The event, which will be held at London’s Olympia on 13 and 14 September, will feature a raft of new and returning initiatives as well as a revamped seminar format.

New for 2017, Packaging Innovations has partnered with the Pentawards, the worldwide competition exclusively devoted to packaging design in all its forms, to launch the Pentawards Conference.

The conference will feature talks by design experts from brands and agencies including Diageo, Coty, Design Bridge, Butterfly Cannon, The Cabinet Agency, Bulletproof and SharpEnd.

It will consider the current trends, themes and issues facing packaging designers today, with key topics including ‘packaging design in the goldfish era’, ‘designing for a new generation’ and ‘technology enabled creativity’.

The partnership will also enable visitors to look at this year’s finalists in The Pentawards Exhibit, a display of inspirational packaging design.

Easyfairs marketing project manager Shona Thomson said: “The Pentawards is known for being the premier awards showcase for packaging design and so, with design being such a core part of our audience at the show, it was important for us to push on more design content for the packaging designers, agencies and in-house.”

The new seminar format that will be introduced for the show’s Keynote Theatre programme will allow more focus to be placed on the packaging industry’s key markets.

This includes The Food Forum, which will be hosted by FPA executive director Martin Kersh and will feature brands such as Just Eat and Marks & Spencer, and The Drinks Forum, which will show attendees how to create innovative and attractive packaging that will succeed in a crowded market.

The Beauty Forum will enable visitors to hear the latest ideas and issues from leading beauty brands, covering everything from evolving packaging trends and smart packaging through to packaging for on and offline products.

Finally, The Luxury Forum will explore how to craft iconic packaging that delivers a luxury experience.

Returning features include The Innovation Showcase, which will see shortlisted exhibitors display their latest innovations and technologies on the showfloor.

“We’re really encouraging our exhibitors not to hide away their innovations, but to showcase them at the show, where visitors can also vote for their favourite one – there will be interactive voting pre-event and on-site at the exhibition,” said Thomson.

Another returning feature, the Packaging Consultancy Clinic, will allow visitors to gain one-to-one personalised advice on any aspect of their packaging.

Finally, there will be an increased focus on networking this year, including a drinks reception for all visitors that will provide an opportunity to network with contacts, colleagues and exhibitors.

Around 180 international suppliers will exhibit at the show, which last year attracted around 4,000 visitors.

For more information, visit www.easyfairs.com/PI-London, www.easyfairs.com/LuxuryPackaging or call 020 3196 4300.