The Event

Exhibitions & Trade Fairs has planned and delivered AUSPACK since its inception in 1987, working closely with the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA) to promote and showcase the Australasian industry. Held every two years, and alternating between Sydney and Melbourne, ETF grew AUSPACK to be Australasia’s largest food, beverage and pharmaceutical processing & packaging event. It is now the southern hemisphere’s leading such event. 

The Objectives

To deliver the southern hemisphere’s premier event for the processing & packaging industry, while continually evolving the visitor offering to ensure industry trends and themes are covered across the show floor. Our AUSPACK 2019 marketing and communications campaign was planned and executed to increase the numbers of both exhibitors and trade visitors attending.

The Results

To promote AUSPACK 2019 to the industry, ETF ran the most comprehensive, complex AUSPACK marketing campaign to date; this included an augmented reality front-cover collaboration for a major trade magazine. 

AUSPACK 2019, with the industry-driven cohesive theme of sustainability throughout the entire event, broke records in every aspect – visitor numbers, floor space, international exhibitors and adjacent events. Despite having the largest number of operating heavy machinery in AUSPACK’s history, the 2019 event had seamless operational executive onsite.  

A show-topping number of 8,000 trade visitors, up 25% compared with the previous-largest show, attended the free exhibition staged over nearly 20,000m2. This was the largest floor space in the show’s history, and a 10% increase on the previous edition, yet still sold out nearly six months before the event. Exhibitor numbers also reflected growth, with 105 international exhibitors – a 15% increase compared with 2017.

Outside AUSPACK, ETF also expanded offerings during the entire Packaging & Processing Week to continue growing the overall event to meet the changing needs of our client and their target industry. 

Packaging & Processing Week 2019 encompassed two new events to meet industry needs, while the redesigned Awards of Excellence program and celebration also catered to the industry’s changing needs. A sold-out attendance of over 300 people at the inaugural Business & Industry conference heard more than 40 international and domestic speakers present extremely informative sessions over two days. The second new event, the NextGen Breakfast forum, attracted a capacity audience of 50, who learnt best practice in addressing skill shortages around the next generation coming into the workforce, Gen Z. The re-instated APPMA Awards of Excellence received a record of 50+ entries, while the celebration event was a sell-out, with over 450 tickets sold. 

To further the APPMA’s work in education during the year with its members, ETF debuted Education Day at AUSPACK 2019. The day was run in partnership with RMIT, and resulted in 80 students benefiting from this industry-focused collaboration to close the education gap in manufacturing’s fast-moving, innovative environment.