James Drake-Brockman discusses why Packaging Innovations 2019 is a must-attend for all packaging professionals when it returns to Birmingham on 27 & 28 February.
Why should Packaging Innovations be marked in all packaging professionals’ calendar?
The Packaging Innovations, Empack and Label&Print shows have always served two main purposes. Firstly, we want to provide a place for suppliers and the procurement community to meet, network and do business. Bringing together over 320 suppliers under one roof, our show offers key-decision makers an unrivalled opportunity to discover the latest offerings in the industry, from the major players to the niche specialists. For exhibitors, the show provides a perfect platform to meet with existing clients and make contact with potential new ones, that’s why many of our exhibitors choose to come back year on year. Our second role is to expose our audience to the most cutting-edge innovations in packaging, from both within and outside the industry. This innovation creates real value for the industry and attracts more visitors every year, which in turn offers ROI to exhibitors. Developments within the packaging industry will not be the only innovation on show either, there is plenty of innovation happening in parallel industries that can be applied to our audience of packaging professionals.
The industry can only progress so much on its own, so its this cross-sector pollination of ideas which will keep the packaging industryís evolution process moving forward. We are putting a lot of time and effort into finding suitable companies to work with and are looking forward to including them in our seminar content, as well as on the show floor in our Showcase areas.
What is new for the 2019 show?
New for 2019, we will be introducing a partnership with Industrial Pack, a dedicated event for the industrial, transit and protective packaging industry. With protective and transit packaging in the UK forecast to be a $4.7bn market in 2019, it makes sense to deepen our offering for this integral part of the global packaging supply chain within the show. Our conference programme will run across five unique seminar stages hosting content from industry leaders and innovators. . The Main Stage will host focused forums helping those with specific challenges hear from the best in their industry, including the Food Forum, Drinks Forum, Pharma Forum, Beauty Forum, Retail Forum and Ecommerce Forum.
Our Innovation stage will showcase the hottest new trends and technologies in the market whilst the Ecopack stage will address the industryís hottest issue of sustainability.
How are you going to keep content relevant?
After fourteen shows, we are constantly looking at ways we can develop our offering to ensure we remain at the forefront of the industry. We have some extremely high profile and rarely seen speakers in the pipeline that I canít talk about just yet but needless to say we will be expanding on our educational offering that has seen the London and Birmingham stages busier than they have ever been. Sustainability will remain a key focus at the show, as we explore how the issue has evolved over the last 12 months. Through seminar content and features we will showcase the best sustainable packaging solutions in the market as well as digging deep into the issues surrounding the topic and helping packaging buyers identify how they can deliver eco-friendly packaging.
We will also be expanding our offering for outsourcing community, as our dedicated Contract Pack area continues to grow. Interest in Contract Packing continues to grow at the event and in the industry as a whole. Last year was attended by some key leaders in the industry including representatives from GlaxoSmithKline, Boots and Unilever, so weíre excited to broaden the offering and raise the profile of this key sector in the packaging industry.
What news is there on suppliers?
This year we have more exhibitors at the show than ever before and weíre excited to be welcoming back big suppliers like RPC, Qualvis, Graphic Packaging, Mondi, National Flexible and Huhtamaki to name a few. We will also welcome a host of exciting new and innovative companies to the Packaging Innovations section of the show.
For further information and to register, visit www.easyfairs.com/PIUK, www.easyfairs.com/EmpackUK and www.easyfairs.com/Label&PrintUK or via the show team on +44 (0)20 8843 8800 or PackagingUK@easyfairs.com
