18 Sep 5 brilliant product & packaging designs to celebrate London Design Festival
London Design Festival week is upon us making it the perfect moment to take a walk back down memory lane, spotlighting UK innovations that marry form, function and finesse. We’ve compiled five Product of the Year winning alumni that show how great design solves real real-world problems – and wins hearts (and awards) in the process.
Heinz turned upside down
Sometimes the smartest move is to flip convention. In 2005, Heinz “turned the industry on its head” by moving from glass to a more tactile and squeezable bottle that made coaxing every drop a little easier. A multidimensional design, these new bottles were slimmed down and lengthened so they would fit flush inside fridge-doors. It’s a simple ergonomics masterclass that rethought interaction, not just aesthetics. Two decades later, it’s been widely copied and still leads the pack in the sauces game. In fact, it’s so simple, you’ll feel like you could’ve come up with it!
Mentos Pure Fresh Gum – the paper edition
A 2024 Product of the Year winner, Mentos re-engineered its familiar gum canister into a durable paperboard bottle made from 90% FSC-certified paper, complete with clear OPRL guidance so it can go out with household paper recycling. The same product experience with radically lower plastic usage – proof that packaging can be a sustainability lever without compromising convenience.
The British Crisp Co. – the first fully recyclable crisp packet
Long the poster child for being stubbornly “unrecyclable,” crisp packs met their match in 2024/2025. Working with partners on a Hydropol®-lined paper structure and a whisper-thin layer of aluminium, The British Crisp Co. created the first kerbside-recyclable crisp packet—certified by OPRL—and took home Product of the Year 2025 for the honour (Eco Packaging). It protects freshness, fits existing paper streams and resets expectations for a notoriously tricky format.
Simba, the mattress and the box
Design thinking doesn’t end with packaging. Simba’s Hybrid line layers thousands of conical Aerocoil® micro springs with cooling Simbatex® foam for targeted support and airflow; crucially, the mattress is engineered to arrive vacuum-packed and boxed, expanding in situ. That smart packaging turns the classic “heave it up the stairs” nightmare into something closer to a click-and-collect dream. No surprise it scooped Product of the Year back in 2018 for services to sleep and picked up another win in 2025 for its game-changing pillow and bed frame. We salute you, Simba.
Lurpak Butterbox – block butter, minus the mess
After six decades of foil-only norms, Lurpak’s resealable Butterbox gave block butter a clean, fridge-friendly home—and won Product of the Year (2020). The card box with a thin, recyclable plastic layer improves usability (no more torn, greasy foil) and trims CO₂ versus traditional wrapping, showing how a small structural tweak can unlock both UX and sustainability gains.
No matter the category or year, the winning theme is good design that responds to common consumer concerns. Each starts with a friction (messy foil, sticky ketchup, non-recyclable films, bulky delivery) and solves it so simply you’d feel like you could’ve come up with the idea yourself. Good design feels obvious.
And as these five examples show, when good design works, consumers reward it at the till – and with their voice and votes. With the clock ticking till deadlines close for the next awards, make sure you get your innovation in now before it’s too late. It’s as simple as clicking here.