Beyond the garden (Being there)

At the New York event, Dino Tavazzi, CEO of BolognaFiere Cosmoprof and Pharmintech, answered questions about the upcoming schedule for the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. In the spotlight, internationalization… and packaging.

BolognaFiere Cosmoprof SpA, part of the BolognaFiere Group, manages a complex of leading global events in the health and beauty sector, including, on one hand, Cosmoprof (international platform, with events in Bologna, Hong Kong and Las Vegas) and Cosmopack (show within the show, dedicated to the cosmetics manufacturing industry).
On the other hand, the company also runs the pharmaceuticals fair CosmoPharma; Pharmintech, which it organizes and which is focused on technologies for the pharmaceutical, parapharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries; but also Nuce, targeting producers of raw materials for nutraceuticals, cosmetics, functional foods & drinks and health ingredients.
That’s a diverse portfolio, but one with strong contiguities among the various sectors, and one which seems destined to evolve according to developments in the technology and market. Here’s what Tavazzi foresees.

Your strategy, as opposed to other “fair districts”, seems to be to focus not only on organizing large international events in Italy, but also on hosting events that target your exhibitors’ outlet markets. Is this still a valid choice?
Certainly, and Cosmopack New York proves this. In that case, we opted for an “unusual” format, which, what’s more, seems to have enjoyed the appreciation of visitors.
And from our vantage point as well there’s no lack of reasons for satisfaction: the topics of the “educational” component concerning innovation were addressed with clarity, and the 676 B2B meetings, involving 83 buyers and distributors and 44 vendors, led to many new commercial relationships.
All the testimonials gathered are
positive.
Worth mention is the support supplied by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and ICE - Agenzia, within the framework of an ongoing effort to support Made in Italy cosmetics, which has involved an extraordinary plan and on the road events in key beauty sector markets, brought together in an International Country Program, which will be carried out by Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna in partnership with Cosmetica Italia.
This initiative will make it possible to attract new buyers. This first appointment in New York will soon be followed by meetings with key players of the cosmetics industry in Latvia, Lithuania, Indonesia, South Africa, China, Taiwan, India and Iran.
The International Country Program will continue starting in March 2016 with a schedule packed with initiatives to promote abroad the 50th Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna in 2017.
Finally, Bologna Fiere Cosmoprof and ICE will be working hard to bolster the International Buyer Program, which aims at facilitating direct contact between exhibitors and international buyers through a pre-set schedule of meetings with select importers and distributors hailing from target international markets.

Let’s go back to New York. After the experience with the Symposium in 2014, and now with the Business Forum & Exhibition, do you hope to use this format again, or do you imagine something different for the future?
We start from the assumption that we must do what the concerns ask of us, which is, as we said, to support them above all in expanding markets.
The US market is certainly of great interest, and here we are.
Cosmoprof North America is indeed the beauty world’s go-to B2B event, thanks to the innovative technologies and initiatives anticipating future trends offered by the recent edition held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, which logged 1,017 exhibitors hailing from 39 countries and nearly 30,000 visitors.
For two years we have been working to strengthen our presence on the east coast as well, with a focus on the packaging and manufacturing sectors. Soon we will be assessing whether to develop the B2B meeting format or to focus more on a trade fair experience.
In any case, the priority will continue to be quality - organizational quality, which also means the quality of the concerns participating, as happens at Cosmopack in Bologna (in 2015, 30,000 m2 with over 400 exhibitors from 41 counries, Editor’s note).  

BolognaFiere has built a “package” of events that often, if not always, center on packaging and contract manufacturers (advanced contractors that make Italy “beauty-full”).
Could this element reorient your offer?
In 2012, we redefined our strategies and goals, completely shifting gears. As for Cosmopack, the presence of packaging machinery builders and contract manufacturers has always been a distinctive and unique trait of the event, but we have worked and invested in order to consolidate the presence of material and packaging producers at the fair.
We are just seeing the results now, and already major sector players are announcing their intentions to return for the next edition.

The general trend among fairs is to verticalize and integrate events. Have you taken into consideration the possibility of moving your technology fairs in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, Cosmopack and Pharmintech, “closer together”?
We have a full-fledged Pharma Week scheduled for 2016 in Bologna, the common thread of which will be anti-tampering for the entire supply chain.
Pharmintech (organized by BolognaFiere in partnership with UCIMA and with the sponsorship of Farmindustria) will be held alongside the 20th edition of Cosmofarma Exhibition, in such a way bringing together the entire pharmaceutical supply chain and offering important business opportunities, and a chance for information and training.
This doesn’t take away from the fact that the technological and market contiguity of Pharmintech and Cosmopack can lead to new initiatives in areas that cut across the two sectors.
In other words, I wouldn’t rule out any possibilities.