Processing and packaging formed the largest part of foodpro 2023, with companies specialising in the manufacture of packaging equipment systems and services gracing the floor of the event being held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
ULMA Packaging Australia, which specialises in the design and manufacture and delivery of packaging equipment and service, showcased a range of their machines with the Flow Pack drawing keen interest.
These machines are designed for high-volume horizontal packing using a single film coil and three weldings, the company said.
ULMA also claimed that flow wrap plastic is already being used in Aldi Queensland for meat tray items, with the advantage of using 70 per cent less plastic than conventionally wrapped trays.
The company is hoping that by using the machine to wrap paper packaging around foods like the apples they had on exhibit, it would gain greater traction.
On the other hand, Great Wrap, which offers Australian-made compostable stretch wrap, had constant visitors to their stand from day one, eager to use the wrap for their manufacturing purposes.
As first-time exhibitors, Great Wrap, founded by young husband and wife team Julia and Jordy Kay, said that foodpro was their most successful trade event to date.
The flexible packaging company Flexopack demonstrated their dedication to investing in cutting-edge technology by creating some of the most advanced shrink bags for use in food packaging.
These consist of FlexoShrink shrink bags made with the most recent extrusion technology, FlexoShrink Flowpack Films that combine enhanced toughness with high-performance formability, and FlexoShrink Forming/Non-Forming films that are thermoforming films featuring the most recent sealing technology.
Meanwhile, foodpro hosted THE LUME, a visual art feast sponsored by Contech, for all event participants to network and celebrate an immersive sensory experience.
THE LUME at the MCEC is an art adventure in which the walls come alive with handpicked tastes, scents, and a coordinated soundscape while light cascades across every surface.
With one of the most anticipated presentations, Game-Changing Future Trends in Food, Brett Wiskar from Wiley opened the day at the Wiley Product Innovation Stage.
This session examined trends in investment in food facilities and how new technological trends may alter production.
The issue of digitisation was explored by Milan Bawa of Siemens, who also discussed how decarbonization and digitisation will provide manufacturers the chance to realise their full potential.
Eugene Seah from Corbion Asia Pacific spoke on the subject of Using bio-based food ingredient solutions to reduce food waste at the Smart Food Lounge by Schneider Electric stage.
Meanwhile, in the AIP session on Sustainable Packaging Design for the Food Industry, cutting-edge packs that have recently won PIDA Awards and WorldStar Packaging Awards were showcased.
The show runs from 23 July to 26 July 2023.
