Day One FuturePrint Tech Valencia: Fresh Ideas, Sustainability, and Plenty of Good Chat!
Kicking off on April 2nd in Valencia, the conference opened under the kind of weather that makes British attendees endlessly mention how much better it is than back home. The conference brought together an enthusiastic group of industry experts itching to learn more about packaging, labels, and direct-to-shape (DTS) printing.
We started the day with Roman Weishäupl from FUTURE CANDY, who got everyone thinking about what’s next in packaging and retail. Sustainability quickly became the talk of the morning, with José Gorbea from HP Industrial Print exploring how brands can create sustainable value, Jenny Stanley of Appetite Creative discussing the exciting innovations in connected packaging, and Charlotte Neumair from Circular Analytics exploring how to balance regulation with innovation.
The second half of the morning started with Elena Knight and Carlos Lahoz from HP talking about the Sustainability Manifesto. Following the initial reveal of the first draft to a select group at the Leaders Summit, attendees at FuturePrint Tech had the opportunity to discover how they could support the Sustainability Print Manifesto—an exciting initiative aimed at bringing the industry together for measurable progress toward a more sustainable future in print.
Find out here how you can support the Sustainable Print Manifesto
Frazer Chesterman then led an engaging panel with Steve Lister and Stefan Casey (io.tt) who shared their expertise on branding followed by Peter Bergstein, who talked about the challenges of single-pass print solutions. Loacker also offered an interesting case study on packaging innovation in confectionery.
Lunch was a highlight—great conversations and networking under the warm Valencian sun made for a perfect break.
Technical topics took the spotlight later, with Matt Brooks (AGFA) talking inks for cartons, Emma Barry and Michael Matthews (Domino Printing Sciences) debating the pros and cons of flexo, digital, and hybrid printing methods, and Simon Daplyn (Sun Chemical) discussing sustainability with inks and pigments. Lionel Petton (Cabot Corporation) gave us a closer look at pigment regulations, and James Beattie from Xanita introduced us to some cool digital corrugated printing innovations.
Matt Brooks from Agfa
Closing the last sessions of the day, Martin Letzner (Matti Group) and Greg Nam (Archipelago Technology) shared exciting advancements in DTS technology. Richard Darling (Global Inkjet Systems) and Rafa Castrejon-Pita (University College London) provided fascinating technical insights.
The final speaker, Javier Quesada from Kento, presented a case study featuring the microbrewery Cervezas Gran Via, who generously provided bottles for everyone to sample—an excellent conclusion to a fantastic day! Looking forward to tomorrow…
