IPIA sets date for key networking event
More than 130 print professionals are expected to attend the IPIA Annual Networking Lunch on June 18th in Birmingham
We highlight a selection of new areas and special events at this year’s Packaging Innovations & Empack, which returns to Birmingham next month
The annual Packaging Innovations & Empack exhibition will return to the NEC Birmingham on February 11th and 12th, with the packaging and associated industries coming together to explore new solutions, discover future trends, and connect with like-minded professionals.
The free-to-attend UK packaging event will include over 450 exhibitors demonstrating solutions live, and more than 80 expert speakers.
Easyfairs, the organiser of the event, has reported a strong demand for visitor passes, with registrations having surged from before the festive season. Last year the show reported record attendance of over 7,400 visitors.
Here, we detail a selection of the special events and areas you can find at this year’s exhibition.
Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026 will feature four dedicated stages for expert speakers, with talks examining the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the future of packaging.
Across the Circular Economy, Design & Innovation, Supply Chain, and Discovery Theatre stages, attendees will hear from over 80 speakers, including senior representatives from global brands, regulators, and emerging start-ups.
Guest speakers at the event include representatives of Rolls-Royce, Nestlé, Unilever, Diageo, Coca-Cola, and Greggs, alongside organisations such as PackUK and The Sustainable Packaging Coalition.
A new feature for 2026 is The Discovery Theatre which takes place at Stand Q160 in Hall 3a. The speaker zone will feature start-ups, SMEs, and suppliers presenting new technologies such as AI and smart packaging, with the aim of sparking new thinking and inspiring attendees.
Gillian Garside-Wight, director of consulting at Aura, gets things underway on the Design & Innovation stage at 10:45am with a session on how brands can shift from reactive compliance to proactive value creation.
On the second day at 10:45am at the Supply Chain stage, Felix Gruenewald and Andrea Gandolfi, partners at McKinsey, take a look at how engineering and operations teams can balance compliance, performance, and cost-efficiency, drawing on insights from McKinsey’s ‘Sustainable Packaging 2025’ research.
Following up on the success of a talk at last year’s event, PackUK will take to the Circular Economy stage at 11:15am on Wednesday for an update on the policies shaping the future of packaging waste in the UK.
The event will also include a speaker session from Yaseed Chaumoo, managing director at Greyparrot, focusing on Deepnest, the latest evolution of Greyparrot’s AI-powered waste analytics platform.
On Wednesday at 12:30pm on the Discovery Theatre stage, Chaumoo will formally introduce the platform, outlining how it can be utilised by brands for data-backed decision-making.
The exhibition has announced at least ten new show features for 2026 including a showcase from Material ConneXion about “the materials of tomorrow,” a ‘Museum of Failure’ which shows corporate missteps and mistakes throughout history as an educational tool, and a dedicated Automation and Robotics Zone.
The Museum of Failure will make its first-ever UK exhibition appearance in February at Stand A11 in Hall 2, bringing a collection of famous flops, misguided ideas, and misunderstood innovations to the UK packaging industry as a learning tool
The Museum of Failure was founded by psychologist Dr Samuel West and has toured internationally since 2017, aiming to reveal common patterns behind corporate misjudgements in an informative and educational manner.
Material ConneXion’s curated showcase at Stand A15 in Hall 2 highlights the materials transforming the packaging industry including breakthrough textiles, sustainable composites, and advanced polymers. Visitors can explore how performance, sustainability, and context can combine to create smarter, more resilient packaging solutions.
Also new for 2026 is the Automation and Robotics Zone in Hall 3a, which features a range of automation systems and robotics designed to deliver efficiency and transformation across the packaging industry.
Alongside the feature areas, the winners of the annual Future Trailblazers awards will also be announced at the exhibition, which aims to celebrate the brightest young talent shaping the future of the packaging industry.
The awards recognise individuals who are pushing boundaries and introducing fresh perspectives across all aspects of the packaging industry from sustainability and design to operational efficiency and brand storytelling.
This year the initiative attracted a longlist of 78 young professionals, which has now been whittled down to 26 finalists across seven distinct categories.
The winners of the 2026 awards will be revealed at the trade show on the Circular Economy stage, at 1:00pm on Wednesday February 11th.
Paper and packaging company, James Cropper, has announced that two of its team members have been nominated for the awards.
Jordan Scott, head of marketing at James Cropper, has been shortlisted in the Brand Visionary category, with Genevieve Scullion, senior technical specialist, named a finalist in the Operational Excellence category.
Other finalists include team members from companies such as Nestlé, Robinson Packaging, Samworth Brothers, and MarinaTex.
Those interested can register for the event at the following link: https://register.visitcloud.com/survey/3lye1m07sng78/?actioncode=15051
