Charlotte Coetzee bags PnP design competition

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On Wednesday, 14 January 2009, an expert panel, comprising style guru Edith Venter; Condenast's Bianca du Plessis; fashion wiz, David Tlale; creative director of Y&R Cape Town, Clinton Bridgeford; Pick n Pay marketing expert, Lyndsay Webster-Rozon and Pick n Pay internal communications executive, Tintswalo Khosa, selected the ultimate winner and two runners up from the top 10 designs, as judged by Pick n Pay shoppers via the company's website.

In the bag

Environmental champion Jacci Rudling, 44, and Susan Newham, 23, took second and third place respectively. As the winner, Coetzee was awarded R20,000, second place received R10,000 and third place was awarded R5,000. Each of the remaining finalists won R1,000.

According to Nick Badminton, Pick n Pay has sold more than 11-million green bags to date. “Although current consumer demand still dictates we make our 24-micron bag available for purchase, we have found that more and more of our shoppers are switching to our alternatives - the ‘bag for life' and our ‘green bag'. As part of Pick n Pay's campaign to relegate plastic bags to the same status as dinosaurs, we decided to let our customers have the last word on a durable and stylish alternative, and invited them not only to provide innovative, fresh designs for the bags, but to also vote for their favourite designs. The competition proved an enormous success, with 386 designs being submitted and 54,569 votes registered on the site.”

Furthering its commitment to the environment, the entire campaign was ‘paperless' as it was conducted entirely via the company's website.

Manufacturing

The bags will be manufactured by Township Patterns, where women from previously disadvantaged backgrounds who are members of cooperatives which they own and manage themselves. Currently, Township Patterns supports 21 women on a regular basis - this is set to increase to 33 by launch date. The bags, which are manufactured from entirely locally sourced natural fibers, will be available in Pick n Pay stores around the country from March 2009.

The winning design will be a limited edition, after which a range of bag designs will be available.