This week 426 label industry professionals are gathered at the Westin Grand Munich hotel in Munich Germany for the FINAT Congress, the annual meeting of the European label association. The year’s event, which is taking place June 12-15, has been jointly organized by FINAT and Vske, the German label association. With the theme of “Label Your Future,” speakers on Day One focused on where the industry, as well as society in general, is headed.

Robert Magerlein, president of Vske, and managing partner of Eurodruck, a German converter that employs more than 300 people, presented at the Congress a concise overview of Germany’s label market. According to Magerlein, in Germany there are 450 companies that manufacture labels, and these businesses employ 19,000 people. Their combined sales total is $2.4 billion euro.  In Germany, small to medium-sized businesses dominate the label printing landscape. Magerlein pointed out that 40% of the country’s label converters employ between 10 and 50 people, and 38.5% have less than 10.  Germany’s label converters, he said, are a robust and resilient lot. “During the crisis, very few converters gave up. During the recovery, growth has been positive. This is due to the growing packaging market and positive economic development in Germany. We are quite fortunate.”

pertinent to the industry. He said that in 2012, total labelstock consumption in Europe was nearly 6 billion square meters, an increase of 1.7%. Remarkably, Lejeune said, the label industry has doubled its business in just two decades. Lejeune pointed out that a major source of the growth is tied to the profliferation of filmic labels, which now represents more than 25% of total demand in Europe. He also noted that while Germany, the UK, Spain, France and Italy makes up over 60% of Europe’s label market, it is Eastern Europe that is really driving the growth. In summary, Lejeune noted that with the market’s significant growth, there is now more at stake, and the label industry shoulders more responsibility. He said, “Self adhesive is now a dominant force in mature markets, which thus makes it more volatile and sensitive to consumer behavior. We are not just printers, but solutions providers and a key part of the supply chain.”

Day One of the FINAT Congress business program concluded with presentations from representatives of the label industry’s leading labelstock suppliers. Jussi Vanhanen, president, UPM Raflatac (Finland), and Angelo Depietri, president, materials group, Avery Dennison, each gave presentations and then sat down with moderator Marc Buttgenbach to answer audience questions. Both Vanhanen and Depietri focused on the label industry’s dominant trends: decreasing run sizes and margins, digital print, thinner substrates for sustainability and recycling, product safety and security, consolidation, and changes in the retail environment.“The European retail market will continue to consolidate,” Vanhanen said. “This means more concentrated power in decision making, which will have an impact on our businesses.” Vanhanen also emphasized the importance of partnering with “A” brands and private label. “Don’t get stuck with just the ‘B’ and ‘C’ brands,” he said, adding that the emergence of internet retail has implications for the label industry. “Typically, when people buy online, they buy established and trusted brands. So again, this works in favor of ‘A ‘brands and private label.”