Label Summit Latin America delivers successful 15th edition

Label Summit Latin America has been hailed as ‘one of the most successful’ to date, with almost 1,000 delegates from the region’s label and package printing industry descending on Guadalajara, Mexico for the two-day summit.

Some 964 attendees for the April 24-25 event at Expo Guadalajara came from a dozen countries

Some 964 attendees for the April 24-25 event at Expo Guadalajara came from a dozen countries across the region to share ideas and help shape the future direction of the industry in the region at this year’s Label Summit Latin America.

Hot conference topics were the growing trends of premiumization, with a focus on high quality labels and packaging, and augmented reality and intelligent labels, which provide increased opportunities for brands to engage with consumers and offer added value, as well as enhancing the consumer experience.

Presentations and panel discussions across the two days covered: trends in Mexico, the region and worldwide; how consumers are willing to pay more for functional packaging; attracting skilled labor and retaining key employees; diversification and moving from commercial printing to packaging; finding a niche and exceling at it; high-end label decoration, including augmented reality, foils, embossing and premium material options; and branding, in particular enhancement, personalization and private label versus premium brands.

The conference program was once again supplemented by a table-top exhibition featuring companies from across the supply chain. The participating 87 companies included acpo, Armor, Avery Dennison, Bobst, Durst, Dupont, Epson, Esko, Fujifilm, Green Bay Mexico, Mark Andy, Sun Chemical and tesa Tape.

Tasha Ventimiglia, event director for Label Summit Latin America, said: ‘We are delighted with one of our most successful Label Summits for Latin America, which brought together the best of the region’s label and packing printing industry for two inspiring days of learning and showcasing the latest technology from world-class suppliers. Attendee feedback from the 25 countries represented has been tremendous.’

The huge growth potential of the Mexican market – the region’s biggest – was also discussed in detail.

Citing figures from Smithers Pira, Ventimiglia added: ‘Mexico has the region’s largest label and package printing market, one that is set to grow by 18 percent over the next four years, so it was fantastic to see such a strong representation from our host country along with the rest of the region.

‘This is our 15th consecutive Label Summit Latin America. We began the summits to grow our circulation in key emerging markets, educate local label converters on our industry, and complement our larger Labelexpo portfolio. We never imagined that 15 years later our summits would become such vital, unmissable events for the entire Latin American label industry. We look forward to building on this at next year’s summit in Colombia.’

Read a comprehensive review of Label Summit Latin America 2018 in Labels & Labeling, issue 3, 2018