MMK on location – the most important industry events in Q2 2016

FEFCO Summit 2016
18 to 20 May 2016, Berlin

The motto of the annual conference of FEFCO, the European Association of Corrugated Board Manufacturers, in May of this year was “Amazing Corrugated”. It is one of the most important industry events and drew around 250 participants this year, primarily managers of member companies. At this event, decision makers can establish direct contact with one another. In light of a growing and consolidating container and corrugated board market, MM Karton as the leading manufacturer of white top coated recycled liners in Europe drew attention with its impressive range of liner qualities (MM Liner™, MM Topliner™, MM X-Liner™, and MM X-Liner aqua-fit™). 
The final address emphasised that the corrugated board industry needs to adapt even more to modern trends, focusing on “Sensory Marketing“ as its innovative goal: marketing with colours, shapes, and sensations to evoke positive emotions in consumers. The MMK liner qualities with their brilliant opacity, high gloss, and superior smoothness fulfil these conditions already. 

PIP
26 to 27 May 2016, London

The 5th Packaging Innovation Programme (PIP) once again focused on current developments of modern society and their effects on the packaging industry. With our talk “Global trends and their incorporation to selling advanced solution” we were able to emphasise that cartonboard is the ideal material to sustainably address consumers’ increased environmental consciousness and issues of product and food safety in our packaging solutions. 
Particularly our new cartonboard qualities, which serve the strong trend for naturalness at the point of sale with their brown reverse side (Excellent Top™ Kraft), brown top and reverse side (UD Brown), and unique haptic experience (Accurate™ Top Natural), and of course our FOODBOARD™, were met with great interest.

Food Safety Kongress
7 to 8 June 2016, Berlin

For the past eight years, the Food Safety Congress has been one of the top industry events on the topic of food safety. It is where leading representatives of the food industry, special interest representatives like the Stiftung Warentest (Product Testing Organisation), and state institutions like the BMEL (German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture) come together to discuss current issues. 
The requirements of food producers regarding food safety and appropriate traceability through the supply chain are increasing constantly. In light of progressing globalisation, this is a difficult task. It was pointed out and discussed that the enormous effort necessitated by a multitude of regulations and laws as well as a lack of resources (human as well as monetary) is leading to ever greater gaps between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies. This was illustrated particularly well in a lively talk by Nicolas Lecloux of True Fruits.
One of the crucial topics this year was the political discussion of EU and German legislation regarding the migration of mineral oils from packaging into foodstuff. In the future, two national laws are supposed to apply: 
the printing ink regulation will inhibit the future use of inks containing mineral oil for printing food packaging, while
the mineral oil regulation will set maximum levels for the migration of mineral oil from and through food packaging into food. Particularly the printing ink regulation is now gaining momentum, and it should be ratified during the summer months. The increasing international attention to the mineral oil issue is also increasing political pressure to produce a clear regulation at the European level in order to remove the prevailing uncertainty from the market.
Dr. Sieglinde Stähle, BLL (German Federation for Food Law and Food Science) clearly illustrated the competence of the industry in her talk, citing among other new solutions our innovative barrier cartonboard FOODBOARD™. MM Karton’s wealth of experience on the topic of food safety was in high demand and was met with great interest and many intense conversations in the expert audience.

RosUpack
14 to 17 June 2016, Moscow

The RosUpack is the largest packaging expo in Russia, the CIS, and Eastern Europe. More than 700 companies from 38 countries, among them nearly all notable folding carton manufacturers and cellulose, paper, and cartonboard producers, presented new production technologies and innovative techniques and trends. The fair reflected the entire range of innovative products for packaging solutions. MM Karton, now a regular at the event, took part with an attractive booth that turned out to be a communicative hub where business partners and expert visitors got together. Discussion topics included the current situation of the packaging industry, the present sentiment in the market, as well as the industry’s development in Russia. 
Our barrier cartonboard FOODBOARD™ and UD Brown, MMK’s new natural quality with single-coated brown top and reverse side, caused lively interest among visitors. The MMK liner qualities were also topics of discussion, not least because MM Karton is also the leading supplier of white coated recycled liner qualities to the Russian market.

PLMA´s World of Private Label
24 to 25 May 2016, Amsterdam

Retailers and manufacturers have been meeting every year for 30 years at the international trade expo PLMA “World of Private Label“ to network and present their products and innovations. This year, the PLMA was an event of superlatives: more exhibitors, more products, and a greater Idea Supermarket. As in past years, the growing importance of new products and ideas was emphasised, particularly because private labels have never been as popular with European consumers as they are today, and the market shares of private labels in Central and Eastern Europe are also growing steadily. It was particularly the “Idea Supermarket” of the PLMA that presented and inspired the best and most innovative private labels.
MMK informed many interested participants about FOODBOARD™ and its concrete applications in food retailing. The need for new sustainable solutions became clear: cartonboard is the ideal packaging choice and FOODBOARD™ is unique in its functionality!

drupa 2016
31 May to 10 June 2016, Düsseldorf

The expo for graphic and industrial printing, media, and multi-channel is back after a 4-year break: this year, the drupa clearly focused on the future topic Print 4.0, in combination with individualisation and personalisation in digital printing. For the quickly growing diversity of industrial and functional print solutions, this digital integration of machines and systems is paramount for efficiency and competitiveness.
Digital printing is also central to corrugated board packaging, and it is an obvious trend. Visitors were able to get a first-hand look at the special properties of the MMK liner quality MM X-Liner™: KBA, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of printing machines, demonstrated digital printing at the highest level with our material on the KBA RotaJET L-Series. The outstanding “runnability” of MM X-Liner™ is highly advantageous for this new development. The live demonstrations of the gluing machines by Heiber + Schröder, which used Multicolor Mirabell™ and Starcolor Mirabell™, were also greatly appreciated. 

Fresenius Conference: Food Contact Materials
16 to 17 June 2016, Cologne

In mid-June, scientists and government officials met with representatives of the food and packaging industry at the 5th Fresenius Conference for a lively exchange of ideas. The latest research results and risk analyses on “Residues in Foods” were introduced. This year, the conference focused specifically on mineral oils and their evaluation as well as the newest functional barriers. After six years of research and development and more than 15,000 individual laboratory analyses, MM Karton has built a reputation as an expert on the topic of NIAS (Not Intentionally Added Substances) and was able to position the company as a market and development leader in this area with its innovative FOODBOARD™.