Company honored in two categories: Design Company of the Year and Best Design in North America for helping plants grow in space with Techshot
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tupperware Brands has been honored in Fast Company's Innovation by Design Awards for 2019 in the categories of Design Company of the Year and Best Design in North America for the creation of PONDS (Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System), a plant growing system development in partnership with commercial space company Techshot, Inc., to support NASA research.
Fast Company's annual Innovation by Design Awards is the only competition to honor creative work at the intersection of design, business, and innovation.
"The Tupperware brand has long been synonymous with iconic kitchen products but Tupperware is far more than meets the eye. Starting with Earl S. Tupper's signature lid used to create a partial vacuum and seal in freshness to today, designing for product optimization in space," said Asha Gupta, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Tupperware Brands. "We are proud to receive this recognition from Fast Company and its distinguished judges for our work this past year. We will continue to push the boundaries of ingenuity so that we create sustainable and cutting-edge products that meet changing consumer needs."
Tupperware's development of PONDS in partnership with Techshot has been honored in the Best Design in North America category for its work enhancing astronauts' ability to grow vegetables in space. Since 2014, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been growing a variety of leafy vegetables and colorful flowers inside the Vegetable Production System, otherwise known as the 'Veggie' facility. In an effort to reduce the frequency that an astronaut must water plants growing in space, Dr. Howard Levine and his colleagues at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) began exploring new design concepts for the component of Veggie that holds the root structure of the plants, the so-called 'plant pillows.' Research at KSC led to a semi-hydroponic design concept dubbed PONDS.
Tupperware Brands and Techshot partnered to further develop the concept and manufacture PONDS plant growth units for use aboard the ISS. Tupperware was chosen due to the Company's heritage of design and innovation to help optimize the growth of plants while reducing the amount of time astronauts spend monitoring and watering them.
Tupperware is also one of the few companies honored for Design Company of the Year. Tupperware was chosen among applicants due to the quality, breadth, and ambition of product design this year.
The awards, which can be found in the October 2019 issue of Fast Company (on newsstands September 17), recognize people, teams, and companies solving problems through design. Fast Company is recognizing an influential and diverse group of 483 leaders in fashion, architecture, graphic design, data visualization, social good, user experience, mobility, and more.
"For decades, designers have facilitated overconsumption," says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. "Now, the most ambitious in the field are addressing the grave problems consumption has wrought."
Winners, finalists, and honorable mentions are featured online and in the October issue of Fast Company magazine, on newsstands September 17. Winners will also be recognized at a special celebration at Fast Company's Innovation Festival in November.
Fast Company editors and writers spend a year researching and reviewing applicants for the awards. This year's applicant pool was the most competitive ever, with more than 4,300 entries.
Honorees for the 2019 awards were selected in the following categories: Apps and Games; Data Design; Experimental; Fashion and Beauty; General Excellence; Graphic Design; Health; Learning; Mobility; Products; Retail Environments; Social Good; Spaces, Places, and Cities; Students; Timeless Design; User Experience; Workplace; Best of Asia-Pacific; Best of Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Best of Latin America; and Best of North America. Fast Company is also recognizing Nike as the title's second annual Design Company of the Year for its outstanding efforts merging digital and physical retail experiences.
To see the complete list, go to: https://www.fastcompany.com/ibd
About Tupperware Brands Corporation
Tupperware Brands Corporation, through an independent sales force of 3.0 million, is a leading global marketer of innovative, premium products through social selling. Product brands span several categories including design-centric food preparation, storage and serving solutions for the kitchen and home through the Tupperware brand and beauty and personal care products through the Avroy Shlain, Fuller Cosmetics, NaturCare, Nutrimetics and Nuvo brands. For more information, visit www.tupperwarebrands.com
Media:
Tupperware Brands
Cameron Klaus, 407.826.8855, CameronKlaus@Tupperware.com
