The recent staging of interpack, PROCESSES AND PACKAGING 2014, was characterized by an outstanding atmosphere among the approximately 2,700 exhibitors and 175,000 visitors in the 19 halls of the completely booked Düsseldorf Exhibition Center. This was already apparent at a very early stage of the world’s most important trade fair for the packaging sector and related process industries.

From the very start of interpack 2014, the exhibitors met with numerous high-ranking visitors from all around the globe. A lot of the exhibitors had so many attendees at their stands that they reached their capacity limits several times. According to the exhibitors, visitor interest and qualification as well as their willingness to invest were clearly higher than at the excellent previous event in 2011. Many exhibitors rated the concrete business deals and sales concluded – which partially were spontaneous – as particularly positive.

Friedbert Klefenz, president of the interpack Exhibitors’ Advisory Board 2014 and president of Bosch Packaging Technology, states: “We are very satisfied with the quantity and quality of the visitors at our stand. The interest in our technologies that make a vital contribution to global health and nutrition was enormous. We are pleased with the high number of leads received, including many top executives and potential new customers. Similar comments were made by other exhibitors. We were equally thrilled by the high number of international visitors and exhibitors – some 75% of the exhibiting companies are headquartered outside of Germany. With these results, interpack has confirmed its status as the world’s No. 1 trade fair for the packaging sector.”

“interpack provided impressive proof of its leading international position 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 trade fair - thereby bringing them to their most important event in Düsseldorf every three years,” explains Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, president & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf.

With a foreign visitor participation of 66%, interpack 2014 not only set a new record for itself but also reached a top rating across all Messe Düsseldorf trade fairs. The interpack 2014 visitors travelled to Düsseldorf from 120 nations.

The dominating topics at interpack 2014 were resource efficiency for equipment and machinery as well as for packaging material usage, quality and safety to guarantee perfect and counterfeit-proof finished products – especially in such sensitive 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 presented by the exhibiting companies.

However, interpack emphasized its importance not only with the sheer multitude of innovations and wide range of products but also with especially innovative themes, added Bernd Jablonowski, Director of interpack & SAVE FOOD: “For a leading international trade fair it is not enough just to rent exhibit space and offer perfect organization. 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 the Innovationparc Packaging and the METAL PACKAGING PLAZA were a perfect fit for the target groups.”

A special highlight at interpack 2014 was the U.S. Pavilion, organized by Messe Düsseldorf North America. A total of 30 exhibitors showcased their latest technologies within this successful group exhibit. Overall, 100 U.S. exhibitors took part in the trade fair.

Successful second SAVE FOOD Congress

SAVE FOOD was a particularly popular topic at interpack 2014. The SAVE FOOD initiative of Messe Düsseldorf fights food loss and waste and involves partners such 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 started the day before interpack 2014. On the first day it addressed non-profit organizations, highlighting the problems from political and social angles while on the second day, companies presented their solutions and best practices. Even more impressively than at the premiere event three years ago, the Congress showed how the problem of global food loss and waste can be fought across the entire value chain.

Prominent guests and participants at the SAVE FOOD Congress included FAO and UNEP representatives, the Senegalese Minister and musician Youssou N’Dour as well as former German Federal Minister Renate Künast. Over 450 delegates participated in the numerous lectures and panel discussions of the Congress. At the conclusion of the event, all parties involved agreed that the objectives of SAVE FOOD can only be achieved with concerted action and combined expertise as well as the competence of all stakeholders – a fundamental intention of the initiative. During interpack 2014, the Innovationparc Packaging presented solutions and ideas for fighting food loss and waste.

 The next staging of interpack is scheduled in spring 2017 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Exact dates will be announced at a later date.