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An international panel of experts has gathered in London to judge the water innovation awards 2008. This year’s competition attracted a record 201 entries from 40 countries. Following five successful years as the bottledwaterworld awards, the new-look water innovation awards recognises excellence and creativity on a unique global platform for the packaged water industry. “The response to this year’s awards contest has simply been phenomenal,” said water innovation Editor Nayl D’Souza. “Thanks must go to all the brand owners, suppliers and entrepreneurs that have yet again supported our magazine’s awards programme together with the dedication of the judging panel and the dedication of those working behind the scenes to manage the flood of entries we received.” This year’s judges included Felicity Shakespeare from Givaudan, the world’s largest producer of flavours and fragrances (headquartered in Switzerland). She was joined by Caroline Herbst at Krones, the largest supplier of capital equipment for bottling and packaging in the world (based in Germany). The distinguished line-up was further enhanced by the presence of Romeo Corvaglia, founder of the successful Corvaglia plastic cap business, and Eckhard Kallies from Scandinavian labelling specialist Stora Enso – sponsor of the labelling category in the competition. The jury also featured the expertise of Victoria Green from UK retailer Waitrose; product development knowledge from Peter Rickett, co-founder of award-winning Designworks Windsor; Australian-born Edward Kosier of Nextek, a specialist in polymer recycling and lightweighting; world class sommelier Sophie Rudge from Blend; and Steve Rowe, President of Spanish water distributor wawali (Water Way of Life). Completing the line-up was water innovation Editor Nayl D’Souza, who co-organised the event. The judging panel was chaired by Zenith International Publishing Group Editorial Director Bill Bruce, who ensured full account was taken for each of the nominations. Among the product categories were best new bottle in PET, glass, label and packaging innovation. There were also categories for flavoured and enhanced water, kid’s water concept and marketing campaigns, along with best newcomer. This year saw the introduction of two new categories which looked at sustainability in two distinct dimensions: best ethical initiative and best environmental initiative. The results of the water innovation awards 2008 will be announced at a special gala dinner on 23 September 2008 during the 5th Global Bottled Water Congress, being held in Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt.