It’s that time again! In around ten months, from 24–26 September 2024, FachPack, the European trade fair for packaging, technology and processes, will return from its scheduled break in 2023 to once again welcome experts from the packaging industry and its user segments from all around Europe to Nuremberg. The 11 exhibition halls are set to accommodate 1,400 exhibitors, who will discuss trailblazing packaging solutions and do business with more than 35,000 visitors. We talked to Heike Slotta, Executive Director Exhibitions at NürnbergMesse, about the status of preparations for the event in 2024 and asked whether she can reveal some of the highlights at this stage.
Ms Slotta, while FachPack took a scheduled break in 2023, the event team most certainly didn’t. So, what was on your agenda?
"We gathered a whole lot of ideas for our forthcoming FachPack, worked with the advisory board to define the concept for 2024, and brought our website up to the latest technical standard. And even though the trade fair was on a break year, we continued to keep the FachPack community informed online with a fortnightly newsletter on our FachPack360° platform. This is where, under our main theme “Transition in Packaging”, we explore topics like sustainability, design, new approaches in the packaging industry, and start-ups. We also publish research from the various user segments for packaging, retail, industry and branded companies. To this end we look at the European markets. And naturally, we get to hear some insights from packaging experts. In this context, we have devoted special attention to women in the packaging industry. In the series “Women4packaging”, we give a platform to female experts in the packaging industry - and at FachPack itself, we will be launching an associated networking event on the first day of the fair. For more than six months now, we have been holding intensive discussions with our exhibitors, and in the last few days we started on the hall allocations, to ensure that our customers can reserve their preferred spots."
Are you able to tell us something about the current level of registrations following the initial marketing phases?
"We are delighted by the great response. We’ve already reached slightly over 80 percent of the planned registration total - and we are still in the thick of it! As a precaution, we have already reserved a 12th hall, so that we will be able to accommodate all stand requests. FachPack 2024 will once again have a strong focus on the packaging material segment, with two-thirds of our exhibitors active in this area. But packaging machine manufacturers are also powering ahead. It is still possible to register for FachPack 2024. In March next year, earlier than usual, we will also be publishing the floor plans online. This means that potential exhibitors can secure their preferred stand location directly."
“Transition in Packaging” will also be the key theme for 2024. What exactly does it mean, and how will it be incorporated into the trade fair in 2024?
"The shift in the packaging industry continues, triggered not least by the EU initiatives on the Green Deal, the PPWR (packaging and packaging waste) regulation, as well as by all our efforts to implement sustainable and climate-friendly business practices. For the European industry, FachPack is the ideal platform to present ground-breaking developments, move forward into the future together, and actively shape change. The focus of FachPack is on the exhibitors’ product presentations and the ensuing discussions. Moreover, the key theme is of course also reflected in the FachPack supporting programme. The PackBox and InnovationBox forums and the special show on cutting-edge design are all about the trends and drivers in the industry. A new addition is the “Alternative Packaging Solutions” pavilion, which we will also present at BioFach, the world's leading fair for organic food. This pavilion showcases materials that are not fibre-based or plastic-based, for example filler material based on corn starch or spelt husks, or packaging made of agro-waste, algae or sugar."
How can visitors best prepare and keep up to date with developments for FachPack 2024?
"As I mentioned earlier, FachPack360° is the news portal for the European packaging segment and a tool to help people navigate the changing packaging industry. The www.fachpack360.com platform is online 365 days a year and is already addressing issues that will then play a role at the trade fair in Nuremberg. Anyone who hasn’t done so already should subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter now to get the latest news delivered straight to their inbox. I can also highly recommend the FachPack LinkedIn channel, where you’ll find a lot of news and insights pretty much “hot off the press”, and occasionally a look behind the scenes at the FachPack team and its activities. Facts and figures, and at an appropriate time, the current programme, will of course also be available on our website www.fachpack.de."
