The liquid food & beverage market is worth € 1,447 billion and will grow by an average of 3.3% per year from 2021 to 2025, both in Italy and worldwide.
A varied universe of products including soft drinks, drinking milk, soft drinks, mineral water, beer, wine and spirits, functional & energy drinks, juices, baby drinks and baby food, as well as soups, oils, dressings and sauces, is of growing importance at IPACK-IMA, the international trade fair dedicated to processing and packaging technologies scheduled from 3 to 6 May at Fiera Milano Rho.
The last edition of the event was visited by 74,000 professionals from 146 countries, 12% of which came from the Liquid Food & Beverage sector, with the world’s leading multinationals present at the fair with their buyers.
The sector is also expanding from the point of view of packaging and processing machines for beverages and liquid food, the values of which touch 14.2 billion euros worldwide, with an expected growth rate of 2% on average per year by 2025. This positive trend is also being followed by the Italian players in the sector, who are aiming for an expected growth of 3.1%. (Source: Ipack Ima Business Monitor in collaboration with MECS).
At IPACK-IMA visitors will find cutting-edge solutions from leading manufacturers of technologies such as liquid and beverage fillers, blow moulders, labellers and capping lines, end-of-line solutions, as well as packaging materials on which the industry is increasingly focusing on its search for new green and eco-friendly applications.
Among the companies that have already confirmed their presence in the exhibition halls are Arol, Smi Group, OCME, Della Toffola, TMCI Padovan, Baumer, OMS capping system, Tenco, ACR Parma and many companies also specialising in technologies and applications that can be extended to liquid and semi-liquid non-food products.
A special focus will be devoted to primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging materials, which will be well represented at the show by over 200 companies operating in this segment. IPACK-Mat is the IPACK-IMA brand that will make these companies easily identifiable. In a special area strategically located in Hall 5, they will propose smart or eco-design-inspired packaging and solutions.
The issue of packaging is constantly challenged with that of product safety and preservation, to which IPACK-IMA, in cooperation with the Italian Packaging Institute, dedicates the special area Ipack-Ima Lab, looking at research laboratories, certification institutes and centres specialised in FCM compliance standards.
The exhibition offer is complemented by a rich calendar of events aimed at enhancing innovation and anticipating trends: IPACK-IMA will host the prestigious WorldStar contest, the Global Packaging Awards promoted by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO). Furthemore, in cooperation with the Italian Packaging Institute, the event will host the Best Packaging Awards, returning to celebrate Italian excellence among producers and users of packaging materials.
At IPACK-IMA, the future will move towards labelling, coding, and marking products that enable the traceability of raw materials and products throughout the supply chain. More and more often, labels and packages host sensors and devices capable of connecting the product with the consumer: it is an enrichment of information that offers unique marketing opportunities for timely narration of the life of the package and the product.
Continuous changes in consumer habits combined with the arrival on the market of new generations of consumers, lead to increased awareness of organic products. Part of a coherent process that combines the quality of raw materials with more sustainable choices, in terms of packaging and increasingly towards free-from and vegetable-based products.
Therefore IPACK-IMA is more than ever the first in-person meeting place for processing and packaging professionals, with industry-wide previews of future consumer trends.
IPACK-IMA will be held in conjunction with other trade fairs dedicated to instrumental mechanics, as part of “The Innovaton Aliance” project: Intralogistica Italia, focusing on the handling of goods and warehouse management, Print4All, dedicated to industrial printing, converting and labelling technologies, and the first event with Greenplast, centred on the plastics and rubber supply chain, with a focus on environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, Reduce-Reuse-Recycle and circular economy.
The event from 3 to 6 May 2022 returns to the Fiera Milano pavilions, thanks to strict safety protocols, guaranteed by a hub that hosts 4.5 million visitors every year, 36,000 companies from all over the world, 80 exhibitions and 160 congresses.
IPACK-IMA represents a complete, transversal offer dedicated to cutting-edge materials and technologies in the process and packaging sector, and aimed at the entire consumer and durable goods industry.
The numbers of the 2018 edition: 1,500 exhibitors and over 74,000 visitors of which 18,500 from 146 countries. The event is organised by Ipack Ima Srl, a joint venture between UCIMA (Union of Italian Manufacturers of Automatic Packaging and Packaging Machines) and Fiera Milano.
