When Emballage 98 opens this November at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center, it will mark the French packaging show's 50th anniversary. With 2귔 exhibitors expected to be on hand for the November 16-20 show, it should be quite a celebration.
"Exhibitor space is completely sold out," says Fran°ois Gros of Imex Management Inc. (Charlotte, NC), the North American office of Emballage. "It's the first time we've ever had to turn away exhibitors three months in advance of the show."
Some 105ꯠ visitors are expected, including 25% foreign attendees. International participation has risen sharply, say the show organizers, with registration up 20% compared to Emballage 96. There are increases for all countries, but the strongest are for Spain, the Netherlands, the U.S. and Italy. As for representation by industry, visitors representing food companies are most numerous. They're followed by industrial goods companies and then pharmaceuticals/cosmetics.
The expansion of the Emballage exhibition reflects the growth in packaging worldwide, a strategic component for packaged products companies looking to conquer foreign markets. The global market for materials and containers is valued at $225 billion. Europe's share represents 40% of the globe at $90 billion. The European market for packaging machinery is valued at $7 billion.
The 6th Official USA Pavilion at Emballage 98 is certified by the U.S. Department of Commerce and is organized by IMEX Management. The pavilion offers a turnkey booth and special services and amenities. It's open to American companies as well as their European subsidiaries, agents, representatives and licensees.
For the first time ever, the exhibition has named a Country of Honor: Brazil. Since opening its borders to foreign products in 1990, Brazil has represented a fantastic opportunity for the world packaging industry, so Emballage 98 is devoting the entire day of Tuesday, November 17, to the country. A Brazilian pavilion, visits by delegations of Brazilian buyers, a conference on the packaging industry in Brazil, and business meetings organized by UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) will provide an overview of this rapidly developing economy.
The goal of the event is to create and develop exchanges between Brazilian and European packaging firms. The "Brazil Information" stand at the exhibition will offer information on the Brazilian market and the various players in the packaging industry (associations, companies, the press, etc.). Meetings with user associations representing food, cosmetics, perfumes and other product categories will be available, as will arrangements for guided tours.
Also showcased this year is the Luxury Packaging Pavilion. Emballage has teamed up with the Pan European Design Assn. (PDA) to present representative luxury packaging from different countries around the world. The biggest design agencies in the PDA will select the items to be featured based on their quality and success in representing luxury. Nearly 70 agencies in all are expected for this showcase pavilion.
Some space at Emballage 98 is being reserved for co-packing and logistics subcontractors. This outstanding strategy, which lets companies reduce their fixed costs and focus on their core businesses, is a hot trend in Europe, and Emballage visitors can learn more about it in Hall 3.
Once again pari Emballage gives students of the biggest universities, schools and institutes of industrial design a choice of 10 topics for which they can create futuristic packaging prototypes. In all, 46 schools in 21 countries prepared 290 entries. Scale models of the 40 best projects will be exhibited in Hall 6.
Rounding out the Emballage 98 package are November 19 conferences led by specialists on topics relevant to packaging. These are offered in partnership with IFEC (the French Packaging Institute).
Finally, the official award ceremony for the packaging Oscars IFEC 98 will take place on Wednesday, November 19. Every year this event honors the best packages on the French market.
Following is a list of companies with a strong U.S. presence that will be exhibiting at Emballage 98.
