Hispack 2009 - International Packaging Show

Over 2,000 firms represented in 800 stands will be participating in Hispack which expects an audience of 60,000 visitors, thanks to its coincidence with the food technology fair, Bta, in Fira de Barcelona´s Gran Via exhibition centre.







Hispack is Spanish packaging´s leading trade show and is one of the four leading events of its kind in Europe. The increase in sales of packaging in different spheres of industry, consumerism and distribution makes Hispack a benchmark show and a must for professionals in all sectors. Furthermore, given the growing use of packaging as a marketing tool, Hispack is an observatory for the latest trends in materials, applications and packaging and POPA design, as well as a space for keeping abreast of and debating business opportunities and new markets, essential for the sector´s growth.



Aware that the food industry is the main sector of demand for packing and packaging machinery, equipment and materials, Hispack has signed an alliance with Barcelona Tecnologías de la Alimentación (Barcelona Food Technologies), Bta, which is organised by Alimentaria Exhibitions (joint venture between Fira de Barcelona and Reed Exhibitions). The two shows will take place on the same dates and in the same venue, sharing visitors, which will give them a considerably larger audience than when they were held separately. The range of products will also increase, since together they will add up to 1,300 stands with 3,500 companies represented in a net area of 85,000m2, Fira de Barcelona´s entire Gran Via exhibition centre.

Sector distribution

In pavilion 1, visitors will find machinery and equipment for bottling and services for logistics and handling. Pavilion 2 will house raw materials, packing and packaging materials and methods, ancillary products, point of purchase advertising (POPA), recovery, treatment and recycling, among other services. Packing and packaging machinery and equipment for manufacturing processes will take up almost half of the stands area in pavilion 3 and part of pavilions 1 and 2. Lastly, the coding and marking sector will be located in pavilion 4.



Bta will showcase a wide range of machinery and technology for the food industry and trade in general in the other half of pavilion 4 and in pavilion 6, which will also have an area dedicated to ingredients and additives for the food industry. Pavilion 8 will be dedicated entirely to machinery, technology, equipment and supplies for the meat industry.

Trends

Visitors to Hispack will be able to see the latest technological developments for the packaging sector. The area of machinery for manufacturing packaging and packaging processes will show the most versatile solutions for carrying out a greater number of functions with changes in a shorter time to adapt to the demands of user sectors.



At this year´s Hispack, everything to do with sustainability will also be highlighted: new materials, bioplastics and applications which require less energy to function, ecodesign of packaging, as well as RFID solutions applied to packaging for both traceability and logistics.



The new possibilities of active packaging, which interact with the product, and of intelligent packaging, which provide additional information via electronic devices, will also be showcased.



In addition to traditional POPA displays and canvases, Digital Signage, a new form of communication in which contents are displayed on an electronic screen or digital sign, which can be changed remotely, is becoming more important.

International exposure

For the coming show, Hispack has undertaken an important challenge and a firm bid for internationalisation, launching an ambitious plan to attract foreign companies and visitors, through Fira de Barcelona´s 30 delegations around the world, by participating in different packaging and food shows and establishing agreements with international sector organisations and associations to promote the group participation of companies.



To date, these actions have resulted in the confirmation of their presence in Hispack of 140 companies from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Taiwan, Syria, Turkey, United Kingdom and U.S.A.



With regard to international visitors, Hispack and Bta have joined forces and have the cooperation of the export promotion association Amec to help identify the markets of interest for both the Spanish packaging and food technology sectors. The aim is to attract over 6,000 trade visitors from outside Spain.



Direct promotional actions are being carried out in Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Peru), the Mediterranean area (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Israel, Greece and Turkey) and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Rumania, Hungary and Poland) in order to attract delegations from these potential markets. A series of business encounters and inbound trade missions will also be organised in order to put interested companies exhibiting in Hispack&Bta in contact with buyers from Mediterranean and Eastern European countries. Hispack will also campaign in Portugal, France, Italy and Germany and other European Union countries, which traditionally bring the largest number of foreign visitors to the show.



All international visitors will be able to use the IBC -International Business Centre (in pavilion 4)- a space which will provide them with information about exhibitors, products and services, advice on foreign trade and on the packaging and food technology sectors in Spain, among other topics. This centre will be manned by specialised personnel and will be a meeting point for international delegations and the venue for the business encounters.

Packed activities programme

In addition to showcasing exhibits, Hispack has also organised different activities which will cover the technological, economic, commercial, sociological and cultural aspects of packaging and POPA. According to the president of the show´s Organising Committee, Javier Riera-Marsá "in these times of economic crisis, Hispack, more than ever, must inform and educate about materials, new applications, sustainability, design and innovation, that is to say, about competitiveness factors for companies in the packaging industry, which contribute to opening up new markets.



A highlight this year is the 2nd Hispack Packing and Packaging R&D Event, organised in collaboration with the Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de los Alimentos del Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATA-CSIC) that will present the latest advances in materials and packaging, which reduce the environmental impact of packaging.



A topic of debate will be the use of materials used habitually, such as ones derived from polylactic acid, from celluloses and starches, and new materials in the research phase such as those based on proteins, polyhydroxialcanoates, composites with fibres, nanomaterials, etc, as well as new developments in active packaging with biopolymer. Other subjects will be systems under development to take advantage of and assess waste generated by packing and packaging, and sustainable design of packaging. 300 scientists and technicians from the packaging industry in Europe are expected to participate.



A series of workshops will be held, in collaboration with Bta, on the subject of technological innovation in the food and drinks industry, in which packaging will be one of the main topics. Workshops on sustainability will reveal the keys to working as a responsible and sustainable company.



Other sector associations and organisations will also hold conferences and workshops on the current situation of the packaging sector.

Design and culture of packaging

The world of packaging design will have a specific space within Hispack. The show will create a specific area for hosting exhibitions and conferences which will also house stands with the presence of graphic designers from all over Spain, who specialise in packaging. The aim is to promote greater mutual knowledge between industry and design, facilitating direct, personalised contact of professionals.



Hispack will also host the cultural exhibition "The World´s Wonderful Packaging", a selection of packaging elements from around the world, taken from the collection of the designer Albert Isern. This exhibition will show the lifestyle in various countries and cultures through packaging and will be structured around six subjects: food, health, hygiene and beauty, home, work and leisure. It will give a panoramic view of individuals and peoples, their likenesses and differences.



On the first day, the show will provide the setting for the presentation of the Líderpack Awards which, every year, recognise the best packaging and (POPA) manufactured in Spain. 22 entries won prizes -12 in the packing and packaging category and 10 in Point of Purchase Advertising (POPA) -. The panel of judges also awarded the distinction "best in contest" in packaging and POPA to a foam shoe cleaner aerosol sold by the distribution chain Mercadona and to a series of figures for shop windows made from Camper shoe boxes, respectively.

The packaging industry in Spain

A new sector report will be presented in Hispack. It will analyse the main macroeconomic data on this industry in Spain and, at the same time, examine the main packaging demand sectors.



According to the latest available data published by Hispack in the 2006 White Paper on Packing and Packaging, there are 1,650 companies working in the packaging industry, employing 55,000 workers. It is calculated that this industrial sector moves over 10,000 million euros a year in Spain and produces almost 8 million tons. The largest number of companies corresponds to the machinery sector, although they tend to be distributors rather than manufacturers. Machinery accounts for 20% of turnover in the sector. Two thirds of production and a little over half of turnover comes from cardboard and plastic. Glass containers generate 19% of total production. Metal and wood containers together account for 13% of both production and turnover. The best forecasts are for flexible plastics.

The Spanish packing and packaging sector has increased its presence in foreign markets. Machinery, metal and plastic are the three sectors at the head of the export ranking. The closest European Union countries -France, Portugal and Italy- and North Africa -Morocco and Algeria- continue to be the main destinations of Spanish exports.

The industrial and agro-food sectors are the main recipients of packaging products, followed by the health-pharmaceutical, cosmetics and drinks sectors.