The event held at Brussels Expo from 29 September to 2 October was marking its 35th anniversary and celebrated a jump of 12.4% in visitor numbers against 2013 by drawing 35,739 people.

Visitors to the event, held every two years, came from 146 countries, with most attending from the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Belgium.

The show also posted an increase in visitors from outside Europe with 19.6% of the total travelling from as far away as Asia, the Americas and Africa.

Covering 34,566sqm, the show’s footprint also increased by 11.65% on 2013, while exhibitor numbers rose from 600 to just over 650.

Labelexpo Europe is billed as the world’s largest event for the label and package printing industry and new kit included Soma Engineering’s Optima 820 press for labels and packaging; Gallus’ first ever modular digital converting system, the DCS 340, and new digital presses from manufacturers such as EFI, Epson and Screen. HP Indigo also showcased its HP Indigo 20000 and WS6800 digital presses.

Labelexpo Global Series managing director Lisa Milburn said: “Feedback has been phenomenal and many press manufacturers experienced record sales and lead generation.

“The main trends coming out of this year’s show are the continued move to package printing as we see more manufacturers bringing short-run production printing presses.

“This backs up our strategy going forward, and the ongoing dominance of digital as more and more hybrid digital printing presses flood into the marketplace.”

Exhibitor API's marketing manager Hester McQueen said: “Labelexpo Europe enabled us to show our foils, laminates and holographics. We have a record number of leads and a lot of specific interest in our new TA Foil, which we launched at the show, as well as a number of new projects for our brand enhancement service where we work with companies to help improve and protect their packaging."

See next week's issue of PrintWeek for our two-page Labelexpo briefing.