Packaging Innovations aims to deliver “next-level experience” with surprise extra speaker announcement

Packaging Innovations & Empack is set to deliver its biggest and most insight-rich showcase yet after it added speakers from DHL, TerraCycle, the Met Police, Amazon and more, to its already-packed speaker lineup.

The new additions further boost the speaker programme across both days – 21 & 22 February – and all three conference stages at the Birmingham NEC. Highlights include a talk from Phillip Stevenson, Managing Director – London at JDO and Mark Buckley, Strategic Design Manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on scaling returnable packaging, and a discussion on recycling and reusable solutions from Justin Tremblin, General Manager at TerraCycle Europe.

Other headline-grabbing additions include two must-see presentations on counterfeiting and brand protection. The two back-to-back talks take place on the Supply Chain and Manufacturing Stage, starting with a presentation titled ‘Counterfeiting unpacked: a new dawn for brand protection’ from Det Insp Andrew Masterson of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, City London Police. This is followed by a discussion titled ‘Proactively protect your brand from counterfeits’, which will see Güneri Tugcu, Senior Partner Manager, Transparency at Amazon unpack the importance of transparency on the eCommerce age.

“We want every Packaging Innovations show to over-deliver by providing insights that attendees can’t get anywhere else,” said Renan Joel, Divisional Director – UK & Global Packaging Portfolio, at event organiser Easyfairs. “Our goal is to provide a next-level experience for all our visitors, so when the opportunity arose to strengthen our speaker lineup even further, providing even more value for attendees and exhibitors alike, we jumped at the chance.

“We have some of the world’s pre-eminent thought leaders due to speak on the burning issues affecting the packaging industry today, ranging from sustainability to innovation to crime and counterfeiting. These additions only further establish Packaging Innovations as the place to be for any business with an eye on the future of packaging.”

Elsewhere, the Circular Economy stage plays host to three representatives of Defra, who will discuss the UK Government’s plans for working with the packaging industry in another must-see presentation that comes amidst continued uncertainty surrounding sustainability legislation. The Innovation & Design Stage, meanwhile, has been bolstered with a talk on revitalising heritage brands, set to be delivered by Richard Mills, Head of Retail and Grocery at Pizza Express, alongside Richard Brandon Taylor, founder of Brandon Consultants.