Zenpack Wins Gold and Silver at the 2026 Pentawards

Zenpack earns Gold and Silver at Pentawards for VSSL Outdoor Coffee Brewing Kits and Wicked x Kristin Ess Hair packaging experiences.

SAN JOSE, CA, UNITED STATES, November 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Zenpack, an integrated packaging partner, has received two honors at the 2026 Pentawards, including Gold for VSSL Outdoor Coffee Brewing Kits and Silver for Wicked x Kristin Ess Hair. The honors bring Zenpack’s Pentawards record to 16 wins since 2021, including two Platinum, two Gold, seven Silver, and five Bronze awards.

VSSL Outdoor Coffee Brewing Kits received Gold in Home, Leisure & Other Markets, D.02 Household Goods.

Designing a Packaging System Around the Product

VSSL creates outdoor coffee equipment ranging from grinders and pour-over kits to tumblers, filters, and accessories. As the product family expanded into retail, its sleek, enclosed packaging could make unfamiliar products look more like electronics, while limited shelf space made it difficult for retailers to display them outside their packaging.

Zenpack approached the project as a complete packaging system rather than a series of individual packages. Open panels let shoppers see and touch key products, while book-style structures provide access to products and technical information. More minimal structures for tumblers and accessories expose the products themselves while maintaining a consistent visual language across the family.

The open structures also created an engineering challenge: protecting products through distribution despite greater physical exposure. For heavier metal components, Zenpack developed custom magnetic inserts that secure the products while preserving the intended retail presentation and opening experience.

The result is a system designed to help customers understand and interact with unfamiliar products while protecting them.

Turning PR Packaging into Part of the Experience

Zenpack also received Silver in Brand Identity & Connected Packaging, E.11 Press & Influencer Gifting, for Wicked x Kristin Ess Hair.

Created as a limited-edition PR mailer, the package centers the products within a highly structured reveal. Zenpack reengineered the originally briefed telescopic box into a fall-open structure, allowing the oversized package to open around a central, crystal-ball-inspired display. The rigid package combines coated SBS, gold foil, an acrylic globe, and manually arranged decorative elements. Twenty-five complete sets were produced for PR seeding.

While VSSL uses structure to improve product comprehension and interaction at retail, Wicked x Kristin Ess Hair uses structure to control how products are revealed and presented. Together, the projects demonstrate how packaging can be engineered around the context in which a product is experienced.

“Great packaging happens when clients trust us to solve complex challenges together. These awards are a reflection of those partnerships and the teams behind them,” said Robin Tan, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Zenpack.

A Growing Record of International Design Recognition

The two honors bring Zenpack’s documented Pentawards record to 16 wins since 2021, including Platinum recognition for BIGFACE in 2023 and Dwell Dripper for Verve Coffee Roasters in 2025.

Zenpack's 2026 awards also include five iF Design Awards, for PulpFixin Paper-Based Labware, Dwell Dripper for Verve Coffee Roasters, MyComfyTech Headset Air Purifier Packaging, Ecolibrium Compostable iPad Case, and Boomii Balm Case Refill System, spanning packaging and product design. PulpFixin also received an IDEA Silver, bringing Zenpack's 2026 total to eight honors across seven projects.

About Zenpack

Zenpack is an integrated packaging partner helping growing brands design, engineer, and build scalable packaging systems. Zenpack brings strategy, packaging design, structural engineering, manufacturing, and logistics together under one accountable team, bridging the gap between creative vision and production execution. From product launches and retail expansion to complex multi-SKU programs and PR packaging, Zenpack develops packaging systems that strengthen the product experience and support brands as they scale. Packaging is the Product.

For more information about Zenpack’s award-winning work, visit https://www.zenpack.us/about/awards/.

Tony Lam
Marketing@zenpack.us
Zenpack
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