Labelexpo Europe welcomed a record number of exhibitors and attendees to the Brussels Expo Center in Brussels, Belgium. Throughout the nine halls, perhaps no company was busier than HP, the digital printing specialist.

Situated on the patio, HP displayed its wide range of printing capabilities, including the HP Indigo 6900 to the HP Indigo 20000. During Labelexpo Europe, HP announced several sizable deals. First, HP reached an agreement with Fort Dearborn Company, an American-based label converter, for five new HP Indigo labels and packaging presses. Fort Dearborn added the HP Indigo 20000 and 6900 digital presses to help enhance its business in wraparound labels, cut and stack labels, security labels, pressure-sensitive, and shrink sleeves.

Meanwhile, LabelProfi, a Slovenia-based label and packaging converter, inked a deal for an HP Indigo 20000 digital press. The HP Indigo 20000 digital press will be installed in Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia in October, alongside LabelProfi’s two narrow-web HP Indigo WS6800 digital presses.

These were just a few of the highlights from a banner event for HP. “Labelexpo was an excellent show with strong attendance at the HP booth by converters from around the globe,” Eli Mahal, head of labels and packaging marketing at HP Indigo, told L&NW. “As a result, we closed and advanced dozens of deals for new presses. We hosted hundreds of customers interested in different opportunities.

“In the label market, digital has already captured about 7% of the market value – more so in PS labels and less in glue-applied and shrink sleeves,” said Mahal. “The volume of printed labels using Indigo presses has doubled since 2014, and we expect it to double again by 2024. In flexible packaging, we are just at the beginning, digital flexible packaging stands at about 1% of market value, but is growing at an exponential rate.”

Labelexpo Europe featured several trends, with digital printing being among the most prominent. Converters are interested in more than just short runs, too.

“Clearly, digital technologies are capturing a growing share of the label scene,” Mahal said. “From what I saw, more label vendors are developing offerings for flexible packaging. This is a clear sign of growing interest in pouch making in the label community. Brands and retail chains are paying greater attention to food packaging safety and migration risk, requiring vendors to ensure converters catering for the food industry that their inks can be used for food packaging. Converters who are not familiar with HP Indigo were happy to learn that our ink can comply with food safety regulations for packaging.”

HP’s booth featured software and equipment areas, where users could gain a greater understanding of the entire digital workflow. Flexible packaging, including pouches, were of particular interest, especially as label converters look to expand into new growth areas.

“Label converters with strong digital businesses found the HP Indigo 8000 to be an excellent opportunity to serve longer runs with fast delivery and at a lower cost,” Mahal said. “The Indigo 8000 challenge tower of production standing against the tower of plates was really insightful in getting customers to realize the cost savings and sustainability potential when using Indigo. Additionally, label converters looking to diversify into sleeves and pouches were impressed by the HP Indigo Digital Pouch Factory demonstration. The compelling business model from HP and our partners offers the ability to develop a profitable digital pouch business, using a modular, simple to operate, low footprint solution based on field-proven press and converting tools.”

According to Mahal, attendees also inquired about high-end and pharma solutions. Brand protection products are also driving growth opportunities in this space. The ability for one press to print multi-layer protection in one pass drew interest at the show, as well.

“The suite of digital embellishment was also interesting for its ability to serve brands with fast time to proof, and by the fact that single tools can replace so many analog components,” he said. “Many of the visitors that are not familiar with HP Indigo were literally shocked that virtually any package on our diverse display could be printed by any of the presses on the floor.”