Thousands of people descended on this year’s Foodtech and Packtech show at the ASB Showgrounds, Auckland, for the food, beverage, processing and packaging technology industries.
The show, which takes place once every two years, gave companies and industry professionals a chance to catch up, renew connections, and see a huge range of equipment and services from leading companies in the field.
It was a chance for visitors to talk with experts and connect with the products, services and machinery their firms need to meet the demands of tomorrow’s food, beverage, and packaging marketplaces.
There was plenty for visitors to see, with more than 200 top industry suppliers exhibiting products, and a comprehensive three-day seminar series in association with The New Zealand Institute of Food Science Technology, gave delegates plenty to think about at the free event.
Among the keynote speakers were Gordon Robertson, a food packaging consultant and adjunct professor at the University of Queensland, Australia.
He says a major trend over the past decade has been with lightweight plastic replacing glass and metal packaging.
However, he warns that some packaging materials are approaching the limit beyond which performance risks being compromised.
Delegates also heard that the widespread use of smart phones is leading to QR and other codes being printed on packs to interact with consumers and provide additional opportunities and benefits for suppliers and retailers.
Although sustainable packaging was widely discussed at the show, its meaning has been stretched to describe a range of activities such as energy and water conservation programmes, carbon footprints, human rights, worker safety initiatives and even food donations and charitable events.
On the technology side, research on biosensors is showing great promise, especially battery-free RFID sensors, and recent prototype low cost time-temperature indicators with variable activation energies might lead to their widespread adoption.
Organisers say the show was bigger than ever and are looking forward to doing it all again in 2016.
