Back in business: 24,000 professionals from 33 countries visit 788 exhibitors – in person at last! FachPack 2021 buzzed with activity and face-to-face encounters, a “novelty” that was clearly relished by everyone at the Nuremberg exhibition centre. After months of absence, visitors embraced the opportunity for simple, direct communication. Simultaneously, the trade fair continued the hybrid trend by combining the live event with various virtual components.
DERIBA’s appealing exhibition stand focused on sustainability
Form follows function, as the saying goes: FachPack 2021 served a double function for the DERIBA Group – as both showcase and think tank for the all-pervasive topic of sustainability. The DERIBA Group’s exhibition stand was small but delightful (as well as completely carbon neutral!), repurposing materials from multiple previous trade fairs. In a bold move, DERIBA decided not to offer product samples. “Nonetheless, visitors were irresistibly drawn to our concept,” reports Thomas Rose, joint CEO of the DERIBA Group along with Frank Rieker. The exhibition stand turned the spotlight on the packaging revolution, sustainability, and DERIBA’s Greenline® film. Developed by riba Verpackungen GmbH, a member of the DERIBA Group, Greenline® film received a German Packaging Award for sustainability from the dvi (German Packaging Institute).
Direct and indirect winners
The dvi also bestowed the award on insulated carrier bags made by EDEKA, a German supermarket chain. DERIBA’s Greenline® film “carries the day” in these bags, which are made from more than 80 % recycled materials. Winfried Batzke and Kim Cheng from the dvi presented the awards and dwelt on the many difficult challenges currently facing the packaging industry – plastic taxes, volatile supply chains and public prejudices against packaging, to name but a few. But, as German poet Friedrich Hölderlin once wrote, “Where the danger is, also grows the saving power…”
Great feedback from the myFACHPACK Round Table
“Participating in the ‘Round Table’ held as part of the virtual stream, myFACHPACK, enabled us to reinforce our position in the packaging industry as a supplier of sustainable, cradle-to-cradle solutions,” reports Thomas Rose. “And the feedback was excellent!” The DERIBA team was able to chat with order fulfilment companies as well as with many SMEs. And because everyone loves a small memento, the company decided to offer visitors a print copy of Anton Debatin GmbH’s very first sustainability report. “At the trade fair, we realised that we’re not only pioneers in the circular economy,” says Thomas Rose. “We’re also amongst the first to communicate our sustainability strategy in this form. It seems we’ve set a precedent with our sustainability report.”
Invitation to the webcast series
Our role model status has also prompted us to share our expertise with SMEs. As announced at the DERIBA exhibition stand at FachPack, DEBATIN – a member of the DERIBA Group – has developed a new webcast series entitled “Grow with us!”. During the online events, they share valuable insights from their journey towards becoming a sustainable company. To find out more about the webcast series, please visit this link.