Participation of Italian companies doubles at Hispack 2024

This year, Italy is redoubling its commitment to the Spanish packaging market, increasing its presence at Hispack, one of the leading trade fairs in the sector in Europe, which will be held from 7 to 10 May at Fira de Barcelona. Some 40 Italian companies will take part, doubling the number of exhibitors from the previous edition held in 2022. After Spain and Turkey, Italy will be the country with the third largest number of exhibitors and is also expected to be among the top three in terms of visitor numbers.

74% of the Italian companies participating in Hispack this year are in the sectors related to process machinery for the manufacture of products to be packaged; bottling equipment, packaging machinery; automation, robotics and digitisation, as well as coding and marking systems. The rest are packaging materials, premium pack or logistics and handling companies. Italian exhibitors at Hispack include names such as Atlanta Stretch, Ercopac, Smartjet, Tecmes, Pierrebi Innovation, Datasensing, AirTac International Group, Fipal, Arol, Zanichelli Meccanica, Induplast, Rotogal, Antares Vision Group and Prisma Industriale. The complete list can be found here

On the other hand, Italy traditionally occupies one of the first places in number of international visitors interested in knowing the competitive offer of Spanish manufacturers and distributors of materials and machinery for processing and packaging, which stands out for its flexibility, quality and after-sales service. In the last edition held in 2022, and still marked by the pandemic, nearly 500 Italian professionals attended Hispack, making it the second foreign market, after Portugal, with the highest number of attendees.

Hispack, the key to the Spanish market

For international packaging, process and logistics companies, participating in Hispack is the best way to discover the business opportunities offered by the Spanish market and make contact with new customers. It is the leading trade fair in the sector in Spain for more than 40 years and one of the first in the European packaging exhibition calendar. This year, more than 800 exhibitors from 28 countries and 1,250 brands will be represented at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via exhibition centre. More than 27,000 professionals are expected to attend, 10% of whom will be international.

60% of Hispack’s offer corresponds to equipment and machinery for processing, packaging, bottling, packaging manufacturing, coding, labelling and marking, automation, robotics and logistics. The remaining 40% of exhibitors, meanwhile, present raw materials and materials for packaging, containers and packaging, and POS elements for various industrial and consumer sectors, as well as for distribution, e-commerce and retail.

Likewise, 70% of Hispack’s offer is Spanish and the remaining 30% is international. Turkey is the foreign country with the most exhibitors (81), followed by Italy (39), China (31), Germany (23), France (16), the Netherlands (9), Portugal (9) and the United Kingdom (6). The list of exhibitors also includes companies from Poland, Belgium, USA, Egypt, Greece, Morocco, Algeria, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Slovenia, Finland, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, Latvia, Taiwan, San Marino and Singapore.

Hispack director Xavier Pascual stresses: “The opportunities of the Spanish market and its continuous growth rates are the main attractions for international companies participating in Hispack in search of new customers, as well as the connection of the fair with Latin America and the Mediterranean countries due to language and geographic proximity respectively”.

Almost 90% of Hispack visitors come from Spain. In the international section, Portugal was the country that brought the most professionals in 2022, followed by Italy, France, Germany, Morocco, Turkey, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and the United Kingdom.

As a novelty, in order to promote business meetings with professionals from potential markets with specific investment projects, Hispack is focusing its programme of invited buyers on Mexico, Poland, Morocco and Tunisia, four countries of interest for Spanish exports. In parallel, Hispack will present Japan as a market opportunity for the European packaging industry. In this sense, it will host the visit of a Japanese delegation and will dedicate 9 May to showcasing success stories and promoting networking between European and Japanese companies with a view to activating channels for information exchange and international cooperation.

Activities for the international public

To enhance the visitor experience, Hispack will set up the International Business Centre (IBC) in Hall 3 of the exhibition centre as a reception point for the international public with specific services and its own agenda of activities.

At the IBC, international visitors will be able to receive personalised advice on the most suitable Spanish suppliers to develop their projects; attend conferences on potential markets and the presentation of success stories of Spanish manufacturers.

This space will also allow them to hold business interviews with exhibitors; access a Brokerage Event with quick meetings to find suppliers, collaborators or exchange experiences, and go on thematic guided tours of the fair, among other proposals.

Barcelona, March 2024

María Dolores Herranz
Tel. 93 233 25 41
mdherranz@firabarcelona.com