European packaging professionals gather in Amsterdam to share industry insights

Packaging Summit Europe, the first forum for brand owners looking to source suppliers of packaging solutions, including services and materials, took place recently in Amsterdam. The international event attracted over 200 participants from across Europe including delegates from the UK, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and France.

High-profile packaging experts from Nestl, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Tesco, Cardinal Health, Reckitt Benckiser and Beiersdorf delivered presentations from the brand-owners’ perspective to the international audience. Recent case studies provided practical tips and advice for delegates. Nigel Fenton, Pack Change Process Manager, showed how Nestl used packaging design and heat sensitive materials to enhance and market instant-win promotions on the KitKat confectionary brand.

Nicola Ellen from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) highlighted the challenges facing the UK where 50 per cent of household waste originates from the retail sector. With 70 per cent of the UK’s 9 billion packaging market used for grocery products, the British Government and some of the country’s biggest retailers have made a long-term commitment towards delivering significant packaging waste reductions by 2010. Ellen’s presentation also demonstrated some key European and international examples of successful projects and innovations tackling packaging waste.

Hartmut Tiekenheinrich from Beiersdorf took delegates through a highly interactive presentation on product innovations in the Nivea brand. He focused on how a packaging design is taken from the concept phase, with the creation of the right project team through to marketing, promotion and full product roll out in the retail chain.

Other key themes on the conference agenda included the latest developments driving the industry, design innovation, shifting consumer demands, changing cultural trends, global threats and opportunities and the environmental impact of packaging, to name a few.

Roger Pellow, Packaging Summit Europe managing director, said: ‘We’re very pleased with the success of the first Packaging Summit Europe and have received some great feedback from our speakers, delegates and exhibitors. The conference program offered delegates the opportunity to learn about the latest innovations in some of the world’s leading FMCG brands. Delegates had many opportunities throughout the two-days to network with their packaging industry peers and many have taken away with them new ideas and different ways to improve packaging in their supply chain. Equipped with the positive feedback from speakers, delegates and exhibitors, we look forward to our next European packaging event in 2007.’

The conference also had an exhibition running alongside the main seminars. Exhibitors who showed their latest packaging solutions and innovations included: Clarifoil, Agile Software Corporation, Flex / the InnovationLab, Eckart, HP Speciality Printing Division, Band'All International, Esko, SCA Packaging and Flexible Medical. The summit was supported by NVC (the Netherlands Packaging Association); the International Safe Transit Association; SYBA (the Czech Packaging Association); Packaging and Industrial Films Association (PIFA); the Pan European Design Association; and the UK Warehousing Association.