Labelexpo is now LOUPE, an acronym for Labels and Outer Packaging Embellishment. The first event under the new banner was LOUPE Americas 2026 (formerly Labelexpo Americas) in Chicago in September. LOUPE India 2026 will be the second.
More than simply a name change, this is a new direction of travel for the narrow/mid-web industry in India and globally, as it moves from its label core to embrace short run, value-added flexible packaging and in-line folding cartons.
Label technology remains at the core of LOUPE India 2026, and all the LOUPE Global shows. The Indian label industry continues to show double-digit growth, mirroring the wider growth of an expanding economy.Â
At this year’s show beginning on 29 October at the Greater Noida Expo Center, visitors will see the wide range of innovation in label technology that made Labelexpo such a fixture in the industry calendar. Sustainable materials, the latest advances in automated flexo, digital and hybrid press technology, smart and intelligent labeling, and now the first concrete implementations of AI.
Flexible packaging opportunity
At the same time, at this year’s LOUPE India show, short-run, value-added flexible packaging became a key part of the label technology universe. No longer only about labels – it is about exciting new opportunities for diversification into flexible packaging and folding cartons using core label printing technology and expertise.
At the heart of this revolution are ‘mid-web’ digital and in-line flexo presses in the 26-30-inch (670-850 mm) width range, a format size better suited to producing flexible packaging and shrink sleeves economically and with minimum waste.Â
Two Indian press manufacturers are expected to lead the mid-web charge. Multitec shows its 670 mm-wide S3S and Webtech its 720 mm-wide Aeroflex S5 quad servo sleeve press, both machines specifically engineered for flexible packaging.
Modern narrow-web presses are also capable of running smaller format flexible packaging and shrink sleeves. At the show, HP will demonstrate both label and flexible package printing on its narrow web HP Indigo 6k+ press.Â
Label converters moving into flexible packaging do face a steep learning curve. Flexible packaging is the product container, so a deep understanding of barrier properties, lamination, migration testing, and more is essential. At LOUPE India 2026, that expertise is provided by suppliers including Addon Filmtech, Cosmo Films, Chiripal Poly Films and Prakash Shrink Pack. UPM promotes its fiber-based flexible packaging materials alongside its labels portfolio, including the latest developments in barrier-coated materials.Â
In Europe and North America, we have seen label converters start up new businesses in mid-web flexible packaging, which always strengthens their core label business. We expect to see this same trend in the Indian market following LOUPE India 2026.
Flexible packaging in India has been dominated up to now by commodity production. But we see this changing – in the same way it has for labels – with the growing buying power and sophistication of the overwhelmingly young middle consumer segment, who value innovation over brand loyalty.
This has driven the rise of innovative start-up and B2C brands, which thrive on innovative packaging formats, interaction with consumers and constant design changes. Mid-web in-line flexo and digital technology is built for exactly this scenario.
Folding cartons next?
In-line flexo and hybrid presses can produce finished printed, decorated, die-cut and creased carton blanks in a single pass. This is an absolute game changer.
It allows label converters to compete in profitable niches against sheetfed-offset carton converters, where every print, decoration, and converting step requires another machine. Label converters can simply add in-line decoration modules such as cold or hot-foil stamping and embossing, cast+cure, lamination, digital print bars, and either rotary tooling or in-line flatbed die cutting to produce the finished piece ready for the folder gluer line.
Interestingly, India already has a tradition of label converters adding folding cartons to their label operations. Pragati Pack, for example, installed an Omet Varyflex for in-line folding carton production as far back as 2011. It took a decade for short-run flexible packaging to establish itself in the label world, and I think in-line folding cartons will embed itself over a similar time period.Â
LOUPE going forward
LOUPE opens up the in-line, hybrid, and digital world of labels to niche flexible packaging and folding carton opportunities. It is very important to repeat that label technology remains at the core of LOUPE. You will not see an offset carton press or a wide-web CI or gravure press at LOUPE India. We are not aiming to become a mini-drupa or a packaging show.
What you will see at LOUPE India is our existing supplier base developing exciting new solutions for label converters to diversify into short-run flexible packaging and folding cartons. Its previous edition in 2024 attracted over 250 exhibitors and 13,752 visitors from 60 countries.  
(Packaging South Asia is releasing a Loupe India special issue on the show’s opening day, 29 October, 2026. We invite participants to contribute to this issue – a comprehensive guide to the show. Contact us for previews, on-the-ground coverage, video interviews and ads. Write to Mohit Tyagi at mohit.tyagi@ippgroup.in)
