FINAT welcomed 280 attendees from 24 countries to Athens, Greece, for its 64th annual European Label Forum (ELF) on May 22-24, 2024, while 35 leading industry suppliers took part in the table-top exhibition.

The conference featured expert speakers presenting on the geopolitical landscape in Europe, EU sustainability regulations, AI, and attracting young talent to the label industry, among other topics. The table-top exhibition included press suppliers Domino, Durst, Gallus, Mark Andy, MPS, Nilpeter and Omet; material manufacturers Avery Dennison, PPG and UPM Raflatac; as well as ETI Converting Equipment, GEW, Kocher + Beck, Martin Automatic and others.

The ELF is always an effective bellwether of the mood in the region’s label industry, and this year’s edition took a cautiously positive tone as economic conditions improve following a tough 2023.

The European landscape

A 25.8% decline in labelstock demand in 2023 returned consumption to levels last seen 10 years prior, said FINAT’s managing director Jules Lejeune in his summary of the latest RADAR report, conducted by FINAT and AWA Alexander Watson Associates. Converters had overstocked materials following shortages caused by Covid and strikes at Finnish paper mills, but consumer demand plummeted due to rising inflation. The excess stock worked its way through the supply chain by late 2023, and growth has since returned.

“Over the last year the market has been affected by inflation, interest rate hikes, slow economic growth, and political uncertainty,” said Lejeune. “But there is room for cautious optimism. Demand has caught up and the results from the first quarter of 2024 are good news.

“Destocking in 2023 did not reverse structural patterns,” added Lejeune. There continues to be strong growth in filmic roll labelstocks, whose market share has grown from under 20% in the mid 2000s to almost 30% in 2023. The share of PP rolls has more than doubled since 2005 – thanks to their use in high-quality health and beauty, spirits and food applications, their better transparency, and their convertibility. Growth in direct thermal continues, white coated roll materials are growing but declining in share, and white uncoated materials and sheets have halved since 2005.

The top five countries – Germany, the UK, Italy, France, and Spain – account for 60% of the overall European market. The UK recently overtook Italy to become the region’s second-largest market for labelstock materials.
Raw material price rises remain converters’ number one concern, revealed Anum Javed Beg, label market analyst at AWA Alexander Watson Associates. Brand owners surveyed for the RADAR report, meanwhile, “are planning to maintain print volumes in 2024, are optimizing their label buying processes for better cost management and operational efficiency, and are exploring local sourcing options as they seek to diversify their supplier base.”

Panel discussions allowed attendees to learn about the latest trends.

Keynote speaker Guy Verhofstadt, chair of the Conference on the Future of Europe and former Prime Minister of Belgium, argued that the complex regulatory environment is hampering industry in the region. He cited music streaming giant Spotify as an example: “Spotify faced huge regulatory challenges to roll its product out through Europe. It needed to be approved by each different country and then negotiate with all the different mobile network providers. So, despite being Swedish, it rolled out far more quickly in the US before coming back to target the European market. In Europe, there is too much regulation on a national level.”

He urged the need for a “political overhaul of the entire system” to position Europe better in the face of threats from “a new age of empires.” Large nations, such as China, India, the US, and Russia, are better understood as civilizations or empires, he said, and the next decade will see “brutal competition” between them. “There will be no place for nations not under the umbrella of an empire.”

Artificial intelligence

Elsewhere on the program, dominant themes included AI, environmental regulation, and the ubiquitous problem of attracting young talent to the industry.

The potential for AI to transform the business landscape was highlighted in a presentation from British author and AI expert Katie King, while Dieter Tschemernjak, partner and co-creator of AI strategy platform Inno-Verse, demonstrated case studies of how the platform can aid label and packaging converters.

“AI enables personalization at scale,” said King. “It can better understand your customers and transform CRM and lead generation.” She showed different ways AI can be employed in marketing, highlighting a Heinz Ketchup campaign featuring images generated by AI platform Dall-E 2. “Don’t be afraid of AI,” she urged. “It’s big data, which can help you make better decisions.”

Businesses need to adapt the way they strategize, argued Tschemernjak. “Generative AI is leading to a paradigm shift in the way we work. The question is not whether creative AI will replace human labor but how human labor will adapt to AI.”

Consumers are becoming more comfortable with AI being integrated into the products they buy, said Linda Lichtmess, strategic market analyst, Food & Drinks at Euromonitor. “ChatGPT is the fastest-growing consumer application in history,” she said. “AI can enhance business but also enhance the consumer experience.”

The topic was also addressed in a panel session, where it was cited as a key technology for environmental sustainability. “AI can play an important role,” said Günther Birkner of CCL Label. “It will give smaller companies the ability to gather and analyze data,” added Fernando Girón of Fedrigoni. “We look at data after the event. Labels can help collect data in real time, so AI could help us to process that data much faster.”

Sustainability

Environmental sustainability in general, and upcoming EU sustainability legislation in particular, were widely covered in a number of conference sessions.

Michael Scholte introduced his CSRD Academy, aimed at preparing industries, such as the label and packaging sector, for the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), a set of reporting rules about companies’ sustainability, performance and strategy. John Eisses of Dutch consultancy firm Berenschot presented an initiative from AIPIA, the Active and Intelligent Packaging Industries Association, aimed at developing and implementing effective smart packaging technologies to restructure conventional food supply chains and reduce waste.

A panel discussed the industry’s preparedness for the upcoming EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. The goals of PPWR, five years in the making, are to reduce the amount of packaging and packaging waste in the market, promote reusable packaging, ensure all packaging in the European market is recyclable, ensure the use of post-consumer recycled waste in packaging, and harmonize the markings used across the EU. Some details and time scales are yet to be finalized, and secondary legislation is also expected.

“There are clear objectives in the legislation but still much to decide in terms of methodology,” said Marzia Scopelliti of EUROPEN, the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment. “Work still needs to be done to bring industry knowledge and expertise to the legislators. Collaboration is also needed to bring together all the different areas of regulation to create coherence and consistency.”

Labels, pointed out Avery Dennison’s Noël Kasmi, “are not the problem – they are part of the solution. Versus other decoration technologies, it is now accepted that self-adhesive labels are the solution to recyclability.”

PPWR “is a good thing,” affirmed Gunther Birkner of CCL Label. “It is not perfect – it will be an evolution.” Fedrigoni’s Fernando Girón emphasized the importance of “working on the end-of-life design of the product. It’s not only about the labels, but also the packaging and the product. Labels can be so relevant in the whole ecosystem of recyclability. But we need to speak the same language, and to standardize carbon footprint calculation. We must come together and understand the value we can bring.”

An expert panel addressed sustainability, recycling, and regulations.

Young talent

With the recruitment of young talent a problem for the label industry around the world, the question of how to brand the sector to attract Gen Z was tackled by former United Nations Youth Ambassador – and member of that age-group – Laura Bas, with her presentation then followed by a wider panel discussion.

“Every new generation brings change, and change always meets resistance,” she said, describing Gen Z as outspoken, keen on personalization, and internationally oriented. “We all lose energy on the same topics. But there are differences in what different generations get energy from. Young people are keen to drive change, but need guidance and experience. They like new challenges, learning new skills, being trusted, working in a collaborative environment and feeling that their work is making an impact.”

Panelist Iban Cid, of Spanish converter Germark, lamented the industry’s lack of appeal to young potential recruits, saying: “Print is not sexy. If we show them the factory floor, we take them to the digital area. They don’t like their hands getting covered in ink.”

Tom Baker of Baker Labels – the third generation of his family working at the UK converter – said the company focuses on culture as a way of attracting young employees. “We like to offer things outside of the day-to-day. It’s more than a workplace – you spend a lot of time there so you need to enjoy it. We installed a gym and a bar, and we offer free counseling sessions with a third party. We have mental health workplace champions.”

“Gen Z is not so interested in status,” said Laura Bas. “It’s not about being a big or small company. Some people don’t want to sit in an office – they want to do things and make things. This is an asset for your industry, as is the fact that you can see the results of your work everywhere.”

The closing keynote was an inspirational speech from Tim Foster, a member of the gold-winning British rowing team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and now a coach. He looked back on the team’s four years of preparation – equating to 18,000 strokes for every one ultimately carried out in the winning race – and drew lessons in how to build a team and a winning mentality. “The interaction between the team was crucial. We needed each other – whether to push each other or to hold back to protect each other,” he said.

According to Foster, the key elements in the team’s success were a foundation of trust, openness to conflict, consistent commitment, full accountability, and a focus on the right results.

Cid, president of the Barcelona, Spain-based Germark, said of the European Label Forum 2024: “It was a very good event, with very interesting content about AI and sustainability, in particular. It is important to keep up to date with what’s going on in the industry, and the networking at these events is also crucial.”

Jos Kabouw, global sales manager of converting equipment manufacturer GM, an exhibitor at the ELF alongside its agent for Greece and Turkey, Lino, said, “It was very positive to meet with several customers and prospects. There was a good number of big label converters in attendance, and the quality of the conference sessions was very good.”

The next FINAT European Label Forum takes place on May 21-23, 2025, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.