The BPMA announced this week the proud winners of the BPMA Product Awards of the Year. The industry will be able to find out more about the winning Products at this year’s Merchandise World in April 2022.
Entries this year covered a longer than usual period and entrants were able to submit Products from 2020 and 2021. Categories and criteria were refreshed for this year, awarding the following categories:
- Apparel Product of the Year
- Award & Gifting Product of the Year
- Bag & Folder Product of the Year
- Drinkware Product of the Year
- Eco Product of the Year
- Exhibition Product of the Year
- Pen & Stationery Product of the Year
- Technology Product of the Year
All entrants were asked to answer key questions around price, credentials, eco credentials and provide supporting evidence with their entries. Judging took place across two rounds, involving senior industry distributors and catalogue heads who met to agree final winners in each category in December 2021.
Product Award Winners 2022
Apparel Product of the Year
Platinum award
Supplier: United Brands of Scandinavia
Product: Premium Soft Shell Jacket
Gold award
Supplier: PF Concept
Product: Elevate Macin Insulated Down Jacket
Silver award
Supplier: The Outdoors Company
Product: The North Face 100 Glacier Full-Zip Promotional Fleece
Judges said: ‘This category presented a range of premium apparel across a number of brilliant ranges; the winners in this category represent the level of quality available to the market.’
Award & Gifting Product of the Year
Platinum award
Supplier: Eat My Logo
Product: 4/6 Postal Cupcake Giftboxes
Gold award
Supplier: Snap Products
Product: Mood® Gift Set 2.0
Silver award
Supplier: Xindao
Product: MyboXD gift set
Judges said: ‘Refreshing the category this year meant we were able to look at a wide scope now available – with established suppliers delivering to market demands, we can see this sector going from strength to strength.’
Bag & Folder Product of the Year
Platinum award
Supplier: Juniper
Product: Designer Tote Bag
Gold award
Supplier: Jute Bag
Product: Kobe, Natural Jute Shopper
Silver award
Supplier: Xindao
Product: XD Design Flex Gym bag
Judges said: ‘The winners in this category were hotly debated. Bringing innovation into this sector can be tricky but our Platinum winner stood out as the difference we’re looking for our customers.’
Drinkware Product of the Year
Platinum award
Supplier: First Editions
Product: Aqua Hydrate Bottle-for-Life
Gold award
Supplier: Premier Impressions
Product: Circular & Co. Reusable Coffee Cup
Silver award
Supplier: Reflects UK
Product: Bayamo Thermomug
Judges said: ‘The drinkware category was newly created in 2020 for a reason – huge strides forward in the materials, production and marketing of highly desirable goods the end user market is demanding. Our winners are representing the acceleration of eco credentials in this sector beautifully.’
Eco Product of the Year
Platinum award
Supplier: Bag Co
Product: Lamberhurst Eco Recycled Notebook
Gold award
Supplier: Senator
Product: Evoxx Recycled Pen
Silver award
Supplier: PF Concept
Product: H2O Active® Eco Base Bottle 650ml with Spout Lid
Judges said: ‘Eco credentials for this category were another area where we have seen a huge increase in the quality of products being put forward – a treat to judge and award with genuinely memorable features and benefits that help distributors create desirability with customers.’
Exhibition Product of the Year
Platinum award
Supplier: JuteBag
Product: Biomaster Protected, Antimicrobial Cotton Bag
Gold award
Supplier: Desktop Ideas
Product: Eco Octopus
Silver award
Supplier: BabyUSB
Product: Baby Bio Multi-Charging Cable
Judges said: ‘We were interested to see what would be entered for this category and the products available for exhibitions are now varied and multi-purpose. Our overall winner in this category has captured the ongoing needs for attendees to events to feel protected.’
Pen & Stationery Product of the Year
Platinum award
Supplier: Prodir
Product: QS40 True Biotic
Gold award
Supplier: Juniper
Product: Deluxe Silk Stone Paper Notebook
Judges said: ‘Always a tough category to judge as quality is high and innovation continues at pace – we decided to award to the products in this category that stood out and recognise the design and flair applied.’
Technology Product of the Year
Platinum award
Supplier: Desktop Ideas Ltd
Product: Mr Bio Family Wireless Charger
Gold award
Supplier: BabyUSB
Product: rPET Qi Wireless Charger
Silver award
Supplier: midocean
Product: MO6252 Rwing
Judges said: ‘Technology as a sector delivers those little moments of delight with an excellent range of entries which just make life easy – coupled with eco friendly materials means a win win in sales messages, grabbing attention and orders with products like these.’
This year’s judging panel received thanks from the BPMA and Awards Chair Brian Hayward for their time and service in providing their expert views across two panels and rounds of judging.
Product of the Year award winners will be presented with their trophies at Merchandise World 13th-14th April 2022 and celebrated at the BPMA Awards Dinner on 13th April.
Published on: January 5th, 2022
