The long-awaited first in-person Drupa event since 2016 will start its 11-day run at Messe Düsseldorf a week today (28 May). Part one of the interview with Geldermann can be found here while part two continues below.

Richard Stuart-Turner:  One of the big talking points at Drupa is obviously expected to be sustainability. What has Messe Düsseldorf been doing in this regard, compared to the 2016 show?
Sabine Geldermann: Messe Düsseldorf has implemented a dedicated team of people working on sustainability, as it has such a wide range of different topics, including compliance, the supply chains of our customers and our service partners, energy efficiency and so on.

As one of the biggest trade fair organisers, Messe Düsseldorf is part of the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative. That has anchored sustainability in our daily business, and we also encourage our customers to very intensively consider that in their presentations.

Next to that, we are continuously implementing solar cells on our fair ground roof in order to focus on that topic and so many more initiatives.

Sustainability is also integrated very clearly in our claim of ongoing digitalisation and sustainability, and by that as well, circular economy, recyclability, and so many more aspects. So the dedicated special forum at Drupa, Touchpoint Sustainability, will definitely be a highlight. It is organised by our association partner the VDMA, and it’s amazing to see they have around 30 partners from the exhibitor side, but also experts from the industry that will be highlighting and showcasing best cases and solutions.

There will be a conference program during the 11 days, and there will be different formats including panels, interviews, and keynote speakers. It’s about focusing on the year 2024, but also providing an outlook until 2040. Even though nobody has a crystal ball, we are at least trying to create a vision and have a look into the future at how technology can support sustainable production and how sustainability will impact our daily life. Because it’s not only a commitment that everybody on the supplier side or print service provider side has to deliver, but very often brand owners and the consumer are dictating what they expect in the future.

Brand owners are confronted with different stakeholders as well, like everybody else, and there are very different aspects by region. Talking about the EU legislation and the reporting that is required from every single company, there is no more escape. I think the reporting and transparency that everybody has to bring to the table when it comes to sustainability will probably get more intensive.

That might differ in certain Asian regions and countries but the world is getting global, and what starts to a certain extent in the US or even in Europe will definitely be adjusted as well in other regions, because if you are a brand owner you are providing and supplying on a global scale.

I think that every single exhibitor will talk about this, but specifically at the dedicated Touchpoint Sustainability forum you will get an idea about how you can improve and how you can match these requirements.

We will also have the Touchpoint Packaging forum, that we’re organising together with the European Brand and Packaging Design Association. There it’s about smart, intelligent, and visionary packaging solutions – corrugated, flexible packaging, folding carton, and labelling again. So sustainability will play a major role in that conference program as well.

The Touchpoint Textile forum will underline how a textile microfactory can support nearshoring and how, again, the applications and solutions in the area of fashion apparel, interior decoration, and so many more aspects can also fulfil sustainable requirements.

And the Drupa Cube, our major stage, will be focusing again on many topics and global mega trends, like connectivity and platform economy, but as well on circular economy and sustainability. I’m very much convinced the absolute quality knowledge transfer and the inspiration or knowledge transfer will be huge. If you miss that, you are really missing the opportunity to not only maintain, but to drive your competitive advantage.

We are all living in a continuously changing world, and you never stop learning. And I think the concentration and the density of conferences and of knowledge transfer in our special forums, but specifically as well on the exhibitor side, is huge.

Also returning is the Drupa song. A preview was shared at the pre-Drupa press conference and there’s a bit of a following online about the song. Is this a tradition that you felt was important to continue? And how do you decide which theme or genre of song to use each time?
When we revealed that there would be a Drupa song during the press conference, there were a lot of smiling faces. This tradition is already getting close to 40 years and, from what I was told when I joined, when Drupa still had 14 days, after a long and intensive show exhibitors and visitors would sit in the old town and create their own lyrics, and people around were being excellent musicians. So there is a very lovely story behind the song.

We are all human beings and would like to have an emotional attachment. And everybody’s talking as well about how can you add emotional momentum to a professional trade fair? I think with the Drupa song it’s a very nice opportunity to do that. And when I understood that that there are even fan communities around, composed by some of our exhibitors, there was no question that we would certainly continue with that tradition if it’s loved by so many people in our industry.

We engaged with a music agency here in Düsseldorf for the 2024 song, and we provided a briefing, and then they had a certain freedom to build up their ideas. We both had a look together on lyrics and on what we wanted to be included, just to point out the radiance and the relevance of the brand. But at the end of the day, we wanted to have a nice, emotional summer song with good feeling and vibes. The whole performance will be shared for the very first time live at Drupa and we're looking forward to it.

At the pre-Drupa press conference we shared a one-minute teaser of the song, because we wanted to maintain the excitement for Drupa. But we forgot that some journalists were holding up their smartphones and capturing everything, so only a few minutes afterwards the short version of the video and the song has been shared.

But it’s fun and lovely to see people enjoying it; there have been some very nice comments on social media and people saying they’re looking forward to dancing to it. The emotional momentum is important because we are all working hard on getting prepared for Drupa and it’s nice when you have time to network after an intensive day with colleagues, peers and friends, and to enjoy music and also to have a certain identification as well with Drupa and its own song.

What percentage of visitors would you generally expect to come from outside Germany?
We usually have an international participation of roughly 75% and we are already getting close to 140 nations from all over the world that registered for Drupa. Big nations like India and China are on top, and this is roughly followed by Germany, the US, the UK, Turkey, and the Emirates. It’s amazing to see that Southeast Asia Pacific is strong, but we are expecting, and we have already confirmed receptions for, delegations from Latin America, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina.

It seems that the world is really getting prepared and that’s great to see. We don’t have a crystal ball, and the reference is 2016, but looking at the current developments, we can be quite optimistic that the internationality will again be amazing and huge. You have to make sure to join in order to grow your business and to have the opportunity to network with so many of the big players.

Are the expected visitor numbers roughly in line with your expectations at the moment or what you’d hoped to see at this stage?
We’re coming from 260,000 in 2016 and yes, there has been consolidation in mature markets, but on the other side – given the shift of portfolio – we have also certainly tried to also recruit new profiles from the packaging production side and from the industrial print area. So I think everything from 200,000 onwards is a really realistic expectation and a good target to go for.

Do you know what the show cycle will be after this? Will the next Drupa be in 2028?
We’re currently planning for 2028. However, as you can imagine, as every other company is doing you are always requestioning your parameters, the current market situation, and the demands and requirements of your customers. So the world will continue to transform in many ways. We all know that we would certainly want to meet the requirements of the industry, but after every single show, you’re just going through different scenarios and trying to analyse what is going to happen. And there are many factors going around and playing into a strategic process. But speaking for now, I think we are planning again for 2028.

It's still a four-year period and we have our portfolio with our other trade fairs happening on a yearly basis or on a bi-annual basis, like our show in Bangkok, our show in in Shanghai, and All in Print [in China], so there’s a lot happening in between.