The 20th edition of Empack was held in Mechelen, Belgium, on October 25 and 26. Packaging industry stakeholders again displayed innovations, sustainable solutions, new machines, and agencies to this year's crowds of visitors.
With more than 130 exhibitors, Empack pulled out all the stops this year for its special 20th edition. Packaging Innovations took place at the same time. Sustainability was again the focus in a sector that is trying to increasingly innovate. Many companies had sustainable packaging solutions at the stands. Noticeably, however, was that while previously the trend seemed to be a looming transition to cardboard, at this edition, more and more exhibitors reverted to sustainable, recyclable plastic solutions. That seems to have a future, too, for now.
Businesses also got the chance to showcase their operational changes. For example, Ultrapak had new machines from Redpack and Laferpack. The packaging line supplier recently acquired the agency from the two machine manufacturers. Frank Benus of Ultrapak comments: "Flowpacks are becoming increasingly popular in the fruit and vegetable sector, but also in, for instance, bread and cookies. We, thus, decided we also needed to offer that option. With these two brands' agency, our range has that capability."
Sarco Packaging officially launched Sarco Packaging Belgium to accommodate its recently rising number of Belgian contacts. There was another jubilee at the event, too. Presa celebrated its 40th anniversary and designed its booth around that milestone.
The general feeling amongst stallholders was that it was a lovely trade fair. The aisles were not always as full as preferred, especially toward the end of the afternoon, but still, people spoke of valuable discussions. A clichéd but frequently heard response was, thus, that most exhibitors could do more with this than with an influx of visitors, with lesser results.
"Also, people typically came to purposefully look at a machine, packaging solution, or technology. A packaging trade show is then perhaps just a little too niche for the general public who come just to browse. This, however, is great for us," says Gery Vercammen of Quality Pack.
Click here for the photo report.
For more information:
Empack
Website: www.empack.be