The latest news, trends, analysis, interviews and podcasts from the global food and beverage industry

*For the past few months, a jury of 12 packaging specialists have been looking at nearly 700 entries from 39 countries to find the winners of the 2008 Pentawards. *

The winners of the international packaging design competition were handed their prizes during a special ceremony held at the Luxepack Exhibition in Monaco, France, on 30 October 2008.

The award-winning creations will be displayed in various locations, including Paris, at the new DesignPack Gallery in January 2009, and the Shanghai Luxepack exhibition in March 2009.

Winners The Piper Heidsieck Rosé Sauvage champagne bottle, signed by the Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf, presented to the competition and produced by Sleever International, won the Diamond Pentaward for Best of the Show 2008.

The Platinum Pentawards, which crown the best packaging in the five major categories, are: * Beverages Category: Turner Duckworth, US, for Coca-Cola Aluminum * Food Category: Pemberton & Whitefoord, UK, for Tesco Tortilla Chips * Body Category: DesignBridge, Holland, for Schwarzkopf Professional OSiS+ * Other Markets Category: Aekyung, Korea, for Spark * Luxury Category: Dentsu Kyushu, Japan, for Yaoki Sake

All the winning designs can be seen on the Pentawards website in collaboration with TheDieline.com.

In addition to the Diamond Pentaward and the five Platinum Pentawards, the international jury has also awarded 27 gold Pentawards in the 44 competing categories this year. Silver and Bronze Pentawards were also handed out.