Major success for Mexico Label Summit

Label Summit Latin America, which took place at the end of May in Mexico City, was a resounding success, with 734 visitors attending from Mexico and the rest of the region. Label Summit Latin America will take place in So Paulo in 2007 and return to Mexico in 2008, building on the excellent results of these regional industry events.

In-depth conference presentations were delivered by high-profile experts from the Mexican and Latin American label industry. Other label specialists also traveled from further afield to speak at this important event. Carlos Alcaraz of Green Bay Packaging delivered the keynote speech, offering delegates an overview of the current situation in the Mexican and Latin American label market. He highlighted some of the challenges facing the industry and emphasized the need for technological innovation and sector diversification.

Alfredo Domador, VP Operations, B2Bportales Inc., presented the results of a new survey of Latin American converting trends. The findings reveal the good health of the label industry with more than 20 per cent of companies reporting sales growth of over 20 per cent. Nearly 60 per cent of those surveyed intend to buy a new press in the next year, showing a clear awareness of the need for technological advancement.

Another highlight on the conference program was a panel session on ‘Meeting end user requirements from a converter perspective’. The panel was made up by Ben Lilienthal, general manager, CCL Mexico; Edgar Vargas, general manager, Diagraph ITW Mexico; Luis Maria Garcia, president, Multilabel Argentina; Enrique Feingold, sales director, Novelprint; and Fernando Aranguren Alvarez, general director, Flexoprint. Alexander Mercon, Latin America sales manager for HP Indigo, spoke about the latest developments and the extensive potential in digital printing.

The summit had a strong educational element providing practical tips for label printers on how to improve and enhance their business with the latest technology available. Leading suppliers exhibiting their product innovations at the summit included: Avery Dennison, Gallus, Nilpeter, Mark Andy, GiDue, HP, Omet, UPM Raflatac and MPS.

Federico d’Annunzio, managing director of Italian press manufacturer, Gidue, said: ‘We use the Label Summits to break into markets all over the world. We will get a Mexican distributor off the back of this event. Here you have the time to get into deep discussions with potential customers allowing us to talk about ideas, strategies and the vision of the company.’

Roger Pellow, Labelexpo managing director, said: ‘We’re very pleased with the success of this summit and the in-depth presentations from our prestigious speakers confirm the potential for growth for the Latin American region. We’re delighted to have provided a forum for debate, ideas generation and education about the exciting technological developments and business opportunities opening up for the region. We look forward to seeing the industry here again in Mexico in 2008.’