Packaging

Sensational Atmosphere at interpack 2014 Visitor number “cracks” the 175,000 mark

Monday 19. May 2014 - interpack 2014 was characterised by an outstanding atmosphere prevailing amongst the approx. 2,700 exhibitors and 175,000 visitors in the 19 halls of the completely booked Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre. The signs for this were already apparent at a very early stage of the world's most important trade fair for the packaging sector and its associated process industries.

The exhibitors at interpack 2014 met with numerous high-ranking visitors from all over the world already from the start of the trade fair. Many companies experienced such a rush that their stands reached their capacity limits several times. Visitor interest and qualification as well as their willingness to invest is said to have been clearly higher yet again than at the already excellent previous event. A great many exhibitors rated the concrete business deals and sales concluded – part of which were absolutely spontaneous – as particularly positive.
Commenting on this, Friedbert Klefenz, President of the interpack Exhibitors’ Advisory Board 2014 and President of Bosch Packaging Technology, said: “We are very satisfied with the quantity and quality of visitors at our stand. The interest taken in our technologies that make a vital contribution to global health and nutrition was enormous. We are pleased with the high number of leads produced, including many top executives and potential new customers. Similar comments came from other exhibitors. We were equally thrilled by the high number of international visitors and exhibitors – some 75% of the exhibiting enterprises were headquartered outside Germany. With this interpack has confirmed its reputation as the world’s leading trade fair for the packaging sector.”
“interpack has provided impressive proof of its leading international role yet again this year. This success confirms our fundamental philosophy of addressing the international industries in their respective markets in a very targeted manner – already in the run- up to the event thereby bringing them to their most important event in Düsseldorf every three years”, explained Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf.
Boasting a percentage of foreign visitors of as much as 66%, interpack 2014 has not only set a new record for itself but also a top rating across all Messe Düsseldorf events. Visitors from 120 nations in total travelled to Düsseldorf.
The dominating themes at interpack 2014 were resource efficiency for plant and machinery as well as for packaging material usage, quality and safety to guarantee perfect and counterfeit-proof finished products – especially in such touchy segments as Food/Beverage and Pharmaceuticals – as well as diversity and flexibility for an ever wider range and shorter product cycles. These themes were addressed by a particularly high number of innovations in the halls.
However, interpack underscores its importance not only with the sheer multitude of innovations and breadth of its exhibitor ranges but also with especially innovative themes, adds Bernd Jablonowski, Director of interpack & SAVE FOOD: “For a leading international trade fair it is not enough just to rent out exhibition space and offer perfect organisation. Trend themes must be identified, anchored in the concept and finally also driven in a consistent manner. This is the only way to secure thematic leadership in an industry. We have succeeded in doing this very well once again this year. The concepts of both Innovationparc Packaging and the METAL PACKAGING PLAZA were right on target with the target groups.”
Successful second SAVE FOOD Congress
SAVE FOOD proved a particularly attention-grabbing theme at interpack. The initiative of the same name combats food losses and waste and involves such partners as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) as well as over 110 members from the industry. The SAVE FOOD Congress already started the day before the trade fair. On the first of its two themed days it addressed non-profit organisations, which shed some light on the problems from political and social angles. The second half of the event dealt with solutions and Best Practice presented by enterprises. Even more impressively than at the kick-off event three years ago the Congress showed how the problem of global food losses and waste can be fought across the entire value chain.
Contributions came from prominent guests and participants such as FAO and UNEP representatives, the Senegalese Minister and musician Youssou N’Dour and the former German Federal Minister Renate Künast in addition to the numerous lectures and panel discussions that identified practical approaches. In excess of a total of 450 delegates participated in the Congress. When the event drew to a close all parties involved agreed that the objectives of SAVE FOOD can only be achieved with concerted action and pooled expertise as well as the competence of all stakeholders – a fundamental intention of the Initiative. For the entire duration of interpack 2014 Innovationparc Packaging presented solutions and ideas for fighting food losses and waste.
In spring 2017 the motto for experts from throughout the world will once again read “Welcome Home” to Düsseldorf. The exact dates will be announced at a later stage.
Exhibitor statements on interpack 2014
Bizerba, Andreas Wegeleben, Director Global Marketing & Communication “interpack is a fixture on the sector’s event calendar! In addition to meetings with our traditional packaging solutions customers, we’re also presenting technical innovations this year, with a particular focus on intelligent Machine 4.0 approaches. Our exhibition serves as the voice with which we speak to international contacts, and we’re picking up top-quality new customers at the trade fair. We consider interpack the sector’s leading trade fair and look forward to tallying up our numbers, which should be even better than in 2011.”
Coesia Group, Paolo Pusceddu, Director Global Account Market Development “interpack is the best platform to be recognized by the market. We want customers to know us and interpack offers the perfect way to show the complete possibilities that we have. The audience is highly qualified, because interpack is THE exhibition the companies send their top-managers to from all over the world. This year, we reached all our goals and are very satisfied with our performance.”
Constantia Flexibles International, Cora Helberg, Marketing and Innovation Manager Pharma “This is our second appearance at interpack in Düsseldorf, this time with a much larger exhibition area. Our company has grown over the last three years, and that’s something we wanted to show at the trade fair. The trade fair is an important meeting point for Constantia, a place to present our innovations to a high-value international audience. We’re very satisfied with our results! The trade fair fulfilled all our hopes!”
Dow, Marc van den Biggelaar, Marketing Director
“This is our first year exhibiting at interpack, und we’re excited about the opportunity to demonstrate how different materials match up with certain packaging properties. To do so, we’ve conducted both lab tests and field experiments, and we’re presenting the results at interpack. Being here has definitely been worth it, as we’ve already had a chance to discuss new ideas with many of our customers. I can very well imagine returning in 2017.”
Ishida, Torsten Giese, Marketing Manager – PR & Exhibitions
“We’ve made some important investment decisions in 2014 – featuring our largest exhibition area to date – and we’ve met a fantastic audience! The best advertisement for the trade fair is that the sectors filling the various halls are so well-balanced. Many trade fairs today are eschewing the ‘touch & feel’ factor, but interpack offers the best of what’s available to visitors: Exhibitors have an opportunity to take customers along on a ‘presentation journey,’ which leaves behind a particularly strong impression. The current trend in the industry favours all-in-one solutions: The customer requests from his supplier a solution that’s perfectly structured from start to finish. That’s why Ishida attempts to generate concepts that guarantee consistent performance over long periods of time. The feedback we’ve been getting in talks with high-calibre customer has been very positive throughout.”
Mayr-Melnhof Karton AG, Dr. Andreas Blaschke, Board Member
“For us, interpack is the largest trade fair event worldwide, absolutely overwhelming! It’s very international, and we establish lots of new contacts here. But it’s not just that the trade fair is great for meeting customers, it also helps to strengthen the bonds within our team, which is truly enjoying the trade fair. Our company is here mostly to network in order to provide the professional audience with a good basis for business.”
Mondi, Albert Klinkhammer, Marketing & Communication
Director Europe & International
“interpack is the perfect platform, because it’s such a great place for establishing contacts with customers and the press – quickly and on a personal level. Part of our company structure aims at further reducing the environmental impact of the paper and packaging industry – sustainability is part of our DNA. That’s why Mondi is investing heavily in green technology, which is well received by our customers, too: There’s an ever stronger trend toward sustainability on the consumer level. We’ve enjoyed lots of good, substantial discussions on this topic. The trade fair definitely lives up to its reputation as an important venue for being in touch with customers!”
Multivac, Christian Traumann, Managing Director
“We don’t just use interpack to take care of our existing customers but also as a meeting place for our subsidiaries and employees. Here everyone has an opportunity to identify with the products and the company. Moreover, we’ve had the privilege of getting to know fantastic new customers this year: Our visitor total increased by 10% over 2011, which naturally made us very happy! We noticed two obvious trends at this year’s trade fair: Technology is moving more and more toward smaller packaging sizes, which are being requested by customers again and again. Plus, the SAVE FOOD Initiative is a major focus of the event.”
sappi, Kerstin Dietze, Marketing Manager
“This year marked the first time we presented our specialty paper segment at the trade fair. We were looking to interpack to provide us with a platform for our innovative double-capacity specialty paper machine in order to drive development and present our potential. The trade fair with its professional and international audience presents the ideal environment for that! We were able to generate a number of great orders thanks to interested visitors.”
Theegarten-Pactec, Markus Rustler, Managing Partner
“Our company’s been involved since the first edition of the trade fair in Düsseldorf. The largest trade fair worldwide, it’s also the only one with a highly qualified trade audience. interpack’s reputation continues to be on the rise. It gets plenty of coverage in trade publications. For visitors, there’s nothing comparable – anywhere in the world! We’ve noticed the quality of the audience getting better and better. We also welcome the increase in student attendees, because they are the future of the industry, and we can show them their options on a large scale here. The bottom line for Theegarten: interpack 2014 was a complete success!”
Innovationparc Packaging
FAO, Robert van Otterdijk, Agro-industry officer in the Rural Infrastructure & Agro-Industries Division “We’ve developed the SAVE FOOD concept in collaboration with Messe Düsseldorf, and the implementation at the Innovationparc Packaging turned out beautifully. The concept is very effective in reaching the goals we’ve set: The exhibitors at this tent can present their ideas on how to deal with the issue of food losses and food waste. We’re very happy with the accomplishments of the trade fair and would be delighted to return for the next edition of interpack.”
VDMA, Vera Fritsche, International Trade Fairs, Markets, Economy “The Innovationparc Packaging dedicated to the SAVE FOOD issue is worth mentioning as a highlight of the trade fair: The concept worked out very well, and lots of visitors frequented the exhibitor tent – including many young people who attended interpack in connection with the pupil competition. The IPP is a wonderful opportunity to acquaint pupils with the issue of food losses and food waste while piquing their interest in technology.
As the sponsoring association, VDMA has supported interpack from the start. The trade fair is characterised by a large number of international attendees: Visitors from every country are represented at the event because of our intense global PR efforts aimed at presenting interpack to end buyers and industry representatives. As it’s always tackled contemporary issues, interpack’s development has been consistently positive. I’ve spoken to a number of companies, and they’re very satisfied with the trade fair and the trade audience.”
XCOM Africa, Marc-Peter Zander, Managing Partner
“We organised the ‘Mango Project’ in Kenya in collaboration with interpack and within the framework of the SAVE FOOD Initiative. At our stand at the Innovationparc Packaging, we’re providing information on this project and our consulting services to visitors. The concept of the IPP has been very well received because the save food issue is becoming more prominent, and awareness for the problem among the public is on the rise. Visitors from a wide range of positions are coming together here to have discussions and find inspiration. When we talk to people and present XCOM Africa, they ask us specific questions in search of solutions and visions. Great conversations are possible when the audience is so deeply interested!”
METAL PACKAGING PLAZA
Huber Packaging Group, Bernhard Kürschner, Head of Marketing and Public Relations “As the world’s largest packaging trade fair, interpack provides us with excellent opportunities to present our product range and other news to customers. The trade fair is the perfect setting for establishing new customer contacts quickly, because the large number of exhibitors draws in visitors. We’ve supported the Metal Packaging Plaza concept from the start because we wanted tin to be represented – the product itself and its properties in terms of sustainability. We’re taking advantage of the opportunity to introduce our new machine to a wide range of customers, showcase our competencies across various product segments and test customer reactions. We’re very pleased with the results.”
Verband Metallverpackungen e.V. (German Metal Packaging Association – VMV), Jörg Höppner, Managing Director “The Metal Packaging Plaza is an excellent opportunity for presenting the metal packaging industry. Messe Düsseldorf has once again succeeded in attracting additional manufacturers, with the result that operative companies have clustered around the forum. Our association is very grateful for the opportunity to support the development of this concept, because the Plaza is the perfect place to spread the message that ‘metal is a permanent material.’ We’re receiving lots of positive feedback, including from companies proud of the sector’s presentation here. The message we’re disseminating at our exhibition is, ‘metal recycles forever,’ because metal is perfectly versatile and can be reused again and again – without any loss of quality.”