Swop 2023 concludes with more than 30,000 visitors

As a member of the interpack alliance, Shanghai World of Packaging (SWOP) 2023 was successfully held at Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) from 22 - 24 November, 2023

11 Dec 2023 | By Disha Chakraborty

Close to 30,000 trade visitors attended the event

Swop is co-organized by Messe Düsseldorf and Adsale Exhibition Services. The three-day exhibition attracted industry leaders, professionals, and visitors from all over the world to discuss the latest technologies and developments in the processing and packaging industry.

With an exhibition area of over 62,000 sq mtr. 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.

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

Thomas Dohse, director, Interpack at Messe Düsseldorf, 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 four years.”

Zhang Zhongjun, assistant Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative of the FAO China Office, stated that the 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.

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 18-20 November, 2024.

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 digitisation of packaging solutions have been presented to enhance efficiency among other highlights.

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.

Swop 2023 launched the Smart Packaging Zone to display numerous intelligent plastic and paper packaging containers, packaging machines, and back-end packaging equipment.
Guo Haixiang, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association (SPTA) stated, “The feedback from the packaging machinery exhibitors was very positive, and many companies have already been consulting for next year’s exhibition.”

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.”

During the show, more than 10 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.