Every spring, students enrolled in Professor Lorrie Frear’s Packaging System Collaborative class have the opportunity to work on the Paperboard Packaging Alliance (PPA) Student Design Challenge. One team, made up of Packaging Science student Emily Zhao, Industrial Design student Joanne Tong and Graphic Design students Ava Moran, Natalie Randolph and Max Mazgelis worked together to develop their brand and its packaging, Pacha Cacao.
In July, Pacha Cacao was announced as a finalist in the PPA’s 2026 Student Design Challenge. The other finalists are teams Dāt and Tempus from California Polytechnic State University.
This year, the challenge asked students from across the US and Canada to create both retail and PR packages for a new, luxury confectionary brand. The prompt emphasized the importance of having a memorable unboxing experience, meant for a social media influencer to open up on camera.
The group worked under the guidance of professors Lorrie Frear and Irma Abu-Jumah. Team member Natalie Randolph, a recent graduate from RIT’s graphic design program, spoke with Reporter about the details behind the packaging design.
The team chose to focus their research on the cultural aspects from the country of Brazil and utilized this knowledge during the design process. The colorful pattern on the outer PR package was “inspired by different foods, ingredients, and florals that are native to Brazil,” according to Randolph.
On the inner lid, customers can read and learn more about the brand’s cause. The fictional brand, Pacha Cacao, focuses on highlighting the ethical issues behind cacao farming, including poverty and deforestation. It works to remedy that by donating 15% of earnings from each box back into supporting sustainable agriculture practices in Brazil and the Amazon Rainforest.
The PR package holds three pink, flower-shaped boxes meant for the retail shelf. “The retail box is a pentagon, with a floral top representing numerous five-petal flowers that are native to Brazil, like the Brazilian Petunia,” Randolph explained. “We wanted our design decisions to be intentional and have meaning behind them, and I believe we succeeded at that.”
The PPA is an organization that encourages students to consider using paperboard as a more sustainable material in packaging development. The group works to support the future of the packaging industry by inviting college students to solve real-world scenarios with creative solutions in their annual Student Design Challenge. RIT has had teams participate in this challenge in previous years, and placed first in last year’s competition.
The finalists will travel to Orlando, Florida at the end of September to attend the Paperboard Packaging Council’s annual meeting. There, they will have the opportunity to present their packaging design in front of industry professionals and find out their placement in this year’s competition.
