Hispack, the biggest fair the packaging of Spain, hosts from today, the 7th, until the 10th of May, at the Gran Via site in Fira de Barcelona, to more than 800 exhibitors from 28 countries and 1.250 brands represented, with the latest innovations in materials, packaging, containers, labels, wrappers, as well as packaging, process and logistics technology and machinery.
Organized by Fira de Barcelona in collaboration with Graphispack Association, hispack This year it grows by 18% in number of companies and 12% in contracted commercial area, reflecting the good moment of packaging, an industry that invoices more than 40.400 billion euros annually in Spain, according to the report prepared on the occasion of the fair.
Thus, with the presence of leading manufacturers and distributors, Hispack fills more than 36.000m2 net in pavilions 2 and 3 of the fairgrounds with technology, materials and packaging solutions, with sustainability as an objective. The life cycle of packaging and its connection with other production processes and the supply chain will also be shown. This year, the international offer also grows, with almost a third of the total exhibitors from outside Spain. Turkey is the foreign country that contributes the most companies, followed by Italy, China, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
60% of Hispack's commercial offer corresponds to packaging, bottling, labeling, coding, traceability, process, automation, robotics and logistics equipment and machinery. Meanwhile, the remaining 40% of exhibitors present specific materials, POS and packaging elements for different industrial and consumer sectors, as well as for distribution, ecommerce and retail.
El president of the organizing committee of Hispack 2024, Jordi Bernabeu, underlines the increase in interest that the fair has aroused this year as a showcase of trends and solutions in response to the need to adapt containers and packaging to the new legislative framework: “manufacturers and brands, mainly in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, among other sectors, demand "Increasingly, sustainable packaging solutions are in response to greater environmental awareness and commitment and also to meet the objective set by the regulations so that by 2030 all packaging is recyclable or reusable."
Trends at the fair
Sustainable packaging seeks to minimize the environmental impact through ecodesign focused on the reduction of materials, recycling and reuse, as well as through the analysis of the packaging life cycle from production to disposal. Also, with greater use of recycled or biodegradable materials, with the deployment of smart packaging that improves supply chain efficiency, traceability and consumer experience, and with a renewal of production processes to reduce the footprint of carbon. In this sense, automation, robotics and artificial intelligence join forces to promote the digital transformation and sustainability of packaging.
All of this will be confirmed both in Hispack's commercial offer and in the more than one 80 activities of knowledge and networking that the fair includes and in which more than 150 speakers will participate. Space stands out “Hispack Unboxing” with a program of conferences, round tables and presentations, in which representatives of food and beverage, cosmetics, pharmacy, textile or construction companies will participate to explain their experiences in relation to sustainable packaging, as well as entities, technology centers, clusters and technology and materials suppliers. Among the speakers, those responsible for packaging and/or sustainability of brands such as Almirall, Calidad Pascual, García Carrión, El Corte Inglés, Nauterra or Shiseido stand out.
El director of Hispack, Xavier Pascual, highlights the value of the knowledge that is shared at the fair “We bring together suppliers and customers to explain achievements and experiences that help other companies improve the sustainability of their packaging.”
New initiatives
Hispack launches the “Engineers Day”, an initiative led by Enginyers Industrials de Catalunya (EIC) aimed at professionals with a technical and engineering profile who are involved in production processes, R&D, operations and supply chain with presentations on automation and robotics applied to intralogistics and other networking activities.
Also new are the ten thematic routes through the fair, open to visitors, to discover creative and innovative materials and packaging, how to make circular packaging, or the latest in intralogistics, the sustainability of packaging technologies or plastic containers. , industry 4.0 in the packaging and smart packaging sector.
At the same time, under the name “Best in class”, Hispack will explain and recognize three international success stories with packaging sustainability as the protagonist. This is the Danish city of Aarhus, which has created a municipal circular system for collecting, washing and reusing takeaway food and drink containers. From the Japanese firm Kao Corporation, with an innovative system to recycle plastic refill containers with which to manufacture containers of the same type again. And the AMITA Corporation project that uses bockchain technology for the traceability of recycling plastic bottle caps.
Related to this session, Hispack will present Japan as a market to explore as a result of the collaboration with the Japan Packaging Institute. It will be possible to learn about trends and experiences carried out in the Japanese country, as well as establish commercial or collaboration contacts with the delegation of this country that will visit the fair.
The program is completed by other invited events organized by entities such as the Spanish Association of Purchasing, Contracting and Supply Professionals (AERCE), the Spanish Center for Plastics (CEP) and amec, the Beauty Cluster and the Packaging Cluster, the Spanish Center for Logistics (CEL), and Graphispack Association.
Export opportunities
On the other hand, Hispack will contribute to projecting Spanish packaging technology and solutions internationally to promote exports. The salon has invited through its program “Hosted buyers” to a hundred professionals with specific projects and import capacity, mostly from Tunisia, Morocco, Poland and Mexico, target markets for Spanish packaging due to its growth potential. It is estimated that more than 800 meetings will be scheduled in four days with these buyers and presentations will be made from key countries.
Likewise, all international visitors will find tailored advice and activities at Hispack's International Business Center (IBC). They will be able to discover, through presentations, the success stories of a dozen Spanish packaging technology suppliers. There is also planned to be held a Brokerage Event, quick business interviews to find suppliers or collaborators.
Finally, Hispack will be the venue for the Liderpack 2023 Awards, the most important awards for Packaging and Point-of-Sale Advertising (POS) in Spain. The 45 award-winning works will be exhibited in the hall. The Packaging Festival will also be held and there will be an event to recognize around thirty companies, entities and/or people who have stood out for their career in the packaging sector.
Hispack 2024 expects to exceed 27.000 visitors, 10% of them international.