The Packaging Innovations & Luxury Packaging London show had been scheduled to take place at Olympia London on 23 and 24 September, the event has now been moved back to 8 and 9 December at the same venue.
Last year's event attracted 4,700 visitors.
Renan Joel, divisional director for Easyfairs UK & Global packaging events said that while it had planned a number of social distancing measures for the September event to ensure the health & safety of visitors and exhibitors, the combination of the two-week quarantine period for international exhibitors, in regard to more than 40% of exhibitors being from outside the UK, and last week’s government statement that events are only able to run from 1 October 2020 had forced the organiser’s hand.
“Having already spoken to many in our community, we have been overwhelmed by the positivity and enthusiasm with which the move has been received and the support that the packaging industry has shown for our events generally,” he said.
“It is very clear that they [events] will play a crucial role in the rebuilding of many sales pipelines in sectors that have suffered and are vitally placed to bring the industry back together.
“We are looking forward to running an event in December that adheres to the highest level of sanitary and health standards, and will share more details in due course regarding the measures we will be putting in place to do so.”
In the meantime, Easyfairs is plugging the temporary knowledge gap usually served with the event’s comprehensive seminar and workshop programme with a series of 30-minute webinars available on the event website.
On-demand sessions are available on topics including: FMCG design; connected packaging; shaping luxury brand stories through packaging design; what AR and the mobile first world mean for packaging; and the rise of refillable and reusable packaging.
More webinars will be added in the coming weeks and months according to Joel.
“The events industry is in a time of change. As many events have been affected by the virus, the world has turned for the time being to digital channels; and while digital can never replace the experience and benefits of meeting and doing business, we are really starting to appreciate the value it can bring to enhance the live event experience.”
