Ipack-Ima 2015: a well-placed bet
The layout “without borders” of the special 2015 edition enhanced the international packaging fair, along with new “vertical events” dedicated to fresh food and two complementary shows for converting and logistics. The final numbers: 2,000 exhibitors, 108 thousand visitors, one fourth of whom foreign, and the shared satisfaction of operators.
At stake was the success of a substantive and internationally relevant fair, in an economic climate still troublesome in many ways and amidst a busy schedule of other events.
It is therefore easy to understand the satisfaction of the organizers, which, following a particularly intensive promotional effort, are registering excellent redemption in terms of both exhibitors and visitors, as shown first and foremost by the attendance levels: the six events - Ipack-Ima with Meat-Tech, Dairytech and Fruit Innovation, alongside Converflex and the first edition of Intralogistica Italia - hosted at Fiera Milano last May 19th-23rd, saw the participation of 2000 exhibitors and 108,000 visitors from all corners of the globe.
There is also a widely held perception of a positive atmosphere that fostered good contacts, confirmation in terms of business and a quality product offer. The international presence of 25% of the total garnered particular appreciation. Foreign visitors hailed from 133 different countries, with a heavy increase in numbers from Asia (+60%), North America (+54%) and Central America (+40%), but also double digit growth for Europe (+15%) and Africa (+14%). It’s also worth remembering the 500 buyers who came to Milan (270 of which hosted by the incoming program funded by the Ministry of Economic Development and ICE Agenzia). Among these, the Iranians distinguished themselves both in terms of numbers and in terms of the significant acquisitions they made at the fair.
Horizontal+vertical = synergies2
At this particular edition, concurrent with Expo 2015, Ipack-Ima presented itself with a new format, aiming at two objectives: in the first place to make a complete “horizontal” offer covering packaging, converting and logistics, starting with grain-based food processes. Secondly, to highlight the value of specific solutions developed for particular fields of application, starting with fresh food: meat, milk and dairy, fresh fruit and vegetables. Ipack-Ima dedicated special areas to these, working directly with Fiera Milano in the case of Fruit Innovation. The layout of these areas makes them truly vertical exhibits. What’s more, the concurrence of the printing and converting fair Converflex (Centrexpo) and Intralogistica Italia (Deutsche Messe) for end of line have significantly contributed to the development of the event as a whole by rounding out its offer and creating further points of interest.
Here too the positive response is confirmed by the facts. The number of visitors increased by 15% over that of Ipack-Ima 2012, and not only did the vertical fairs not eat into the resources of the main fair - as some had feared - but they actually set off a virtuous circle of reciprocal support, as confirmed by entries at the 6 reception desks of the big event’s 11 pavilions.
Data and facts from the various areas
Fruit Innovation, a promising startup. Organized as a joint venture by Ipack-Ima and Fiera Milano, this event that has brought together fresh fruit and vegetable operators is now reformulated as an annual event with the ambitious goal of «fostering the birth of a command station from which to re-launch and internationalize the sector» (Corrado Peraboni, manager director of Fiera Milano). The positive official balance is based on the consensus on the location and organization, the interest expressed by Italian retail, the strong performance of the buyers programme among foreign buyers and the thoroughness of the presentations and seminars on hot button issues.
Fruit Innovation relies on promoters such as FruitImprese, Unaproa, Fedagromercati, Confagricoltura, Coldiretti and Fedagri Confcooperative Lombardia. The next edition: May 4th-6th, 2016 at Fiera Milano.
Meat-Tech, the new arrival focuses its goals. The event dedicated to technologies and products for the processing, preservation, packaging and distribution of meats was visited by more than 19 thousand operators (one fourth of which hailing from a total of 112 foreign nations). This public was competent and boasted ample decision-making power. The Milanese location was considered particularly suitable for promoting the sector’s internationalization, as Meat-Tech proposes to do.
Dairytech, supporting growth. 60 exhibitors showed in the area dedicated to processing and packaging for the milk & dairy industry, created in order to facilitate visits by major international players from Argentina, Pakistan, Brazil, Algeria, Russia and the United States.
The growth prospects of this sector is confirmed by data divulged during the May 21st conference hosted by the FAO and analysts from Girà: in the next fifteen years, global production will rise by an average annual rate of 3-3.5% and will bring the value of the market from the current 780 million t to one billion and beyond by the end of 2025.
Emerging economies will compensate for the maturity of developed ones: China, Africa, Eastern Europe and Central America will drive global demand (Chinese cheese imports are growing by a whopping 16% in value). In this context, Italy, the global leader in packaging for this sector, has all the right stuff for profiting from this trend, as long as - economists warn - it promotes the structural changes necessary in order to strengthen Italy’s landscape of small and fragmented enterprises, including by updating equipment.
Great satisfaction at Converflex. The historic converting and packaging printing fair was held for the first time in conjunction with Ipack-Ima, attracting 22,750 visitors, one quarter of whom from abroad. The synergies made possible by the contiguity of the two events are remarkable (according to the registries, 51% of Ipack-Ima visitors reported a desire to also visit Converflex) and in fact, exhibitors expressed great satisfaction with this new packaging-oriented strategy. And the satisfaction is well-deserved: producers of packaging printing and converting systems brought to the table the best Italy has to offer (Acimga partners participated), giving demos of machines in operation and illustrating state-of-the-art technologies.
A lot of attention was also dedicated to the sector’s knowledge base. The manufacturer conferences (including a very good lesson on adhesive print plate tape by Biessse) and two encounters promoted by Acimga in order to foster dialog between suppliers and users of flexible packaging and converting solutions offered an important contribution and garnered the audience’s approval.
Intralogistica Italia: a good start. The first edition of this event dedicated to products, vehicles, systems and processes for in-house logistics registered 15,899 visitors, one fourth of whom foreign. But in this case, the event’s organizer Deutsche Messe points out, it’s primarily the high attendance of Italians that proves the validity of a show offer «that has not had an important dedicated fair event for a long time». Moreover, the quality of the offer, displayed over approximately 6,000 m2 by 85 exhibitors, was appreciated by highly qualified visitors, many of whom signed major acquisition contracts.
On the whole, what emerged from this event were signs of recovery and, in particular, glimmers of a recovering interest in handling in manufacturing as well as distribution and services. Sector trends were analyzed and discussed in numerous conferences, which in total involved more than 500 participants.
