Last week Quadrant2Design visited Packaging Innovations & Empack 2024 in the Birmingham NEC, where they had a chance to see what’s new in the industry, meet with some of our many exhibiting customers and discuss their highly sustainable exhibition stands.

Packaging Innovations & Empack is made up of three unique events focused on the various aspects of the packaging journey and provides a specialised space for packaging designers, developers, buyers and suppliers to connect and collaborate efficiently and cost-effectively. This year’s show is the biggest yet, attracting over 400 suppliers, 7000 visitors and 50 talks from industry experts.

Quadrant2Design’s Maggie Clemence and Katie Perry were in attendance at this year’s event and had a chance to meet with our many exhibiting customers, including

Sustainability was a key theme of this year’s Packaging Innovations & Empack event and is a vital movement for the future of the packaging industry. It was clear from speaking to our customers that sustainability (and sustainable exhibiting) was a top priority and a key benefit of their Quadrant2Design exhibition stand.

Staeger Packaging Solutions’ Dale Freeman pointed out

“Sustainability is absolutely critical to our customer base and to anyone we’re attracting. So the majority of our packaging is 100% recyclable, it’s made from recycled content. Prevented Ocean Plastic supply the material, which is the plastic washed up from our ocean shores and our beaches, recycled and put back into the plastic we buy. Sustainability, I think, is key to any packaging environment these days.”

This is something that was echoed by lots of our exhibitors, many of whom also pointed out the ongoing changes in consumers’ mentality. Macpac’s Simon Firth had this to say

“Especially in the current climate, consumers want recycled products and recycled, so it’s recyclable. The majority of our materials are 70-80% recycled content and are 100% recyclable, so it ticks the boxes that retailers and consumers need going forward.”

Saica Flex’s Francisco Barrera also said

“We, as packaging converters and also our customers, they must change their mindset,  or we need to change their mindset, because we need to adapt the packaging that we currently know to  the new packaging, new sustainable packaging, and of course there are some modifications, not only on our side but also on our customer’s side.”

Quality & Sustainability

One of the greatest benefits of working with Quadrant2Design is that we offer this sustainability without compromising on the quality of your stand. As Maggie eloquently put it, we successfully manage to remain relevant, creative and cost-effective while also being sustainable!

By providing stands that are durable and reusable, we also offer our customers an extremely cost-effective long-term exhibiting solution.

Macpac’s Simon Firth said

“It’s obviously keeping costs to a minimum if you can, because it’s not cheap to do these exhibitions. We recycle the artwork for a couple years, then reprint the artworks, just freshen it up using the same structure and layouts, just to improve it year-on-year.”

Dale Freeman from Staeger Packaging Solutions echoed this sentiment, stating

“In the current economic climate of today, things are tight and cash is king. Where we can reuse the stand over and over again, given the quality, it’s durable and it lasts. It does save us some money year after year
 we’re able to use the stand year-on-year and we only change should we need to, as we have recently with the new graphics just to give it a bit more vibrance and modernise it”.

The reusability and reconfigurability of Quadrant2Design’s exhibition stands mean that exhibitors have the flexibility to exhibit at lots of different exhibitions, with different spaces of different shapes and sizes without having to repeatedly purchase new stands.

Saica Flex’s Javier Martinez said

“We are planning to do more fairs in the following years, so it’s crucial for us that we can save the stand and also adapt it so we don’t stick to a single stand for every single fair, we can adapt it to lower space, bigger spaces, whatever. Yeah, it was pretty important for us.”

Sustainable Exhibition Stands

Quadrant2Design provides truly sustainable exhibition stands that combine attractive, high-quality, graphics panels with a reconfigurable modular framework, to create spectacular attention-grabbing exhibition stands that are reusable time and time again regardless of the size or shape of the stand space.

Every time a stand is reused and reconfigured, that’s another manufacturing process avoided, which ultimately reduces the stand’s carbon footprint, as well as the hassle for the exhibitors.

By providing such a truly sustainable exhibition stand solution, Quadrant2Design can save customers time, money and resources without compromising on quality. All of this while simultaneously contributing to the improved eco-friendliness and sustainability of the exhibition industry.

If you’re looking for a sustainable exhibition stand solution, that is high-quality, attention-grabbing and cost-effective, contact Quadrant2Design today on 01202 723 500 or email design@quadrant2design.com for a free, no-obligation design proposal.