Labelexpo India concludes pre-show forums as next installment nears

The final half-day forum event hosted by Labelexpo India has now taken place, concluding a series of seven events to promote the forthcoming 2018 installment of the show to printers across the country and abroad.

Labelexpo India concludes pre-show forums as next installment nears

Labelexpo India 2018 will run November 22-25 at India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida, Delhi NCR. Entry is free.

A total of 860 converters attended the pre-show forums, which took place between August and November in the cities of Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Pune and Jammu in India, as well as Colombo in Sri Lanka and Dhaka in Bangladesh. This is almost double the number of similar regional events hosted by Labelexpo India in the run-up to the 2016 show. In the case of Bangladesh, it was the very first time an event of this kind had taken place in the country.

The events provided an overview of this year’s Labelexpo India, previewed some of the key trends emerging, and offered a unique networking opportunity for offset printers considering diversifying into labels and package printing.

Topics discussed included:

  • UV flexo, the fastest growing narrow web printing technology in India;
  • The customization of printing presses for individual customers;
  • That in the Asia-Pacific region, pressure-sensitive label growth is fastest in India at eight percent CAGR; and
  • The flexible packaging market, which in India is growing at around 15-17 percent a year.

Jade Grace, Labelexpo portfolio director, said: ‘We are delighted with the success of our forums over the last few months. These have proved invaluable in areas such as Bangladesh, that have until now not had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the future scope of the labels and package printing industry. Visitor demand well exceeded our expectations and we have experienced a surge in enquiries from offset printers about visiting Labelexpo India 2018 after each event. This is a fantastic result, demonstrating how important the show is in driving the industry forward, and cementing its reputation as the key industry platform in the South Asian region. The forums are a format that clearly strike the right chord, which we will look to build on in future events.’

G Sridhara, business manager, international and specialty business, South Asia, Avery Dennison India, said of the Bangladesh forum: ‘[This] forum in Dhaka provided a platform for sharing insights about the potential of the label industry and upcoming trends with industry partners, and the flexo and offset fraternity. It was a very good gathering of 200-plus printers who were keen to know about the developments and our initiatives to address their issues.’

Hasina Newaaz, vice chairman of Bangladesh Mudran Shilpa Samity, said: ‘Printing is a huge sector but unfortunately Bangladesh has neither been able to contribute nor exploit this sector much. Labelexpo India 2018 is a huge opportunity for the printers of the country to break the mould and take the industry ahead. When an event like Labelexpo is happening next door, we should visit and gain the maximum benefits out of it.’

The inaugural Brand Innovation Day, an invite-only event taking place on the first day of Labelexpo India 2018, is reported to have received ‘exceptional demand’.