Labelexpo Europe 2005, taking place 21-24 September, will be the eleventh edition of the world-leading international labels, product decoration, web printing and converting event. The show will involve five halls at Brussels Expo, packed full of key suppliers and an extensive programme of seminars tackling both practical and theoretical issues. In addition, the second annual Label Industry Global Awards will take place alongside.

The European label market accounted for a near 36% of the global label market in 2004 and is still growing steadily - with pressure sensitive applications remaining at the core, and continuing to increase at 5-7% per annum. In a survey taken at Labelexpo Americas last year, a quarter of converters said that a key future trend will be flexible production requirements, with 16% moving into shrink film and wraparound and 15% into flexible packaging. Shrinkwrap, stretchwrap, wraparound, IML films (and other new product decoration solutions, such as pouches) are 'labels' too and are the territory of the narrow/mid-web label converter - increasing the potential for both exhibitors and visitors to do business at Labelexpo Europe.

Over 450 exhibitors are expected at Labelexpo Europe 2005, including all the major players such as Avery Dennison, Gallus, Gidue, HP, Mark Andy, Nilpeter, Omet and Raflatac. As at all Labelexpos, exhibitors at the show will display working machinery, and give live demonstrations throughout each day. Labelexpo Europe is traditionally an excellent platform for new launches, and announcements will be made throughout the year revealing who will be debuting what.

At Labelexpo Americas 2004, over 600 people gathered in Chicago for the first Label Industry Global Awards ceremony and gala dinner. Dale Bunnell was awarded the 'R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award'; Avery Dennison won the Label Industry Award for Continuous Innovation'; and the 'Label Industry Award for New Innovation' went to HP Indigo. At Labelexpo Europe 2005, the Label Industry Global Awards will take place on 21 September at Autoworld Brussels. Voting for this year's winners will begin shortly, all online at http://www.labelawards.com/.

Roger Pellow, Labelexpo Managing Director, said, "After the tremendous success of Labelexpo Europe 2003 we are very much looking forward to Labelexpo Europe 2005. With the widening of the labels industry, and the opening up of the new European Union member states, this year's event is set to be at least 10% bigger than the last one in terms of both visitor numbers and exhibition space."

For further information please contact:
Cordelia Hime, PR Manager, 44 (0) 20 8846 2700 chime@labelexpo.com

Quotes from Labelexpo Europe 2003

Jakob Landberg, Sales Director, Nilpeter, said, "It was the best show ever. I lost a kilo in weight and our sales bell rang 20 times. We had record sales in value terms, with offset in the shape of the new servo-driven MO-3300 being the highest, followed by the new FA-3300 UV flexo press. The show proved that even in harder times people at the mid-to-top end of the market will still invest in products where innovation gives them an edge."

Klaus Bachstein, CEO, Gallus Group, said, "The response to all our presses has been excellent. We should comfortably meet our targets, so I am happy with the overall result."

Mary Sullivan, Mark Andy, said, "For Mark Andy, Labelexpo is 'THE' exhibition that serves the label markets exclusively. The exhibition has been very instrumental in developing and growing key label markets worldwide for over fifteen years. With such a strong presence in the label markets world-wide, Mark Andy sees Labelexpo as the only label exhibition that will deliver the results we are looking for."

Federico d'Annunzio and Cristina Toffolo, Joint Managing Directors of Gidue, said, "Labelexpo Europe is the most reliable exhibition in the narrow web world. Every 2 years it exceeds expectations. Gidue used the opportunity to confirm its growth and its role as a leader in innovation. We were able to show our full program for the Global Packaging world to a vast, differentiated and qualified attendance. We had totally unexpected sales results directly at the booth; and It would have been a nice concert, if we also had the habit of ringing bells!"

Danny Dams, Marketing Manager for one of HP Indigo's divisions, said, "We were very happy with the attendance. In the first two days we generated as many leads as we obtained at the whole show two years ago. Labelexpo Europe also proved that digital colour printing is no longer a niche technology, which allows us to focus more on its business opportunities."

First time exhibitor Gary Seward, Managing Director, Pulse Roll Label Products, said, "This was our first exhibition and we did not really know what to expect. Most exciting for us was that our name was up there with everyone else in the industry. We had visitors from across Europe, and a lot of interest in our relief varnish for tactile labels. As a result of the show we have received a number of requests from new customers and companies wishing to represent us as distributors in the European ink market. We have learned a lot and plan a bigger and better stand in 2005".

Notes to Editors


1. For further information regarding Labelexpo Europe please go to www.labelexpo-europe.com

2. Labelexpo Europe 2005 is supported by FINAT.

3. The Encyclopedia of Labels & Label Technology, written by Mike Fairley, will be available at Labelexpo Europe 2005.

4. Labelexpo Europe 2003 attracted over 20,000 visitors, 25% of whom were non-EU.

5. Photography of Labelexpo Europe 2003 is available upon request.

6. Interviews with Roger Pellow, Labelexpo Managing Director, are available on request.

7. Further Exhibition dates:
- Packaging Services 2005 10-12 May, Donald E Stephens Convention Centre, Chicago, USA
- Labelexpo China 2005 7-9 December, Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China

7. Further Conference dates:
- PISEC 05 18-20 April, Hilton Vienna, Austria
- Label Summit Latin America 2005 17-18 May, Gran Melia, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Smart Labels 2005 27-30 June, Baltimore, USA

8. Labelexpo is organised by Tarsus Group plc, the international media group with interests in exhibitions, conferences, publishing and the Internet. For further information on Tarsus and Labelexpo please see http://www.tarsus-group.com/