in a range of different market sectors has been such that Timestrip® is becoming the global standard in visual product labelling. With an ongoing programme of research and development, Timestrip is fast becoming the world leader in time and temperature monitoring.