At the opening press conference of Labelexpo 2023, Jade Grace, MD, Labelexpo Global Series, announced that companies from India “for the first time” made it to the top ten exhibiting countries at Labelexpo’s European flagship event. However, this has not been caused by more Indian exhibitors this year than at previous editions, but by the fact that there were less exhibitors from most of the Western European countries. Over the years, the number of Indian exhibitors at this show has actually remained rather stable at around twenty. Labelexpo Europe has more and more become an opportunity for the Indian and other participants to interact and partner up with companies and prospects from Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Courtesy- Packaging South Asia
At any rate, the Indian exhibitors, visitors, and the sales staff from India at the booths of the multinational machine manufacturers must have been pleased to find their national flag right in front of Labelexpo Europe’s entrance this year.
The Indian companies present at Labelexpo Europe 2023
- Acme Rolltech from Ahmedabad came to the show with its latest developments of ceramic anilox rolls with four different engraving patterns, such as the High Density White anilox available in three opacity levels, and flexo sleeves for High Density Colour printing, first shown at Labelexpo India last year. For the release of lacquers and varnishes, Acme also showcased its flexo technology with a cell profile that extends optimal and uniform coverage for high gloss finishing with precision.
- Alliance Printech from Faridabad presented two narrow-web presses, the Nova 45 and
The Alliance booth at Labelexpo Europe.
Courtesy- Packaging South AsiaNovaSmart, both for printing, converting and embellishing labels and flexible packaging with up to 10 printing units and 3 die cut stations, in three widths: 370, 450 and 550 mm. The company’s offering also includes the NovaGraph flexo press geared at printing medical charts, ECG, POS and ATM rolls at widths up to 550 mm, the Acer digital inspection and slitting machine, the Ace slitter rewinder for widths up to 1050 mm, the Techno transport system that can accommodate various web treatment systems including flexo printing and corona treatment, as well as OEM modules. Alliance claims multiple installations worldwide.
- APL Machinery from Faridabad showcased a brand new LED UV coating and curing system for offset, flexo and gravure presses. With an installed base of 15,000 systems, the company also provides special UV applications for screen printing, tile, glass and high gloss panel printing, and 3D object printing.
- Convertech, started in 1993 and based in New Delhi’s Okhla Industrial Area, has been
Convertech director Ravi Sanon (white shirt), surrounded by his sales team at their Labelexpo Europe booth.
Courtesy- Packaging South Asiapresent at every Labelexpo show in Europe and India with its full range of SurePrint doctor blades for flexo, gravure, and coating applications, including several high carbon steel versions and a stainless steel version for water-based inks with high pH values. The company also presented a new line of its SureClean ink cleaning products for all ink types as well as a powerful anilox cleaning gel.
- Cosmo Films, also a Labelexpo diehard, has been present with a large booth showcasing its full range of specialty label stock, industrial films, and adhesives. Developments on show included white opaque cavitated, solid white, and transparent films; direct thermal printable films; matte coated, acrylic coated, over-lamination, overwrap, and metallized films. Cosmo’s range of adhesives included a water-base coating dispersion for OGR, water-based high solid PSA’s for filmic and paper label applications, and a solvent-free two-component polyurethane adhesive for lamination. Its most interesting product on show, however, was its range of synthetic paper, which Cosmo produces as a co-extruded, white opaque, polypropylene based printable film resembling paper in appearance but with high tear, moisture and chemical resistance. Cosmo has been producing and supplying its white synthetic printable papers for over the past 40 years.
- Everest Holovisions from Mumbai came to Labelexpo with a range of holographic patterned paper.
- Garware, based in Mumbai with production in Aurangabad, showcased two new types of shrink film, the High Shrink Film with 30% PCR content to reduce the product’s carbon footprint, and the Pearl Float Low Density Shrink Film, floating in the recycling process and with a density of less than one percent. Garware also showcased its range of lidding films, heat sealable PET films, PET release liner films, and high and medium shrink PET films.
- Globus International, from Khalapur in Maharashtra, focused its offering at the show on siliconised paper- and film-based release liners.
- Holostik, based in Noida, presented itself as a brand protection service provider, offering holographic hot and cold stamping foils, holographic LD strips, tax stamps, security labels, shrink sleeves, UV embossed 3D labels, induction-sealing wads and various track-and-trace and other security features.
- IEEC from Mumbai had a booth showing corona treatment modules for narrow web
Pramod Arage, IEEC and ECI sales manager for key accounts at the IEEC booth.
Courtesy- Packaging South Asiapresses (OEM and end-users), corona generators, ozone destruction modules, and, for laminating applications, ozone generating devices.
- Jindal had a large booth with samples of its BOPP and BOPE films, with a particular emphasis on films for in-mould labels. The company presented two new products, a comformable PP polyolefin film 40% thinner as compared to usual PE films, and a PCR PP made with 30% post-consumer recycled content but with the same properties as standard PP films. Both are available in both clear and white finishes.
- MLJ Industries from Noida, member of the Mitthanjee Group, focused its presence at Labelexpo on label stock and siliconized release liners.
- Mona Equipments from Noida came with an extensive offering, containing Mona+Plus doctor blades, air-expanding, mechanical, cantilever and multi-tube shafts, mill shafts, slitter knife shafts, safety chucks, core chucks, multi-tube and air chucks, circular knives, steel rollers, pumps, and a core cutting machine.
- Monotech headquartered in Chennai had a large, strategically located booth on the way
Heavy traffic at the Monotech booth at Labelexpo Europe.
Courtesy- Packaging South Asiabetween the largely ‘conventional’ printing and converting machinery and the purely digital players such as HP and the Japanese and Korean brands. Monotech showcased a brand new label foiling and varnishing machine, the dSpark, as well as two inkjet imprint modules and its variable data printing, slitter rewinding and inspection system VSRI. The company also showed its KolorSmart Universal Printing System, a UV inkjet label press launched at Labelexpo India last year. At the show it also announced its new association with a Brazilian group.
- Multitec from Faridabad had its S2 dual servo press on show, drawing crowds every day all day. The company which was taking part in its sixth Labelexpo in Brussels has an installed base of several hundred narrow-web flexo presses and a total of more than 2,000 printing and converting lines worldwide.
- Resource Engimech from Baroda brought an outright shop to the show, with a variety of shafts, chucks, locks, rollers, shaft extractors, reel lifters, tubes, valves, springs and the like.
- Shree Lamipack from Ghaziabad showcased a range of release liners and holographic security solutions, including anti-tamper seals, sheet and roll holograms, barcode labels, security labels, anti-counterfeiting patterns for packaging, thermal paper rolls, thermal transfer ribbons, and much more.
- SMI, part of the Jindal Group and based in Mumbai, had its own booth with coated label stock for markets such as pharma, lubricants, liquor, cosmetics, consumer goods including FMCG, and EDP end-industries. The company offers some 200 options in hot melt and water-based acrylic adhesive label stock, with a client base of around 300 printers mainly in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. SMI, formerly as an independent company, was a regular exhibitor at Labelexpo always with one of the most best designed stands at the show.
- Vacmet from Agra, UP, centered its presentations on its BOPET and BOPP films, metallized paper board, metallized paper, and heat-seal barrier paper, next to holographic fims, lacquered gold films, films for cardboard lamination, and gift wrap substrates.
- Varshil Packaging from Ahmedabad also had a large range of label stock at its booth, including release liners, paper label stock, PP and PET filmic label stock, as well as sheet-based label stock for offset and digital printing.
The next Labelexpo Europe will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from 16 to 19 September 2025.
