FINAT – the international association for self-adhesive labels and related products – has announced the details of its program for its upcoming congress. The congress will take place in hotel Le Méridien Beach Plaza in Monte Carlo, Monaco, June 5-7. The theme of this year’s congress will be ‘The Battle for Shelf Appeal – Winning Strategies for the Label Industry.’

“The 2014 edition marks the first step in the gradual transformation of the congress,” says Kurt Walker, FINAT president. “We want to create more room for interaction and dialog on high-level issues relevant to the future of the self-adhesive and adjacent product decoration and identification business. As the Forum for the label industry, the FINAT Congress has always served as the vehicle for knowledge exchange, networking and inspiration among current and future label business leaders, suppliers, analysts and observers of the self-adhesive supply chain. Hence, it is a must for all professionals active in this industry and critical to the future success of our business,” he concludes. 

The 2014 FINAT Congress theme is “The Battle for Shelf Appeal – Winning Strategies for the Label Industry.” As visits of modern supermarkets across Europe will reveal, the battle to catch the eye of the consumer increasingly also translates into a battle for the most attractive yet cost effective product decoration solution. In order for label printers to stay on top of their game, they not only will need to be aware of the trends and developments in their own area of competence, but also what is driving the possible alternatives.

The congress program will allocate slots to the regular overviews of the hosting and European label markets as well as the annual awards, including the 2014 Congress Logo award, the FINAT Label Awards and the new Recycling Award.

During the congress, FINAT offers attendees also the opportunity to enter into dialog with representatives of leading product providers from different backgrounds during two panel discussions. The ‘The future of applicator technology’ will address the underlying features of alternative applicator technologies such as total applied cost, applicator speed, capital investment, sustainability. The second discussion on ‘The future of product decoration’ will bring together a panel of leading end-users of product decoration and identification products across various markets including food and beverage, cosmetics, household products and toys.

Another section of the program will be dedicated to the evolution of products that will extend the role of packaging and labels beyond the shelf as the shopper journey continues his journey as a consumer. One example that will be highlighted is printed electronics.

To conclude the program, FINAT is proud to present internationally renowned balloonist Bertrand Piccard, one of the descendants of the Swiss dynasty of explorers. 

Details of the program are as follows: 

Friday, June 6
9:00  Welcome by Kurt Walker, FINAT President
9.05 Introduction of the moderator: Marc Büttgenbach, Bizerba (D)
9:15  Keynote speech: “The Battle for Shelf Appeal”, Rik Olthof, Brand Strategist at Cartils (NL)
10:00  Overview of the French label market, Dominique Durant-des Aulnois, UNFEA President (F)
10:30  European Labelstock Statistics 2013, Trends and Outlook 2014, Jules Lejeune, FINAT Managing Director (NL)
11:00  Coffee break and opportunity to visit the tabletop exhibition
11:30  Panel discussion on the various decoration technologies: ‘Battle of decoration technologies’ (Geert-Jan Kolkhuis Tanke – Avery Dennison; Joseph Mayer – Krones; Raul Matos – Karlville; Raffaelle Paci, Sidel)
13:00  Lunch break and opportunity to visit the tabletop exhibition
14:30  Brand owner panel on “the future of product decoration”, Panellists from the food, beverage, cosmetics and toys sectors
16:00  General Assembly
17:00  Award ceremonies – Label Competition, Congress Logo Competition, Recycling Award

Saturday, June 7
9:30  Innovation for labeling and packaging profit, Mike Ferrari, Ferrari Innovation Solutions
10:15  Printed electronics components linking the advanced manufacturing supply chain, Alan McClelland, the Centre for Process Innovation (UK)
11:00  Coffee break
11:30  The Sky and Beyond, Keynote closing address by Bertrand Piccard, aeronaut and explorer (CH)
12:30  Closure of the congress

FINAT Congress logo Students’ Design Competition 2014
Each year FINAT offers the opportunity to design students from the hosting country (France) to design a suitable logo for use on all congress documents and communications, in order to increase visibility of the event. The winning design for the 2014 congress logo was submitted by Cathy Friscia of the CFA Victor Hugo in Carpentras. Cathy will be presented with her award during the FINAT Awards ceremony in Monaco, on Friday, June 6.

Complete details about the awards entries, the congress program, registration and other arrangements can be downloaded from www.finat.com.