From 8 to 11 May, Hispack will coordinate the largest ecosystem regarding packaging in the Iberian market, and will add process and logistics to its commercial offer and activities. The trade fair will bring together 750 direct exhibitors, representing more than 1,400 represented companies, in close to 39,000m2 total surface area for exhibitions and educational spaces, representing a growth of 20% in the number of stands and 12% in used surface area in comparison to 2015.

Hispack, which will occupy three pavilions of the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via location, will emphasise innovation by offering solutions in packaging, bespoke process and logistics for manufacturers and distributors of food, beverages, chemicals, pharmacy, cosmetics, the perfume and drug industry, capital goods, and other industrial and consumption sectors.

In its value proposition, Hispack 2018 will strategically address packaging by taking into account the entire life cycle and the interconnections with other production processes and the supply chain. In this sense, the fair will present packaging as an economic driver and key element in the digital transformation of the industry.

As a new element, Hispack will create various areas with educational activities that will visualise and offer responses to four large and immediate challenges that packaging must tackle: sustainability, automation and digitalisation, logistics, and improving the use experience.

At the same time, Hispack will once again coincide in dates and venue with FoodTech Barcelona, the new name for the food technology fair, which will show all aspects of the manufacturing of foodstuffs. Therefore, at this double trade fair occasion, food industry professionals will be able to find solutions that range from ingredients to production processes, packaging, and delivery to the point of sale.

More exhibitors and international representation
Hispack's commitment to increasing the presence of the process and logistics machinery sectors within its commercial offering has received an excellent response and has translated into a notable growth of exhibitors with these specialities in comparison to 2015. The creation of a sector dedicated to automation and digitalisation, in which more than 40 companies participate, is also worthy of mention.

This year, the sectors connected to machinery and accessories for the manufacturing of containers and packaging, process equipment, bottling, or coding and marking will represent more than half the exhibitors at the fair. Raw materials firms represent 30% of the confirmed stands. There is also a clear growth in companies in the Premiumpack area, dedicated to providers of materials, finishes and packaging for mid to high-end products, particularly segments such as gourmet foods, beverages, cosmetics, perfumes and pharmaceutical products. Companies in POS display, engineering, consulting and services, associations and entities, as well as recovery and recycling firms round out the trade fair's commercial offer.

At the same time, Hispack expects to grow internationally, with almost a third of its direct exhibitors coming from abroad. So far, companies from 22 countries are participating in the fair. After Spain, the country that contributes the most companies at the moment is Turkey, followed by Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and China.

The presence of more international brands confirms that the Spanish packaging market is once again attractive due to the dynamism of demand, as well as the role and ability of Hispack to attract professionals from other foreign markets due to geographic and cultural proximity, mainly from Europe (with Portugal in the lead), Latin America and Mediterranean countries. In its global visitor forecast, Hispack and FoodTech Barcelona expect to surpass 38,000 attendees, 4,000 of which are international.

Buyers programs

Hispack and FoodTech Barcelona have reached an agreement with AMEC, the Association of Internationalised Industrial Companies, to carry out promotional activities in nine countries (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Poland) with the aim of identifying buyers with specific projects to be invited to the trade fair. With this program of international buyers that are invited directly by the organisation, more than a thousand business interviews with exhibitors are expected to be scheduled. Joint work is also being carried out to organise trade missions in seven other markets with growth potential, such as the USA, Argentina, Iran, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Ghana.

At the same time, the Fira de Barcelona international delegations, particularly those from Portugal, France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom are carrying out an important promotional campaign to attract European professionals.

Hispack also has a program of national buyers through which more than twenty end-product manufacturers will be directly invited to participate in short-term investment projects, which may hold scheduled meetings with exhibitors.

Hispack challenges

In the middle of the exhibition area, four large areas will be built under the name Hispack Challenges, where educational and networking activities will be held according to the four large challenges defined for this year (sustainability, automation and digitalisation, logistics, and the use experience). Each of these areas will have a specific program of conferences and round tables where top level speakers will participate and where success stories will be explained. In addition, other areas will be available for networking, complemented by spaces for the exhibition of innovative products and packaging projects, workshops and demonstrations.

In the section dedicated to the use experience, Hispack will incorporate the Graphispag Area where visitors will be able to see and discover the latest contributions to the world of the graphics industry in packaging. This area will be attended by supplier companies with examples of printed applications and specific finishes for containers, packaging and POS, as well as graphic services companies. The show will also feature a Conference Corner specialising in packaging and retail by the Graphispack Asociación where trends, success stories and solutions will be discussed. In addition, within the Hispack framework, the awards ceremony for the 2017 Líderpack Awards will be held.