FINAT has released the 16th edition of its half-yearly market trends report, the FINAT RADAR. This edition, released the weeks before Christmas, was based on a survey and follow-up interviews with more than 60 brand owners and printed packaging buyers across Europe in a variety of market segments. Whether it is in food, beverages, personal care, pharma, consumer durables or automotive, supply chain distortions in the short run and sustainable label and packaging solutions going forward are top of mind when discussing label procurement trends with brand owner professionals.

No-one can really predict the future, even though some say that the future is ours to make.

After the outbreak of the Pandemic at the beginning of last year, 2021 has been another turbulent year that demanded the utmost of our adaptability. A year ago, my predecessor already praised our industry’s stress resistance, when demand for labels in critical sectors exploded, while at the same time labour and raw materials were short in supply due to global travel restrictions and local lockdowns. But what happened at sector level in 2020 was only small beer compared to the global supply chain disruptions that became apparent in 2021.

FINAT, the European association for the label industry, has announced the winners of the second edition of its #LABELicious competition. The competition, launched in 2019, was designed to challenge students and young professionals interested in a career in the label industry to expose their talent in designing label solutions for the future. The winners of the competition, of which the judging had to be delayed due to Covid, were Sabrina Bento from Portugal and Bjarne Castelein from Belgium. The awards announcement immediately preceded the launch of the next edition, which will culminate in an award ceremony at Labelexpo Europe at the end of April 2022.

The 2021 FINAT Sustainability Award recognizes the efforts of the self-adhesive label value chain to reduce, reuse and recycle. The ten initiatives entered in the competition demonstrated a broad spectrum of approaches to increasing sustainability in the value chain for self-adhesive labels: systems for the collection of label waste, technical solutions for packaging for disposable and reusable packaging, circular approaches for face materials, sleeves and carrier materials and much more. The winners, CCL Label and Avery Dennison, were celebrated during last week's online award ceremony.

Excitement is building for the return of Labelexpo Europe 2022, the world’s largest event for the label and package printing industry.

FINAT will organise an online General Assembly on Thursday, 11 November at 16.00 CET.

Matrix and liner recycling challenges to be addressed by global CELAB consortium at world’s largest dedicated label and package print exhibition held in April 2022.

Unprecedented times have thrown an array of challenges to the Indian labels industry at large.

The wait is over. The unavoidable pause on label and package printing shows has seen industry pioneers develop an incredible amount of exciting technology with invigorated dynamism.