UCIMA and IPACK-IMA announce 2025 exhibition in Milan

Ahead of Italy’s biggest exhibition for packaging – IPACK-IMA MILANO 2025 – the leads for UCIMA and IPACK-IMA updated the international press on industry matters: technological innovation, global competition, presence in key global markets, business models, sustainability, and an innovative exhibition formula and organisational approach.

IPACK-IMA MILANO will take place from May 27-30, 2025 at the Fiera Milano. Sharing information about this event, Riccardo Cavanna, chairman of UCIMA (Italian packaging machinery manufacturers’ association); Valerio Soli, chairman of Ipack Ima (organiser); and Simone Castelli, CEO of Ipack Ima discussed Italy's role in the global packaging sector and the state of the industry. Also present at the conference, Tom Egan, PMMI VP Industry Services, and Italy’s Deputy Minister for Business and Made in Italy, Valentino Valentini, showed their support for the Italian organisers.

From left, Simone Castelli, CEO of Ipack Ima srl; Tom Egan, PMMI VP Industry Services; Riccardo Cavanna, chairman of UCIMA; Valentino Valentini, Deputy Minister for Business and Made in Italy; and Valerio Soli, chairman of Ipack Ima, with host, Liliam Benzi.

“Today’s event offered a comprehensive overview of the state of the international packaging industry,” said Riccardo Cavanna, chairman of UCIMA. “We wanted to discuss topics relating to all areas of the industry so as to provide companies with a comprehensive picture of market trends. We also launched the We Make Packaging brand, which is intended to cover all the promotional activities undertaken by Ucima for the Italian packaging industry, both in Italy and abroad. It marks a first step in our ongoing promotional strategy for a sector that represents Italian excellence worldwide.”

Part of the discussion centred on the development strategy adopted for the IPACK-IMA platform, conceived as an integrated and synergistic exhibition of the most innovative and important offerings in terms of technologies and materials. This is divided into four major areas of specialisation: grain-based food, liquid food & beverage, pharma and chemicals. One of the real highlights of the show will be the sector of technologies and solutions for secondary and tertiary packaging, including the end-of-line stage, automation and robotics, coding and traceability systems.

“Over the coming years we will concentrate our efforts on expanding and innovating our range of offerings through Ipack Ima’s integrated platform,” said Valerio Soli, chairman of Ipack Ima. “We will look at the market and its future trends to help us successfully anticipate the needs of exhibitors and visitors from all over the world. In particular, we will focus on concepts such as digitalisation, technological innovation and sustainability, all of which are themes that are becoming increasingly topical and important for our industry. At IPACK-IMA MILANO 2025 we aim to provide exhibitors and visitors with all the answers they need to identify, to strengthen and expand the business trajectories of the extraordinary companies present at the show, all of which represent the greatest capacity for innovation on a global scale. The exhibition will adopt a unique strategy and governance model based on a flexible approach to the market and its continuous changes in order to observe the industry in detail and provide a comprehensive view of technology and its future development.”

“Our aim is to consolidate the IPACK-IMA of the future as an integrated platform of specialised and complementary trade fairs in order to foster a process of convergence which in turn will act as a business accelerator,” said Simone Castelli, CEO of Ipack Ima srl. “Our new strategy focuses on packaging technologies and materials for the target markets of the sectors hosted at the show, such as grain-based foods, beverage and liquid food, and pharmaceuticals. We also aim to bring together the transversal sectors that we have always hosted: secondary and tertiary packaging, end-of-line, traceability and coding, digitalisation and robotics. Our aim is to combine intensive and multidisciplinary content while promoting extensive, effective and functional participation in terms of numbers, markets and international attendance. Our slogan, The Art of Innovation, refers to the inventive talent that has enabled our industry to develop the world’s finest technical and technological solutions over the years and is intended to promote IPACK-IMA MILANO as the ideal venue for showcasing these skills through global technological excellence.”

Valentino Valentini, Deputy Minister for Business and Made in Italy, concluded: “Packaging is one of the key sectors of Italian industry. The quality of our machinery is recognised the world over and reflects Italy’s ability to achieve constant technological progress while maintaining the values of our manufacturing tradition. The Italian government, and in particular the Ministry for Business and Made in Italy that I represent, sees this is a vital sector, and one that we intend to continue to support with ever greater commitment. We will likewise be supporting IPACK-IMA, which will be a major opportunity to promote Made in Italy. The message the government wants to send out is that companies and workers can count on our support and that we will do everything possible to enable them to be even more competitive in the global marketplace.”

Global Packaging Director Mintel, Benjamin Punchard also presented on global packaging consumer trends, and how companies can work with consumers in addressing sustainability issues.