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Exhibitors at interpack 2011 were in an excellent mood and reported good meetings with high-caliber visitors. Many of the attendees came with specific orders and exhibitors expect an extremely lucrative post-show business. Among the visitors were a particularly large number of international decision makers from the top management.

"At our stand, there was huge interest in our products. We generated 30 percent more contacts than at interpack 2008, including members from the top management, brand manufacturers and many potential new customers. We heard the same from numerous other exhibitors. Interpack has confirmed the stability of the positive economic trends," says Christian Traumann, president of interpack 2011 and managing director of exhibitor Multivac Sepp Haggenmüller.

The results of the visitor survey confirmed the impressions of the exhibitors. Particularly remarkable is the further significant increase in the proportion of decision makers compared to interpack 2008. Almost three quarters of the trade visitors were from the management level. The especially large proportion of trade visitors from the top management was a contributing factor. Interpack's internationality again underlined its status as the world's most important trade fair for this sector.

More than 100,000 (or 60 percent) of the 166,000 trade visitors traveled to interpack from countries outside of Germany. The visitor's reaction to the range of exhibits at interpack 2011 could not have been better. Sustainability, safety and convenience were the major topics in the exhibition halls.

Due to the Eurovision Song Contest, there was a shift in the pattern of visits. Many attendees visited interpack 2011 after the song contest ended on May 14 in a venue close to the fairgrounds.

A special highlight at interpack 2011 was the U.S. Pavilion, organized by Messe Düsseldorf North America. A total of 33 exhibitors showcased their latest technologies within this successful group exhibit. Overall, 98 U.S. exhibitors took part in the trade fair.

The choice and presentation of the special themes also added to the appeal of interpack 2011. According to participating companies and visitors alike, these themes are unparalleled in quality worldwide and made interpack all the more a unique communication platform.

The premiere of the SAVE FOOD campaign which demonstrated how each stage in the packaging value chain can help in the worldwide fight against wasting of food, was organized by Messe Düsseldorf in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. More than 300 participants from all over the world—ranging from producers and the packaging industry to retailers and politicians as well as society and non-government organizations—took part in this congress on May 16 and 17. First-rate speakers such as Ilse Aigner (Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection), Prof. Klaus Töpfer (former Executive Director of the UN Environment Program and Chairman of the Ethics Committee for Atomic Energy recently set up by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel) and Shraddha Shridhar Jadhav (Mayor of Mumbai), highlighted the problem of global food loss from various points of view.

"The success of the SAVE FOOD initiative shows that we at Messe Düsseldorf have placed our international packaging expertise in a context enabling areas outside the packaging industry to benefit. We have set off a highly promising dialogue on one of the most important issues of our time. We shall therefore continue to pursue the topic in cooperation with the FAO. I've agreed to this with Mr. Traoré, Assistant Director General, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of the FAO," explains Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, president and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf. In October of this year, the SAVE FOOD exhibition from interpack 2011 will be on show at the FAO headquarters in Rome during the week of the World Food Day.

The special themes INNOVATIONPARC PACKAGING and METAL PACKAGING PLAZA during interpack 2011 were also extremely popular. In five different shops on the themes of Health, Meaning, Aesthetics, Simplicity and Identity, INNOVATIONPARC PACKAGING brought together companies from across the value chain with the motto of "Quality of Life." Developed specifically for the special show, best practices and visions for the future were presented by these stores. According to the participating companies and visitors, this concept created a unique forum for constructive talks and creative ideas.

The special theme METAL PACKAGING PLAZA, newly introduced at interpack 2011, was also devoted to dialogue and information. Numerous presentations were held in the central lecture forum, while suppliers and potential customers met in the lounge to discuss metal packaging. The METAL PACKAGING PLAZA thus became a central meeting place for anything relating to metal packaging, much to the satisfaction of the participating associations for metal packages, VMV and Empac.

The next staging of interpack will take place in 2014 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Exact dates will be announced at a later date. Subscribe to our blog at http://blog.mdna.com; follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago.

Source: Messe Düsseldorf North America

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