The “private” trade show held every other year (due to Covid, the last one was held in 2019) by the abinding and assembly equipment manufacturer Hunkeler in Lucerne, Switzerland, opened on Feb 27th and Pap'Argus was there. For some, the promises of Industry 4.0 may still seem vague, yet all industry players agree to automate and orchestrate all the processes related to printing and finishing paper. While the market for commercial printing has been shrinking steadily since 2008, the market is transforming to benefit those involved in digital solutions from PDF to final product. The show opened its doors with 50 equipments installed by 100 exhibitors. The objectives were clear with 6,500 visitors and a stronger American presence. The main change compared to the last tradeshow was the strong presence of software players whose role is increasingly critical (note the Bronte – Rotomail Group solution) that allows the printing of books in a simple and profitable way. All the exhibitors were clear-sighted, and agreed that the industry is consolidating and the solutions must meet the requirements of the market such as scarcity of labour, automation and flexibility of production, and cost and waste reduction. The dilemma that all players want to solve is the increase in the price of energy and paper alongside clients who have constant or declining budgets. It seems that the digitalized “end-to-end” solutions, software solutions and new “business model” are the answers à la mode. We’ve gone from hardware to software with partnerships. If it looks like the auto industry, is that a coincidence?

So many people in the C'Print aisles! The fair has become the digital print fair with the entire profession present, large format, label, repro, commercial printing and even a little packaging.... Print has sold out, with demos of all kinds. Jean Poncet, Editor-in-Chief of Etiq & Pack was present to host the conference entitled 'The dynamics of the label market: what prospects for printers'? It brought together Régis Ruys (Konica Minolta), Isabelle Manche (Esko) and François Le Bas (Epson). It is important to note that digital printing has enabled the creation of high-value labels. Digital printing has also enabled many first-time buyers to get started, as Régis Rhuys points out, saying that his company started on the label market six years ago, and that today it has one of the best-selling digital systems in the world. The round table will end with the following observation: a specialist in digital label printing has every interest in staying in this market and not to spread too thin. So, to Jean Poncet’s closing question, 'is the digital in the pack a future prospect for the digital label printer', the answer is clearly no. For now at least!

Every year, Etiq&Pack puts together its Digital Label Grand Prix, co-sponsored by Premium&Luxe. The Digital Label Awards are the only European awards dedicated entirely to the digitally printed label. Awarded by an international jury of journalists from the largest label industry publishing houses, they reward the past year’s best achievements, those that combine the best usage of digital printing possibilities with the strongest product shelf-impact. Several categories will receive prizes: Agri-food - Better use of variable data - Drink - Special International Prize - Cosmetics/Beauty - Wine Industry – Industrial and more… To participate, contact Sylvie Hubert, s.hubert@mpmedias.com and by phone +33 231 988 265. The trophies will be presented on March 16th, 2022 in Paris during the Etiq&Pack Digital Label Forum.

Paris Packaging Week, which brings together the ADF, PCD and PLD tradeshows, will take place on January 25th for two days in Paris (Porte de Versailles). The new issue of Premium&Luxe will be available. This issue contains a special section on the beauty sector’s responses to quality, environmental and societal issues. The Pap’Argus team will be on site, so if you’d like us to drop by your booth please contact us by email at contact@mpmedias.com.

The 2023 Paris Packaging Week will be held on January 25th and 26th, 2023 at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre. The exhibition uniting the perfumes & cosmetics (PCD), aerosols & diffusion systems (ADF) and premium beverages (PLD) worlds packaging will be even more impressive thanks to the addition of Packaging Première tradeshow and the FEA partnership. More than ever, this tradeshow promises to be inspirational on trend and rich in networking opportunities.

On Tuesday Nov 29th and Wednesday November 30th, the ‘who’s who’ of the paper industry met for the new edition of Paper & Beyond, the annual conference organized by the CEPI (European confederation of the paper industry). After a 2 year break (except for a video version), it was clear that people were happy to meet and network.  Pap’Argus was the French media partner of the conference and for its editorial team, it was also a pleasure to see all the important players in the sector. In these uncertain but promising times for the future for paper and board, it was necessary to see how the troops were holding up! The program was up to par, with around fifty speakers discussing the main initiatives and innovations of the industry. Sustainability, circularity and energy were the hot topics. Many questions were asked. How can design solve the challenge of circularity? How sustainable are your products? How can you push the limits of recycling further? The experts shared their insights on such current topics as the energy potential of pulp and paper companies and factories of the future. There were also uncertainties, and even fears, about the new European directives that are highly anticipated, especially in terms of the reuse of packaging, not a strength of paper and board. Despite the concerns of the moment and the many challenges, Jori Ringman, CEPI’s Director General, spoke about the many advantages of the sector. To challenge the papermakers, he added, “Let’s continue to talk about our values, we have many!”

Paper & Beyond is the European paper industry and its value chain’s annual event which brings together pulp and paper producers, paper and cardboard product manufacturers, technology suppliers, EU policy makers, researchers & scientists and the press.

Paper & Beyond 2022. Green & resilient will show that we are a green, innovative, increasingly digital and very resilient source for new generation solutions for our society’s needs.

After a two-year break, Cepi’s annual conference will be back in its traditional format and will offer a possibility of reuniting with the industry and networking in person that we all have missed! 

------ If you are attending the CEPI Conference, be on the lookout for Pap Argus’/ MP Medias’ Caroline Cauchois, journalist and Jean Poncet, editor in chief. We would be delighted to talk to you. If you have further questions after the CEPI conference you can also reach out to our native English-speaking editor, Ann Marie Pelosky Poncet (+33 6 11 42 53 00).

Imprim'Luxe’s members only annual gala dinner was held on Monday October 10th, 2022, at the Automobile Club de France in Paris. More than 120 participants were present at the dinner chaired by Luc Lesénécal, INMA’s President (Institut National des Métiers d'Art) which manages the EPV (Living Heritage) label. The well-known French TV host Stéphane Bern (pictured here) was the main guest, and he paid a vibrant tribute to the Imprim'Luxe companies, their managers, staff and guests present. He said, “I am very pleased to have the opportunity to exchange with French representatives of the luxury printing professions. The know-how of professionals in this sector has a very special value as it reflects a national expertise, an exceptional intangible heritage that must be preserved. We are rich in terms of our creative businesses, our artisans and all those who work to bring these essential trades to life and to pass on our amazing traditions to the rest of the world.”  Luc Lesénécal presented the Company of the Year Award to Alban Pingeot, MPO’s President, then Stéphane Bern presented the Man of the Year Award to Pascal Bovéro, UNIIC’s General Delegate (The French Printing and communication association). It was a wonderful evening, once again held at the prestigious Concorde Place location. We are already looking forward to other dinners there before the Prix Imprim'Luxe event next year!

We’ve been waiting for 4 long years! Due to the pandemic the event could not take place at its normal time. As a result, there is  great interest in the upcoming French packaging show, which should include around 1300 brands and companies (50% of which are international groups) together around the subject of ‘Lead the Revolution!.’  There will be new positioning, a new motto, and lots of new content! Here are the highlights: a “Objectif Zéro Impact space, which will bring together companies and startups who will present solutions for more eco-friendly packaging; The All4PackInnovations area, which will present the major packaging trends with 100 innovative packaging packages deciphered by design expert consultant Fabrice Peltier (along with the presentation of the 2022 Innovation Awards) ; and finally, the All4PackConferences space, which will offer a conference program related to the sector’s major issues. Around 66,000 professionals, including Pap’Argus are expected! See you in Paris from November 21st-November 24th, 2022 at Paris Nord Villepinte!

Packaging brands and experts have until November 14th, 2022 to present their achievements for the ADF, PCD and PLD Innovation Awards. They will be awarded at the next Paris Packaging Week event on January 25th & 26th, 2023. Open categories include innovations in sustainable development, hyper-luxury and bespoke products, perfumes, make-up or premium and consumer care, super and ultra-premium innovation, etc. Products launched on the European or international market between December 1st, 2021 and November 30th, 2022 may be presented. A jury of industry professionals will decide the winners.

Pap'Argus more than met its goal: to reach the hundred participants for the 10th edition of its conference, which was held on September 22nd at the Maison de l'Industrie in Paris. Many thanks to Isabelle Manche (Esko), Alex Volery (Bobst) and Juergen Freier (Highcon), who kicked off the conference on innovation and technology. This was a particularly captivating introduction for professionals in the audience, which was followed by another inspiring round table, but this time the focus was on creativity and design with Marianne Guély (Atelier Marianne Guély) and Marine Perez (Creative Team). Special mention goes to Eric Bacourt (Hinojosa), Pascal Lenoir (Gallimard), Pierre Barki (Agence Barki) and Mustapha Zaoug (agence PPG), who ended this day by a series of questions and answers on the supply chain, in an impromptu debate! You can read more about it in Pap'Argus’ next issue!

Today, the Pap'Argus Conference was held at the Maison de l'Industrie, in Paris 6th, with the theme ‘The challenges of new uses of paper and cardboard, induced mainly by e-commerce, quick-trade, take-away sales, substitution of plastic...’  In total, 5 round tables addressed successively the technological & design challenges, the collection and recycling challenges, the production and environment challenges and finally the supply and converting challenge! It was a great day not to be missed with over a hundred  registered participants as well as our partners BioGuard, Paprec, TKM and Smart Paper Plus... To hear more about our other conferences, contact Alicia Collins via email at a.collins@mpmedias.com

With the Honfleur conference around the theme of "Let’s reignite our jobs" in the books, we were right in sync with what is happening in the industry in terms of recruitment problems and young employee retention. (We will discuss this topic further in our next editions). Now the entire Pap'Argus team is already at work preparing the next conference to be held in Paris on Thursday, September 22nd, 2022. The conference will be centered around the theme ‘The challenges for the industry of the new uses of paper and board.’ We will discuss e-commerce, quick commerce, take-away sales, and plastic substitutes, from sourcing to collection and recycling! These are the most revelant topics in today’s market place and we are delighted to bring the best speakers together to share their expertise with you. Register now & benefit from the EARLY BIRD special by contacting Sylvie Hubert at s.hubert@mpmedias.com - tel. 02 31 98 82 65.

The European Label Forum organized by Finat was held recently on the shores of Lake Maggiore. The last conference was held in Copenhagen three years ago. The main purpose of the gathering of many speakers and 260 participants was to talk about the future of the European label industry. The future is bright for now even if after two years of very strong growth (especially in a complicated economic moment) the sector is slowing down. Paper-based adhesive labels grew by 7.8% in 2021 after expanding by 2.8% in 2020. Despite plastic-bashing, plastic-based labels have grown by 5.3% (vs 9.1% in 2020). The sector has more than doubled over the past 20 years. In 2021, 8.5 billion sqm of all kinds of adhesive labels were produced.

There is no longer a printing industry that isn’t concerned with the environmental aspect of the business and that’s a good thing as we need to preserve the planet. Even more so given the difficult times were are living in (post Covid and the war in Ukraine). The large format is no exception to the rule and the recent Fespa conference held highlighted this topic.  There was a lot of discussion about paper in a highly plastic industry. We have yet to see covers made from paper, but we know that cellulose-based materials that could replace certain films are being studied. We will be following up at next year 2023’s Munich conference.

The theme of ‘Les Entretiens de Honfleur,’ which will take place from Thursday June 23rd – Friday, June 24th, is how to make the industry more attractive for hiring.  The event, organized by the editor of Pap'Argus, will gather professionals from both the packaging and the retail industries (POS, store decoration, visual communication). The four axes that will attract people to the printing professions (and more broadly the industrial professions) are 1) to relaunch recruitment: training, of course, to succeed in adapted hiring, but also 2) personal development and workforce management (to retain employees), 3) technology, and of course 4) communication. There will be among speakers, coaches, trainers, and recruiters along with trade associations (Popai, ATF-Flexo, UNFEA, e-visions, Fespa France...) and other professionals.  You see, we are not going to Honfleur just for the very enjoyable evening dinner on the Old Port!

The President of the International Bureau of Recycling, Tom Bird, and his entire team should be proud of the event they organized that met all the expectations of industry players who were very happy to get together. 

Mickaël Lion (Everwell Resources Ltd) and Mark Sellier (Global Metals Network Ltd) and Murat Bayram (European Metal Recycling Ltd), animated a dynamic roundtable. There was also an important talk from the International Environment Council, where many discussions and in-depth analysis took place. The highlight for Pap'Argus was the Paper Division presentation. President Francisco Donoso (DOLAF Servicios Verdes) spoke about the paper recycling market backed up by statistics. He reminded us that in 2020 the world production of paper and board reached 340 million tons (including 184 million from Asia). The new European regulations on international transactions of recovered paper were addressed by the recently appointed Divisional General Delegate, Manuel Dominguez (REPACAR).  You can read more about these talks in Pap'Argus' June issue (French version).  Please note that the next BIR convention will take place in Dubai from October 16th - 18th, 2022.

The Studio Marianne Guély recently exhibiting, a new and original work in Venice, thanks to the Homo Faber event. The work is called "ABCD'M” and the production was an ode to calligraphy. Each letter or sign was made into a paper sculpture. The screen printer Lorenz Boegli created this immersive work thanks to a partnership between the Studio and the Maison Montblanc. It kicked off a partnership inspired by writing, since a masterpiece, in the same vein as this imaginary alphabet, will be presented at the Montblanc Haus in Hamburg from May 10th, 2022 onwards

We are pretty excited as tradeshow events and conference start to fill up our calendars. One of the next on the list is Paris Packaging Week which will be held on June 29th & 30th, 2022 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Paris Packaging Week’s 2022’s edition will bring together ADF&PCD and PLD Paris. The world’s leading beauty, luxury beverage and PGC brands will have access to the packaging, materials and ideas that will determine the future of their projects. The 2022 Innovation Awards, which celebrates and rewards the most outstanding packages of the year in the international market, will be presented at the ceremonies. They will also be presented at the Pentawards Gallery, the first international design competition in packaging.

Every year the Prime Minister has a different cause, this year it is reading that has caught his eye. The good news is that the Paris Book Festival will take place this year. In fact, the 2022 Paris Book Festival shows that the event is still important even 41 years after it was created. It will now be under SNE management, chaired by Vincent Montagne and it will no longer be held in the Porte de Versailles. While the event will be mainly held at the “Grand Palais éphémère”, it will also take over other Parisian venues such as the Petit Palais, the Maison de la Poésie, the Sorbonne, the Panthéon, the Military School, the Académie du Climat and the Guimet Museum. It has also become a free event. However, you will need to book a ticket online, as no more than 5,500 visitors will be allowed.

This contest celebrates the best in eco-friendly packaging design. The awards, organized by Pro Carton and the European Association of Carton Manufacturers (ECMA), challenges actors on all levels of the supply chain to present their most innovative carton packaging designs and their most environmentally friendly packaging substrate. The awards cover four categories: General Packaging – Virgin Fibres, General Packaging – Recycled Fibres, Food and Beverage Packaging – Virgin Fibres and Food and Beverage Packaging – Recycled Fibres, as well as two special innovation awards, Sustainability (formerly the Save the Planet Award) and the coveted Carton Board of the Year. Finally, the public will have the opportunity to vote for their preferred packaging for the People’s Choice Award, while a number of Platinum and Gold winners will also be selected. Last year the coveted Carton Board Award of the Year went to Durero Packaging (Structural Designer) and Holmen Iggesund (Carton Maker) for their Bodegas Balsamic packaging.

It is going to be a busy spring as tradesows are back! It kicks off with the CFIA, an important event  for the agri-food industry suppliers, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in Rennes from March 8th- 10th, 2022.  Already postposed, the Angoulême Festival will take place from March 17th- 20th, 2022 in Angoulême; The Paris Book Festival will take place from April 22nd- 24th at the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris; Le C!Print, a visual communication and graphic industries tradeshow, will be held in May 2022 in Lyon and finally, the 4th edition  of All for Content, an event dedicated to brand content, will be held on May 17th & 18th in Paris. The calendar is getting full even if we have just been told that the Labelexpo Show in Brussels is postponed until september 2023.

The annual Flexible Packaging Conference organized by the magazine Etiq&Pack at the Hôtel de l'Industrie in Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Paris 6e) was be held on Wednesday, January 26 th 2022. There was an impressive line-up of speakers such as Sébastien Jacques (Elipso) who gave an overview of the flexible packaging industry. Orianne Broussard (Citeo) talked about the collection and recycling of films following the progressive extension of sorting availability. Other talks covered proposed solutions to make flexible packaging more eco-responsible, including the development of new materials (paper, coated paper, recyclable plastics, compostable, etc.) with Bettina Bastien (Koehler Paper), Stefan Kirstetter (Malengé Packaging), Jean-Pierre Rakoutz (Tipa), Arnaud Jouvance (Paptic). Catherine Kerninon (Eurosac) started the afternoon with an overview of the sack industry. A round table followed discssing how eco-responsibility starts in the packaging processing workshop (with flexo, helio and finishers) and the day ended with another round table “Flexible 5.0” held by three entrepreneurs leading eco-responsible initiatives: Jonathan Schmitt (E-Pac Flexibles), Nicolas Soubelet (La bonne Etoile) and Bruno Garnier (Moultipass Agency)). Look forward to the next edition in January 2023