• AUSPACK 2022: 75 per cent sold
    AUSPACK 2022: 75 per cent sold
  • New for 2022: Processing zone
    New for 2022: Processing zone
  • First time: Leaders Forum
    First time: Leaders Forum
  • Running again: Solutions seminars
    Running again: Solutions seminars
  • New at AUSPACK: Packaging and packaging materials zone
    New at AUSPACK: Packaging and packaging materials zone
Close×

As Australia’s state and national borders open for business, major trade show AUSPACK has already sold three quarters of its floorspace for the industry’s expo next May.

Event organiser Exhibitions &Trade Fairs (ETF) says time is now running out for exhibitors to secure their space, at what will be the largest packaging and processing industry event in the southern hemisphere, and which will be held for the first time since 2019. The organiser says floorspace is selling out “quicker than ever before”.

AUSPACK runs from 17-20 May next year at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The show is owned and operated by the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA).

350 exhibitors are expected to be on the floor, with around 7000 industry professionals anticipated to attend the show.

The 2022 exhibition has two new features: a processing equipment zone and a packaging and packaging materials zone. The processing zone will showcase the latest processing technology advances in coating/enrobing, conveying, cooling, filling/depositing, forming/sizing, heat treating, homogenising, mixing and blending, pasteurising and pumps.

The organiser says the packaging and packaging materials zone will be prime destination for companies looking to refresh a brand, launch new products, broaden appeal and attract attention. Solutions include those offering sustainability and consumer convenience.

Alongside the expo itself will be a full programme of solution seminars, and new for the 2022 show is the AUSPACK Leaders Forum.

The solution seminar series has been expanded, to dive deeper into technology solutions that solve complex problems and provide education. The two Solutions Theatres on the expo floor will feature curated sessions providing in-depth overviews of technology, solutions and strategies. All sessions are free with exhibition registration.

A brand new conference format in 2022 is the AUSPACK Leaders Forum, which the organisers say will enable senior level and c-suite decision makers to build their own agenda and choose content most relevant to their specific business challenges.

Over two days in the Leaders Forum business leaders will share case studies and thought leadership, in a format the organisers say is designed to further the conversation both during and after the sessions.

Food & Drink Business

Entries are now open for the annual Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards. Open to commercial food producers of all sizes, it is one of the largest programs of its kind. 

Victorian brewery, Bodriggy Brewing Co, is the first brewery in the state to achieve carbon-neutral certification and only the second in Australia to do so. The independent Abbotsford-based brewery achieved certification under the federal government’s Climate Active program.

According to Rabobank data, Australian consumers are facing higher chocolate prices heading into Easter, with retail chocolate prices up 8.8 per cent on the previous year as global cocoa prices soar.