Anticipating the future of packaging

Ahead of the 2025 edition of Paris Packaging Week, and CanTech’s partnership with ADF, Alex Rivers speaks with co-event director, Josh Brooks.

Images courtesy of Easyfairs

The Aerosol & Dispensing Forum (ADF) launched in 2007 as its own entity, as an annual exhibition uniting suppliers and buyers for the global aerosol and dispensing systems market. ADF then became co-located alongside the PCD cosmetics and personal care industry show in 2012. Events company, Easyfairs, acquired the two shows in 2016, and expanded even further in 2020 by launching the PLD section dedicated to premium and luxury drinks packaging. In 2022, the events became collated under the umbrella name of Paris Packaging Week (PPW), with the event hosting a summer edition that June.

Fast-forward to 2023 and Packaging Premiere was also launched, for luxury houses to source packaging for their products in categories such as fashion, fine food, watches and jewellery, confectionery, accessories and more.

“Now, we host experts from across beauty, drinks and the rest of the luxury industry,” said Easyfairs’ Josh Brooks. “ADF has always been there a key pillar in the group. It works well conceptually alongside the beauty market because so much of the aerosol market is in personal care. There’s a big crossover in terms of companies who come to visit the PCD show, but who are also in personal care products,” he explained.

The PCD section of the show in 2025 will feature a dedicated area to third party manufacturers called the Full-service Zone. This involves companies in contract packing, contract manufacturing formulation and R&D type services, Brooks said, including fillers of aerosols.

Further growth

In its 2024 edition, PPW saw record attendance numbers, with more than 14,000 packaging professionals attending the show at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. For 2025, Easyfairs anticipates this number to be even bigger and has therefore moved halls at the existing Paris location to accommodate the growth of the event.

ADF saw around 120 exhibitors in 2024, 100 in previous editions, but Brooks believes the number will be close to 140 in 2025.

“One of the major growth drivers for ADF attendance in the past two years is our partnership with the FEA, the European Aerosol Federation,” said Brooks. After the 30th edition of its standalone conference and exhibition, the FEA decided to partner instead with Easyfairs on the Aerosol & Dispensing Forum, from 2023 onwards.

The collaboration with FEA “places ADF in a unique position in the European and indeed the worldwide market,” Brooks said. “This partnership has helped grow the reputation of the show even more than before. It’s really now the get-together for the global aerosol market on an annual basis.”

Brooks continued by adding that ADF is still “seeing a great geographical increase and expanding the scope of its borders. In addition to the FEA’s stand, in 2025, a pavilion is being run by the Brazilian Aerosol Association, ABAS, and the North American association will also have a presence.”

The ADF Talks programme is always part of the show’s attraction, with attendees gathering to hear expert talks from leaders in the aerosol packaging industry. The 2025 lineup will cover EU regulations, aerosol recycling, new technologies, innovation and more. Alain D’Haese, general secretary at the FEA, will open the Summit, and the two days will feature presentations from the likes of Ball, pamasol, Global Aerosol Recycling Association (GARA), Steel for Packaging Europe and more.

PPW offers ample opportunities for seeing new innovations first-hand

Additions

New for PPW 2025 is the Discovery Zone, Brooks explained, which offers space for 20 start-ups who are all innovating in materials, whether that involves lightweighting, refill systems or biobased packaging, for example. “There will be some technology in terms of sourcing platforms showcased, and I’m also expecting there to be a couple of companies who are utilising AI in design,” said Brooks on the subject.

Also in the Discovery Zone will be a demonstration section. Easyfairs has partnered with a sustainability consultancy in Paris, (Re)set, which runs two consortiums focusing on driving development in refills in both the pharmaceutical and food markets. Two of (Re)set’s in-store refill machines will be set up at PPW for visitors to experience how they work, and discover the potential for rolling these machines out further into the cosmetics and personal care market.

Paris Packaging Week will also host the Pentawards festival in 2025. The awards previously took place in London at the Science Museum, and ten to 12 of the winners have been showcased at PPW for several years. Now, alongside eight design agencies in one place, the Pentawards team will curate 100 of the best packaging design winners from around the world, across all of the PPW categories, to illustrate the geographical trends from 2024, and anticipated trends in 2025. Alongside the Pentawards Gallery will be a conference where attendees will have the chance to hear from various marketing specialists, a desire which Brooks said has increased in demand over the years, in addition to the show’s existing lineup of packaging and design experts.

“The marketing and design community is crucial in terms of pricing decisions and being at the
heart of knowing what is possible with a product’s capabilities,” he commented.

The Pentawards festival is not yet being called a “fifth event” at PPW, but Brooks said “it could well move in that direction.” He continued, “If it becomes something that in the future has 20 to 40 agencies involved, it’s a possibility.”

These will not be the only awards at the event. The Innovation Awards contenders across all PPW categories will be displayed in a central aisle – a more prominent position compared to previous show editions – at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. For a preview of the ADF Innovation Awards, turn to page 22 of this magazine edition.

Looking ahead

PPW’s Future Leaders programme will see its second edition in 2025, which is dedicated to propelling emerging talents and offering a stage for visionaries who will transform the packaging landscape.

In addition to this, Easyfairs has organised two student competitions with French packaging schools alongside the European School of Packaging. One of these is with French personal care brand, Merci Handy, “an environmentally conscious brand,” as Brooks mentioned. “The company has been strong on developing refills and has briefed a group of students to come up with a new way of dispensing and distributing soap – essentially, a new way of washing your hands,” he said.

Regarding the next generation of packaging experts, Brooks commented, “We want to give a home to young talent. For us, it’s about developing our community for the future, but it’s also creating a home and an environment that that demographic recognises as being ‘for them.’ This goes hand in hand with the general mission we have, which is to create a place that shows the vision of the future.”

Paris Packaging Week will take place on 28 and 29 January 2025.