Ruth Lorenz, divisional manager for Messe Frankfurt’s Paperworld show, has spoken to OPI about this year’s show and her regret over the absence of some of the industry’s biggest names.
She said: "The industry deserves an event once a year. I think it’s also a pity for the smaller companies that come every year and are very innovative, to be confronted with this kind of strategy from the big brands."
Nevertheless, Lorenz believes there are signs that next year some of the big firms will return. "We have already had many meetings with them," she said. "It is too early to say right now, but I think Paperworld is still the most attractive meeting place for the industry in the world… Messe Frankfurt has not raised the price for exhibitors for three years in the hope of not deterring more names."
Figures for Paperworld 2006 were down on last year. There were 2,596 exhibitors, compared to 2,708 last year. The number of countries represented was 67, against 69 in 2005.
The most represented country at this year´s show was Germany with 589 exhibitors (down from 615 last year), followed by China (with 337 exhibitors, up from 282 last year), Taiwan (with 217), Italy (with 183), Hong Kong (with 140) and Great Britain (with 107).
Of the exhibitors and delegates OPI spoke to, there was – as always – the usual mixed bag of satisfied and dissatisfied customers, often a result of a company’s strategy as much as anything else.
Paperworld will take place on the same sequence of days next year.
