40 Years of Labelexpo: A Showcase for Innovation & Change

In May 1980, a fledgling new exhibition dedicated to the labels, labeling, marking and identification industries was held in the Old Horticultural Halls in London. Its name was Labelex ’80.

It had just 44 exhibitors made up of label converters, label and marking machinery, and label materials suppliers, including Fasson self-adhesive label substrates.

The following year, a second Labelex show was again held in London. This time, with some 60 exhibitors, but now with visitors coming from more than 30 different countries: such was the interest in the opportunities and markets to be found in the fast-growing world of self-adhesive labels. Driven by rapid expansion in the use of retail scanning checkouts in both North America and Europe, the demand for higher-quality UPC and EAN barcoded labels created annual volume label growth well into the double digits.

The business forms industry was also experiencing rapid volume growth for fan-folded labels that could be processed through dot-matrix printers and copiers for mass mailing of documents. All of these developments in the worlds of retail and commerce meant that conventional wet-glue and gummed label printers, as well as business forms printers, were all looking to move into self-adhesive label production and were desperate for as much information and knowledge as could be obtained.

Labelexpo Historical Milestones

In 1982, the original small dedicated London-based label show had been re-named Labelex International and now took place in Birmingham. By 1985, the very first Labelexpo Europe was being held at the downtown Rogier Center in Brussels. Major exhibitors by now included Mark Andy, Nilpeter, Webtron, Ko-Pack, Edale and FSK. Working label machinery, both flexo and rotary letterpress, were now standard features of the label shows. The visitor base increased rapidly.

A second Labelexpo Europe was held in the same venue in 1987, with around 80 exhibitors and nearly 5,000 visitors from 38 countries. Almost all the major label press manufacturers and ancillary suppliers were by now regular participants. It was then decided that Labelexpo Europe 1989, now well established as a biennial show, would be moved to the Parc des Expositions center in Brussels, still the home of the European show to this day. This proved to be a major success, attracting visitors from 49 countries—some 5,000+ people. More than 40 different makes and models of working label printing machinery could be seen.

The move to the Parc des Expositions really cemented Labelexpo Europe as the leading global event for the label and related industries. Today, what started as a small niche show in London in 1980 now attracts more than 600 exhibitors and in excess of 35,000 visitors. Everything they see is related to label and narrow-to-mid-web production. No other show can provide such an experience—and this is all backed up with specialist master classes, workshops and feature areas.

Labelexpo is, of course, not just a European show. The first Labelexpo Americas was held in 1989 and since 2000 has too been a biennial show at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL and co-sponsored by TLMI.

Biennial Labelexpo shows are now also held in China, India and Thailand, while others over the years have been held in Singapore, Australia and Russia. Labelexpo today is a truly global brand in its own right that has been at the forefront of almost every major development in the world of labels over the past 40 years, and more recently flexible packaging.

So what impact have these dedicated label shows had on the label industry over the past 40 years?

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