17,000 trade visitors attended trade fair duo in Moscow
Positive mood in the exhibition halls +++ Personal encounters were once again the focus +++ upakovka focuses on packaging process as a whole, sustainability and new ideas for changing consumer behaviour After their four-day run as in-person events, upakovka - Processing & Packaging and interplastica, International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber, have achieved extremely successful results. For the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the trade fair duo took place live in Moscow. A total of 17,000 visitors came to the Central Exhibition Complex Expocentre from 25 to 28 to see the innovations of 650 exhibitors from 32 countries, to make or intensify contacts and to take part in the extensive lecture programme. The mood in the halls was good, and exhibitors praised in particular the high quality of the contacts.
Good attendance despite the pandemic Despite some pandemic-related restrictions visitors from 39 countries travelled to the top event for the Russian packaging market, predominantly hailing from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Germany, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Italy. Of these 77% were decision-makers and 44% first-time visitors. This allowed upakovka exhibitors to establish targeted contacts, above all in Russia and its neighbouring states. However, there were also many visitors arriving from Central and Southern Europe. Numerous exhibitors took part for the first time such as Heidelberg-CIS, Uteco Converting or KASAN MAKINA.
All signs pointing to growth “We are so delighted that we managed to create a marketplace for the Russian packaging industry again this year,” said Thomas Dohse, Project Director at Messe Düsseldorf, and went on to say: “Due to rises in food and medicinal drug production demand for packaging as well as machinery investment in Russia remains high. With upakovka 2022 we were able to provide new impulses since personal encounters were possible again at last.”
upakovka is the only platform catering to the whole packaging process on the Russian market forming part of the international trade fair network “interpack alliance”, which is headed by its namesake flagship trade fair in Düsseldorf. This year’s event focused not only on product innovations but especially on new challenges and altered consumer habits due to the Covid pandemic.
Pandemic has changed Russian consumer behaviourThe Russian food industry continues to be a growth sector. Consumer behaviour in the country, however, has altered on account of the pandemic. The demand for pre-packaged food, for example, initially rose in 2020. This is how consumers secured supplies during the quarantine periods. In 2021 the situation relaxed: stocks were used up, people started eating out again thereby making retail sales of pre-packaged food drop. Market research institute Euromonitor International assumes, however, that the sale of pre-packaged food will rise again next year – both in retail and in food service and hospitality. Another consequence of the pandemic is that many consumers place higher demands on the quality and safety of pre-packaged food. For the period 2021 to 2025 demand is expected to rise by 5% in total to 31 million tons.
Russian consumer demands are risingTo live up to Russian consumers’ rising demands and growing expectations in terms of food quality, freshness, taste, form and appearance, manufacturers have to further expand their production capacities and invest in state-of-the-art processing and packaging technologies.
2020 saw Russia import food and packaging machinery worth EUR 1.62 billion. Here Germany is the most important machinery supplier to the Russian food and beverage industries. After a Covid-induced decline in 2020, German food and packaging machinery exports to Russia were up again by 4% (to EUR 296 m) over the first eleven months of 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year. This growth was driven by packaging machinery deliveries that were up by 22% to EUR 162 million while food machinery deliveries declined by 11% to EUR 134 million, i.e. below the previous year’s level.
Innovationparc forums well attended Not only business but also continuous education at the “innovationparc” proved an important aspect at upakovka. Since the trade fair has been held under the umbrella of the “interpack alliance”, this special area adapted from interpack in Düsseldorf has become a fixture in Moscow. The topics addressed on the two forum stages ranged from best practice for packaging and print to sustainability aspects and branding.
Focus on beverage technologies What will beverage packaging look like in five years from now? This was the subject of the conference organised by the Russian Association of Beverage Producers Soyuznapitki as part of innovationparc. This year upakovka posted a very positive development in the beverage production, filling and packaging segments. Here supply and demand were particularly high. Altogether 20% of all exhibitors came from the beverage segment such as SACMI, KHS GmbH, Heuft, Robotec, SMI, Sidel, SIPA or AVE.
Innovations in packaging print Print technologies and materials have also formed an integral part of the trade fair for years now. This year exhibitors included HEIDELBERG, Uteco Converting and COMEXI, to name but three companies. Furthermore, the 6th annual conference of the Publish Magazine entitled “The Day of Digital Innovations in Packaging and Labelling” was hosted here. Partners included Double V, Konica Minolta, Nissa-Centre, Ricoh Rus and RussKom.
Focus on sustainability “Green” packaging is among the biggest trends in the industry and was in focus at upakovka. The transition to a circular economy, producers’ responsibility, recycling and the reuse of packaging as well as the reduction of metal parts in the material were all subjects covered by the NKPak Conference under the title “Packaging: How to Ensure Sustainable Development without Reducing the Quality of Life?”. Additionally, a panel discussion at innovationparc addressed the issue: “Are consumers prepared to pay for environmental friendliness, and why should retailers opt in favour of more eco-friendly packaging?”
SAVE FOOD again important theme Production and packaging concepts are key factors in combating food waste and hunger. Here the SAVE FOOD Initiative of Messe Düsseldorf kicks in. At innovationparc the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) participated as a partner of the Initiative with a talk on the topic “Packaging Solutions to Reduce Food Waste”.
The next upakovka in Moscow will be held from 24 to 27 January 2023 – again concurrently with interplastica.
17 February 2022
Press Contact upakovka
Messe Düsseldorf
Cornelia Tautenhahn (Senior Manager Press & PR)
Apostolos Hatzigiannidis (Manager Press & PR)
Tel.: +49 211 4560 588/544
Fax: +49 211 4560 8548
TautenhahnC@messe-duesseldorf.de HatzigiannidisA@messe-duesseldorf.deAbout the interpack allianceThe interpack alliance comprises Messe Düsseldorf events that are part of the Processing & Packaging portfolio. Exhibitors and visitors recognize the corresponding trade shows by an umbrella brand logo based on the counterpart of interpack, the world's most important event for the packaging sector and related process industries. In addition to the flagship trade show that gives it its name, the interpack alliance also includes the trade shows upakovka (Moscow), swop (Shanghai World of Packaging), pacprocess India and food pex India (Mumbai, New Delhi), pacprocess MEA (Cairo), components (Düsseldorf) and indopack (Jakarta). The interpack alliance addresses the target groups of food, beverages, confectionery and bakery products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, non-food consumer goods and industrial goods in key growth markets – with a different focus depending on the event. Exhibitor Statements on upakovka 2022Alexander Boyko, CEO, NCPack, Chair of Subcommittee of the Trade and Industry Chamber of the Russian Federation for Development of the Packaging Industry “For us upakovka is always a significant event. Actually, it starts our packaging year. Last year for packagers was very successful — we see significant growth almost in all sectors of packaging market. And I hope, that 2022 will follow the trend. We also expect growth of our market, caused mostly by the developments around: growth of production in consumer goods, development of e-commerce. All these were reflected in upakovka 2022, presenting, I think, very interesting technologies and new types of equipment. And the fact, that the trade fair is held in full-fledged format is very important, because this is a great opportunity for networking, we can really see what machine building and packaging producers have to offer today, that’s why the event for us is a landmark, which, I think, will contribute to development of our market in the future. (…)”
Andrey Slobodchikov, Head of Marketing and Product Management, Heidelberg-CIS“This is our first time at upakovka. For us this is a very interesting and positive experience. (…) Now we see, that we’re meeting new interesting partners, we discuss things, we talk to people. We see, that our current clients from the market we’re working in, are also here. This is a very good place to meet our partners, have talks, discuss our plans, current status of the business, and find some interesting points.
We’re living in a new era now, and this new reality always impacts our plans in some peculiar ways, and this is the case for everyone around. Of course, we want to see more, but we fully understand today’s situation and how it impacts the current state of things, that’s why we are very happy about the amount of participants we see around.”
Valeria Karpova, Sales Manager, SOMIC“(…) For our company this is the fourth time in this trade fair. Why are we still here, despite all the developments in the world? We think, that this trade fair for us is still the key event, we are satisfied with the quality of clients, visiting it. The visitors are really interested in our equipment, they come with real demands. We started one project as a result of taking part in the trade fair, that’s why we hope, that this trade fair will also bring us a number of interesting requests to turn them into projects in the future. (…)”
Anna Lebedeva, Executive Director, Popai Russia Association POPAI RUSSIA Association is a partner of upakovka trade fair for several years now. We always take part in the business programme and organize a workshop "Packaging. Best practices". (…) And, of course, we are always happy to participate with a joint booth. (…) And this is an opportunity to talk to colleagues, partners, and have a look at what happens in the packaging market. It is so good, that we’re offline now. Every time it happens now, this is especially pleasing. The number of people, visiting the event, shows that they are interested. Indeed, people need to communicate, to share opinions, to share experience, to follow the trends and find new solutions. The most noted trend is the trend for sustainable development from the point of view of the materials, used in packaging, on the other hand, interesting solutions in designs: no to plastics inclusions, more solutions with one applied material in packaging. And there are interesting solutions in illustrations: what illustrations to use, how to attract consumers just through design (…).”
Oleg Kobyakov, Director of FAO Unit for Relations with the Russian Federation“Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is regularly attending upakovka trade fair. This year is our fifth season. Since under FAO mandate there are, along with agriculture, beef stock farming and fisheries, development of rural areas, as well as food production as the ultimate goal of operations of this part of the global economy – food safety of people, it becomes obvious, that for this particular industry boxing and packaging are the most important components. The unity of form and substance is important, because packaging impacts the conditions and the quality of the end product, when reaching its consumer. Upakovka is a reputable forum, bringing together professional producers, trading companies, scientific and research institutions, international organizations and unions, both, intergovernmental and consumers’ unions. This is a joint community of those interested in packaging from the food market, as well as sectoral specialists.”
Kirill Shevchenko, Head of Sales, Sidel:“(…) The trade fair for us is a very important event, and an opportunity to meet our current clients, some of whom, due to specificity of our country, are located quite far away, and it’s hard to reach them. In a short period of time this event gives us a lot of info, and allows to meet many people, who are interested in new projects and develop the economy of our country, bringing additional benefits and opportunities to our company as well (…).”
Marco Faggioli, CEO, Nelden“For us the Russian market has always been the key one. At the same time, upakovka is one of the leading trade fairs, we always take part in. The first two days at the event were interesting, we met many old clients, and many new contacts. Despite the pandemic, indeed a challenging period, the interest is there. We’re very glad to participate in this trade fair and are satisfied with the results it brought. (…)”
Anton Bondarev, Russian Representative Office Director, Jingmoda; Director, Jingmoda RUS“(…) The first two days of the trade fair were so active. It was almost impossible to leave the booth. You start talking to clients in the morning and can’t stop. People are visiting us, they're very interested. Everyone is interested in this theme. Many old clients visited us, we met a lot of new ones as well. (…)”
Marina Hofmann, CEO, HEUFT“The advantage of this event, especially with the circumstances of today, is that we have an opportunity to communicate to our partners, clients, personally, in a live mode, so to speak, not the way we’ve been doing it over the recent two years via technical devices. As for this trade fair, now we have an opportunity to show our company from a different angle, that is, we participate as exhibitors, and demonstrate our equipment within the programme (…).”
Igor Terentyev, Editor-In-Chief, Publish Magazine:"We are very glad, that upakovka 2022 and our joint conference as part of it, titled "The Day of Digital Innovations in Packaging and Labelling", are successfully completed. The conference generated much interest among the visitors, for the first time the event offered an opportunity to watch it live. The presentations of the speakers demonstrated, that digitalization of production processes in packaging and labelling is getting even more relevant for both, printing houses and ads manufacturing companies and for manufacturers, willing to launch small-scale facilities to produce packaging and labelling for their own products (…).”
Ekaterina Antonova, Project Director, upakovka:“In the course of two years the market, of course, has refocused. Many companies go to marketplaces, to online, and everyone needs packaging. That’s exactly why we are glad, that companies show both, ready-made packaging solutions and packaging equipment, as you can see. (…) We’re also actively developing the segment of printing for production of labelling and packaging. (…) I’m very happy, that despite all challenges and restrictions, we were able to start the trade fair.”
Thomas Stenzel, Director General, Messe Düsseldorf Moscow OOO“We are very satisfied with the result of this year’s fair. We had one hundred companies coming from Russia, fifty companies came from many countries. This is already a success. We had national pavilions from Italy, from Germany, so these strong companies, these strong countries are being presented continuously on upakovka. We showed eight conferences on two places. It was tremendously accepted by the audience. (…) The demand of the machinery, which is presented here, which was presented here at upakovka, is really high. Of course, to run a show under the pandemic procedure. But the people, who came here to Moscow, they were specialists and they came with the target, with the idea. This is what we are doing – we are giving a platform for the visitors, who have high demand in good technology. We give a platform for the companies, who have new ideas. We looking forward for next year and welcome you for next year. (…)”