In this video shot at the show – May 8-14 in Dusseldorf, Germany – Jablonowski explains that it features 2,700 exhibitors across industries as varied as food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
“174,000m2 net space has been sold – you won’t find such a big show anywhere,” he tells BeverageDaily.com editor Ben Bouckley, and agrees that the ratio of space devoted to food and beverage companies is rising.
“This part is increasing. Especially in Asia and South America, a lot is changing. Consumers wants packaged food, supermarkets are growing, these countries need packaging material and packaging,” Jablonowski says.
‘You won’t see such a big show worldwide’
An initiative started at the last Interpack in 2011, Save Food, is supported by the United Nations, and reports on the scale of food loss throughout the supply chain, and explores ways to reduce it.
Save Food was reprised for Interpack 2014, and Jablonowski said: “We have 100+ companies – like Nestle, Maersk, Bosch, Siemens and Dow Chemical, and try to explain to everyone that packaging is necessary to reduce food losses, and packaging is not bad.”
“The advantages outweigh the disadvantages.”
Asked why Interpack lasts for a full seven days, rather than five (DrinkTec 2013) or four days (Anuga FoodTec 2012), Jablonowski explained the long show duration.
“It’s quite simple. We have 165,000 visitors coming from all over the world. And it takes time to see such a big show. You won’t see such a big show worldwide,” he said.
They need time, and we have a lot of visitors. That’s the reason,” Jablonowski added.
Keep an eye out for more Interpack 2014 coverage this week on BeverageDaily.com.