CPG NexGen Awards

At Just Born Quality Confections, Charlotte Ashcraft transforms innovative packaging concepts into measurable business and operational results. Her redesign of the company’s theater box portfolio helped drive a multi-million-dollar investment in new technology, while her leadership in automation, sustainability, and Extended Producer Responsibility prepares the organization for future demands. A dedicated mentor and active industry leader, Charlotte brings together packaging design, manufacturing, and commercial strategy to advance the confectionery sector.

Hayden Bivens is leading the modernization of a critical weight-verification system at Frito-Lay that will affect more than 1,400 machines across 34 facilities and generate an estimated $800,000 in annual productivity savings. He also contributes to large-scale bagmaker commercialization and packaging-automation projects involving case erectors and case packers. A trusted technical leader and Professional Engineer, Hayden supports safety, recruiting, and internship initiatives while helping build the industry’s future engineering talent.

Matt J. Fitzpatrick is advancing packaging through digital transformation, sustainability, and data-driven decision-making at Saint-Gobain. He helped establish a cloud-based packaging specification platform, strengthened Extended Producer Responsibility reporting, and created a scalable data foundation for carbon tracking, recycled-content reporting, and recyclability assessments. As a global packaging expert and mentor, Matt turns complex regulatory and operational challenges into practical strategies with long-term value.

Allie Helton led Wyandot Snacks’ transition from manual operations to automated end-of-line production. Under her leadership, Wyandot tripled production capacity—from approximately 300,000 pounds to more than 1 million pounds per week—while achieving 98% uptime. By using automation to remove physically demanding tasks, create higher-skilled opportunities, and support workforce growth, Allie demonstrates how operational innovation can strengthen both a business and its community.

As Global Packaging Innovation Lead at Kenvue, Raianna O’Toole combines industrial design, packaging engineering, and consumer insights to create differentiated product experiences. Her work has advanced sustainable refill systems, premium packaging, and patented designs across personal care, oral care, wound care, and other consumer categories. Through collaborative workshops, consumer research, and mentorship, Raianna inspires teams to approach packaging challenges with creativity, empathy, and technical rigor.

Chad Sienknecht has delivered significant improvements at Trisco Foods, by combining Lean manufacturing principles with collaborative problem-solving. His initiatives have increased production output by 75%, reduced labor requirements by 50%, lowered material costs by 44%, and shortened equipment setup and packing times. Rising from an entry-level production role to management, Chad has earned broad respect for his integrity, initiative, and ability to build a culture of continuous improvement.

Hannah Swilling has managed a significant portfolio of capital projects at Tyson Foods spanning automation, robotics, packaging modernization, and capacity expansion. She has led the design and execution of major processing projects on accelerated timelines and evaluates emerging technologies to improve efficiency, quality, and labor utilization. Beyond her technical leadership, Hannah founded Tyson’s Women of Engineering group, created an externship program, and mentors the next generation of engineering talent.

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Scott Turner delivers packaging innovations that support critical product launches, sustainability goals, and supply-chain resilience at Edwards Lifesciences. His work has generated approximately $1 million in savings, reduced material use and package size, introduced recyclable packaging formats, and produced five invention disclosures. Scott also advances digital prototyping and simulation while mentoring engineers and aligning cross-functional teams in a highly regulated environment.

As Lead Design Engineer, R&D at Becton Dickinson, Supradeep Vankayala develops packaging solutions that unite sustainability, regulatory readiness, and business impact. His achievements include creating a PFAS-free, fully recyclable and sterilizable polybag, building a strong patent portfolio, and helping prevent the rejection of approximately 2 million products. Recognized globally with a 2025 BD Innovation Award, Supradeep also mentors packaging professionals and contributes to industry forums.

Ann-Marie Willis is transforming how technical knowledge supports new product development at Mary Kay Global. She created an AI-powered NPD Capability Helper and centralized resources connecting equipment capabilities, component data, manufacturing insights, and seven years of project learnings. Her work has contributed to more than $1.4 million in documented cost avoidance and helped bring approximately 940,000 units of production in-house.