Messe Düsseldorf invites Thai entrepreneurs to participate in Interpack 2023, the world’s largest packaging and processing exhibition, which will be held in Düsseldorf, Germany. The event brings together packaging and processing experts from around the world. This event, which has over 2,700 exhibitors, aims to highlight four global packaging trends to look out for, including circular economy, resource management, digital technologies, and product safety.
It is expected to draw more than 170,000 visitors from over 160 countries worldwide.
Mr. Thomas Dohse, Messe Düsseldorf’s Project Director for Interpack, stated a continuing growth in the world’s population, increasing urbanization, higher employment rates and rising incomes are driving global demand for packaged food. According to the VDMA Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association, the British market research company Euromonitor International forecasts that global sales of packaged food will increase by a total of 14 percent to 932 million tons in the period 2021 to 2026.
Countries in Asia account for 34 percent of global consumption of packaged food. Here, demand is expected to increase by 20 percent between 2021 and 2026, to 337 million tons in 2026. Within the region, China is the largest sales market for packaged food with a share of almost 50 percent. It is expected that the rising demand for packaged food in the region will result in further investments in food processing and packaging machinery to build and expand production capacity.
According to Mr. Dohse, Thailand’s food packaging industry has a sales volume of 6 million tonnes in 2021 and is expected to grow to 7 million tonnes in 2026. Thailand is ranked seventh in Asia for food packaging. This is an encouraging sign that the food packaging industry is expanding, and it represents an opportunity for Thai entrepreneurs to expand their market presence to a global level.
Messe Düsseldorf is now preparing for Interpack 2023, the world’s largest trade show for the packaging and processing industries, held every three years. Interpack 2023 welcomes 2,700 exhibitors from several countries such as Germany, the United States, Singapore, Japan, China, and Thailand. Thailand is represented by four exhibitors: FPC Industry Co., Ltd., Mahathanee Industry Co., Ltd., MMP Corporation Co., Ltd., and Quik Pack Pacific Co., Ltd.
Ms. Sabine Geldermann, Messe Düsseldorf’s Global Head for Print Technologies, stated that the event focuses on four global trends to watch. Starting with the circular economy, which is to reuse them as high-quality materials through intelligent processes. Sustainable solutions and materials are in demand for packaging. One aspect of packaging: using less packaging material. Reduced wall thicknesses, lower film thicknesses, optimized shaping as well as processing techniques mean that packaging is becoming lighter and lighter, with the same or better packaging performance and stability. Another key component of the Circular Economy is packaging that is easy to recycle.
The second item on the agenda is resource management. Companies today are faced with the challenge of acting sustainably and responsibly, making optimum use of scarce resources, and at the same time increasing efficiency in production. The production and processing of food is very energy-intensive and requires water – both for the process itself and for cleaning. Innovative processes that save energy and reduce water consumption are needed here – for reduce emissions to almost zero and optimized material cycles can avoid wasting raw materials and resources.
Digital technologies. The use of data are important drivers in the food, pharmaceutical and packaging industries. The use of digital technologies lowers production, maintenance and repair costs. Quality and energy management, resource planning, product development and service also benefit from Big Data. Big data also plays a central role in the concept of the digital twin. It can be used to bring products, machines and systems to market faster, to commission machines virtually, and to test new packaging developments virtually on the “real” machine in advance.
One of the most important considerations is product safety. Safe and hygienic production is a top priority in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In order to manufacture products safely and hygienically and to meet the sometime high international standards and guidelines, machines in hygienic design are a matter of course and are constantly being optimized. Additional safety is provided by control and inspection measures. Highly efficient, computer-aided track & trace systems ensure that products can be traced seamlessly along the entire value chain, thus providing transparency.
Interpack 2017 was a huge success with 2,866 exhibitors from 55 different countries, and attracted 170,899 visitors from 169 countries. It was the top industry gathering for packaging manufacturers and suppliers under one roof, and the only packaging industry trade show that included everyone involved from upstream to downstream. Furthermore, innovations and advanced technologies for today’s world have been gathered. These are the success factors that clearly distinguish Interpack 2017 and contribute to its past success.
Interpack 2023 will be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, from May 4 to 10, 2023. This is an important opportunity for Thai entrepreneurs to learn more about global innovations, technology, and modern machines. From there, it will assist them in increasing their production potential and further developing a production process that is safe for the world and the environment, while also minimizing waste.
Entrepreneurs interested in attending the exhibition can visit the website https://www.interpack.com/ for more information or register to reserve a spot.
