Labelexpo Global Series, the world’s leading platform for the label and package printing industry for over 45 years, revealed it will rebrand to LOUPE. The first show under the new branding will be LOUPE Americas 2026.
The announcement, which coincides with the first day of Labelexpo Europe 2025 on 16 September, aligns the show with the evolution of the industry, most notably:
• Industry convergence: the package printing industry is converging around a set of core technologies—digital, digital hybrid, and in-line production—driven by automation, cloud connectivity, and sustainability.
• Market consolidation: the industry is undergoing rapid consolidation and transformation, creating “one-stop” package printing operations that encompass the full range of packaging formats.
• Disruptive technology: label converters have already diversified into flexible packaging and are identifying new opportunities in folding cartons.
Portfolio development
Labelexpo was launched in 1980 with the inaugural Labelex 80 in London, featuring 44 label industry suppliers. Since then, the portfolio has expanded globally, supported by influential specialized editorial from Labels & Labeling. In the past two years alone, the combined Labelexpo portfolio of events welcomed over 125,755 visitors and occupied 140,919 SQM.
Today, Labelexpo Europe 2025 in Barcelona welcomes over 650 exhibitors covering a wide spectrum of the labels and package printing sector. Data from Labelexpo Europe 2023 showed that 40 percent of show visitors expressed interest in flexible packaging, and 25 percent in folding cartons. Over 25 percent of exhibitors at Labelexpo Europe 2025 have portfolios that reach across labels, flexible packaging and folding carton sectors.
“Over the decades, Labelexpo has transformed from a narrow web, pressure-sensitive-focused show to take in new label formats, then flexible packaging and now folding cartons, all driven by the entrepreneurship, agility and service mentality of label converters. Just as today’s label converters are diversifying and bringing multiple technologies together under one roof, LOUPE mirrors that same spirit, uniting the full spectrum of package printing in one place to inspire innovation, efficiency, and growth for the entire industry.’’
Andy Thomas-Emans, strategic director, Labelexpo Global Series and renowned industry expert.
