As a member of the interpack alliance, the world's leading processing and packaging exhibition, and as one of the most influential events in the packaging industry, swop (Shanghai World of Packaging) 2023 was successfully held at SNIEC (Shanghai New International Expo Center) from November 22 to 24.

swop is co-organized by Messe Düsseldorf (Shanghai) and Adsale Exhibition Services. The three-day exhibition attracted industry leaders, professionals, and visitors worldwide to discuss the latest technologies and developments in the processing and packaging industry.

Close to 30,000 trade visitors attended the event, which marked a positive return after four years of preparation.
With an exhibition area of over 62.000 square meters. swop 2023 attracted nearly 900 domestic and foreign exhibitors and welcomed 30,000 professional visitors from 99 countries and regions. The three-day event showcased a remarkable 14% increase in visitors compared to the previous edition.

Leading Chinese and international companies included Multivac, Demag, KUKA, YOUNGSUN, TEDERIC, Eiahe, and ZHONGYA, which drove large crowds to the show. The German Pavilion once again hosted top-tier companies displaying Germany’s innovative packaging solutions for potential buyers. HOERAUF, HERMA, Novexx, WOLF, and Herrmann, among other renowned exhibitors, presented state-of-the-art innovative packaging equipment, packaging materials and products. They showcased processing and packaging trends and advanced German packaging solutions to potential buyers.

swop has garnered extensive support from over 100 domestic and international industry associations in food, daily chemicals, plastics, printing, packaging, etc. swop 2023 welcomed nearly 300 visitor groups from China, Southeast Asian countries, the Middle East, South America and Europe.

Thomas Dohse, director of interpack at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, said, “I am pleased to see that swop, as a member of the interpack alliance, has reached a new record with exhibition space and exhibitor and visitor numbers. We were excited to meet face-to-face with exhibitors and visitors who were finally back to swop after a 4-year absence.”

Several major highlights unveil future packaging trends
Focusing on sustainable packaging and low-carbon development, swop 2023 introduced a new theme — “Green Power Zone”. Over 150 exhibitors displayed diverse eco-friendly packaging materials, production equipment, and solutions to support packaging companies and brands in achieving sustainable development objectives.

Celine To, general manager of Adsale Exhibition Services, introduced trendy topics in this year’s swop: sustainable packaging, AI applications in packaging design, and the future trends of intelligent and digitization of packaging solutions have been presented to enhance efficiency among other highlights.

With over 2,000 members in the FMCG industry, the Packaging Family, as a pioneering platform in the industry, has partnered with swop for the fourth time. The "FMCG Infinity Zone" combines over 400 superior packaging materials and product suppliers exhibiting popular eco-friendly packaging products. The ODM/OEM zone was first set up to show brand owners innovative materials, products, and designs and aid them in meeting the constantly evolving demands of FMCG consumers.

Wu Lin, the founder of "PKG Family" – the Packaging Family, stated that this year, the highly valuable FMCG industry chain ecosystem had been built up in the FMCG Infinity Zone. And the brand-new OEM / ODM zone has been set up to enhance the entire supply chain. Over 400 superior packaging materials and product suppliers exhibited popular eco-friendly packaging products.

swop 2023 launched the "Smart Packaging Zone" to display numerous intelligent plastic and paper packaging containers, packaging machines, and back-end packaging equipment. These products fully meet requirements for intelligence, enabling them to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.

Guo Haixiang, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association (SPTA), which is also been a key partner of swop since 2015, stated, “The feedback from the packaging machinery exhibitors was very positive, and many companies have already been consulting for next year’s exhibition.”

As one of the leading processing and packaging solution providers, Marco Lu, business unit manager from Multivac stated, “We have built a strong bond with interpack for a very long time and were happy to be part of swop this year. Also, we had positive outcomes from the show.

Jeff Yuan, key account manager-Consumer from KUKA ROBOTICS, commented, “We have welcomed numerous international delegations to our stand and the quality of visitors was extremely high.”

Among ten concurrent events, the SAVE FOOD Forum was a significant highlight.
During the show, more than ten industry forums, new technology exchange sessions, and over 60 thematic discussions were all fully packed with 1,820 participants. Experts, scholars, and corporate leaders were invited to engage in comprehensive and in-depth discourse and analysis of the trendy topics in the packaging industry. Among the highlights was the SAVE FOOD Forum. “SAVE FOOD” is a global initiative jointly launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Messe Düsseldorf, and interpack. It aims to promote innovation, foster cross-disciplinary dialogue, initiate discussions, and reduce global food waste and loss to contribute to the fight against global food loss.

The 3rd SAVE FOOD China Forum invited experts, scholars and representatives from several organizations and companies. FAO, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), UNITED CAPS, Multivac, Bizerba, Tomra, China Agricultural University, the World Resources Institute, and the Sino-German Agricultural Centre (DCZ) convened to exchange insights on topics such as packaging for reducing food loss and waste, transforming agri-food systems by reducing food loss and waste and so on.

Zhang Zhongjun, assistant FAO representative of the FAO China Office, stated that cooperation and partnership among all stakeholders in the food supply chain are essential to reduce food loss and waste. Packaging is necessary to combine technology and innovation, and packaging brings the initiative of saving food from field to fork.

For the first time, the SAVE FOOD Initiative presented the SAVE FOOD DESIGN AWARD and SUSTAINABILITY DESIGN AWARD to exhibitors at swop. The SAVE FOOD DESIGN AWARD acknowledged innovative products that minimize food waste, while the SUSTAINABILITY DESIGN AWARD celebrated solutions with positive environmental impacts, such as reducing CO² footprints. UNIDO, The World Packaging Organization (WPO), and FAO served as jury members for evaluating the applicant companies.

The SAVE FOOD Design Awards went to UNITED CAPS, Kaida Group, and Multivac Group, and the winners of the SUSTAINABILITY DESIGN AWARD were Bizerba, Dookoo Intelligent, and Herrmann Ultrasonics.

Astrid Hoffmann-Leist, chief innovation and communication officer and business director of APAC from UNITED CAPS delivered a short speech. She introduced how the packaging Bump Cap, which won the gold SAVE FOOD design award, can save food and reduce waste and loss.

The successful conclusion of the exhibition marks another milestone in the packaging industry. swop will be held annually, and the next edition is scheduled at SNIEC (Shanghai New International Expo Centre) from November 18 to 20, 2024.