Press Release
Silver A' Design Award in Packaging Design Goes to Edible Heritage Gift Set by E G Sain
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes E G Sain for packaging design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Edible Heritage Gift Set by E G Sain has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Packaging Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Silver A' Design Award
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
Regarding Edible Heritage Gift Set
This design project bridges 18th century heritage with contemporary gift culture. Inspired by the 1774 Sinkang Manuscript, the work integrates the endangered Hokkien language into a honey castella gift set. Through archival reinterpretation and sustainable packaging, the design connects historical maritime trade with food craftsmanship. By imprinting scripts directly onto the cake surface, it transforms historical writing into a tangible experience. The inclusion of female historical witnesses creates a renewed connection between ancient land deeds and everyday life.
About E G Sain
成立於1975年，E G SAIN是典型的台灣品牌，以其蜂蜜卡斯特拉聞名。「E G SAIN」這個名稱源自孟祈哲學中的「丁玉儀」，體現了專注、堅持與終身奉獻的精神。五十多年來，該品牌以天然龍眼蜂蜜與傳統木盒烘焙來定義其身份。近年來，E G SAIN 持續探索台灣烘焙如何成為文化記憶、土地生活經驗及當代日常生活細微差異的媒介。
Award Record
This recognition makes E G Sain a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Packaging Design Award
The A' Packaging Design Award is an international packaging competition that recognizes outstanding packaging designs by talented packaging designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to packaging designers, graphic designers, branding agencies and product manufacturers from all countries. Entries typically include bottles, boxes, cans, pouches, tubes and cartons. Awarded packaging designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/packaging
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/183441
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/183441
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!183441
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/381658
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.173cake.com/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Edible Heritage Gift Set
- Function
- Gift Set
- Category
- Packaging Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Packaging & Retail, Branding & Advertising and Manufacturing
- Colors
- Saddle Brown, Maroon, Rosy Brown, Tan and Sienna
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- E G Sain
- Country
- Taiwan (China)
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #183441
Credits
- Team
- Yeh I Chun, Tseng Yu Ting, Lin Yu Pei and Hung Wan Lun
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This cultural gift set imprints endangered Taiwanese Hokkien directly onto food, turning language into a sensory experience that can be seen, tasted, and shared. Transparent stickers placed on the cake can be kept and applied to daily objects, allowing language and emotion to continue after the dessert is gone. The packaging uses FSC-certified paper and plant-based inks to support responsible production.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by a rare 1774 Sinkang Manuscript preserved for generations in the Creative Director's family. Written in Romanized Indigenous language, it provides an early historical basis for language writing in Taiwan. The land recorded in the deed once grew sugarcane, later refined into sugar and shipped to Nagasaki for Castella. This honey cake continues that craft lineage as a contemporary cultural translation.
- Research
- This project combines historical research, linguistic inquiry, and material study. Research focused on Sinkang Manuscripts, the history of language writing in Taiwan, Siraya culture, sugar trade routes, the link between Taiwanese sugar and Castella, and the use of FSC-certified paper and plant-based inks. The key insight was that language preservation could enter everyday life through food, gifting, and sensory interaction.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was translating a historically significant manuscript into a contemporary gift set while balancing historical authenticity, emotional warmth, and commercial appeal. Another challenge was turning the serious issue of mother-tongue loss into an experience that feels approachable, giftable, and memorable rather than remaining an abstract cultural slogan.
- Realization and Technology
- Materials: FSC-certified paper, plant-based inks, and natural pine wood boxes. Craftsmanship: Following traditional methods, the cake is baked in a pine wood box to retain moisture and infused with natural longan honey.
- Operation and Interaction
- Upon opening, users find two mother-tongue stickers and honey cake imprinted with phrases. Through sight and taste, the mother tongue enters the senses. The transparent stickers can be applied to notebooks or daily objects, allowing the blessings and language to linger in everyday life and extending a brief culinary moment into a lasting cultural connection.
- Project Duration and Location
- This project was launched in Tainan at the end of 2025 to conduct linguistic research AND concept development. In January 2026, Taipei continued to conduct archival research, creative refinement, packaging design, and prototyping. From historical research to commercial photography, the project was completed in March 2026 and combined 250 years of heritage with contemporary design in just over three months.
- Specifications
- Outer box: approx. 240 x 200 x 75 mm. Contains two honey castella cakes, 186g each, total 372g. The inner box includes two mother-tongue stickers and the outer box includes a Mother's Day greeting card. Main materials include FSC-certified paper, plant-based inks, transparent sticker film, and honey castella baked with traditional wooden-box technique.
- Keywords
- Taiwanese Hokkien, endangered language, honey castella, Castella, language revival, Siraya, cultural gift, food heritage, sustainable packaging
