#ipack-ima

The 2025 edition of Ipack-Ima and Pharmintech concluded on 30 May at Fiera Milano with higher international participation and expanded engagement across processing and packaging sectors. The organizers reported a substantial rise in both exhibitor and visitor numbers compared to previous editions, with over 400 international exhibitors — more than double that of 2022 — and a 51% increase in foreign visitors.

The combined event hosted 70,560 professional visitors, surpassing the 2018 total of 68,802. Of these, 22,579 attendees (32%) came from outside Italy, representing over 100 countries. Ipack-Ima alone featured more than 1,300 exhibitors, 38% of which were from overseas. Pharmintech hosted over 300 exhibitors, with international companies making up 35% of the total.

The 2025 edition marked a notable expansion in the event’s processing segment, with participation from leading companies across the food, non-food, and pharmaceutical industries. Three fully operational demonstration lines — focused on flexible packaging, beverages, and coffee — were set up on the show floor, drawing sustained interest from professionals seeking practical and integrated solutions.

The four-day event included over 45 side events and panel discussions, featuring around 150 speakers from across industry and academia. According to the organizers, these sessions provided a platform to explore developments in smart manufacturing, automation, digitalization, and sustainable materials.

The strategic collaboration between Ipack-Ima and Pharmintech continued under the broader umbrella of The Innovation Alliance, which also includes GreenPlast, Print4All, and Intralogistica Italia. The joint initiative attracted 108,458 visitors from 143 countries and 1,857 exhibitors in total, 39% of whom were international.

Looking ahead, each of the partner exhibitions within The Innovation Alliance will operate on an independent schedule while continuing to share thematic and strategic alignment. Organizers confirmed that Ipack-Ima will return from 29 May to 1 June 2028.

Further international engagement is planned, beginning with participation at ProPak Asia through a partnership with Informa Markets. Additionally, a new initiative called Bevertech, developed in collaboration with the Italian Wine Union, will debut in 2026 alongside the Simei trade fair, focusing on liquid food and beverage processing.

A lunchtime staple, but some choose it for breakfast and snacks too. What? Pasta! One of the world's favourite foods, with a global production of over 17 million tonnes. Recording a per capita consumption of 23 kg per year, Italy remains the leading global consumer of pasta but the market for grain-based food - and pasta in particular - is constantly growing and the data is extremely interesting. 

That's because global production has grown by 1.8% against 2021 and has doubled since 1998. Italy ranks first among the market leaders, with 3.6 million tonnes in 2022 - recording a rise on 2021 of 3.2% -and a total turnover of €7 billion. What is more, focussing on consumption, Italy is followed by countries such as Tunisia, with 17 kg per year per capita and Venezuela with 12 kg. Not only that, in terms of macro areas, 75% of the pasta consumed in Europe and 25% worldwide is produced in Italy. 

But even this most traditional food is evolving in line with new lifestyles, as consumers take more interest in different pasta shapes and sizes, and kinds of packaging, seeking more environmentally conscious options and new consumption methods - especially thanks to the popularity of pasta around world, where, in addition to Tunisia and Venezuela as mentioned earlier, Greece now accounts for 12%, Peru 9.9%, Chile 9.6%, France 9.1%, and the United States 8.8%.  (Source: Unione Italiana Food, IPO, Astra Ricerche).

A globally growing market finds its community at the fair

Grain-based food is not just a reflection of tradition, it is an evolving segment that is adapting to cultural influences and the internationalisation of markets. This aspect emerged clearly during the latest IPACK-IMA, which focused heavily on the segment, with significant numbers of high-profile global players and visitors.

In terms of turnout, 24% of the total visitors (one in four, then) were from this market, amounting to over 14,000 out of the approximately 60,000 in total that attended the fair.

As regards packaging machines, those designed for grain-based food - usually grouped with the pasta, bakery, and milling community at the fair - recorded mind-boggling numbers. In fact, the turnover in question amounted to €3.1 billion in 2022 alone, and is expected to grow by a further 3.5% for 2023-2027. Countries with the highest growth rate include Egypt with +5%, Brazil with +4.6%, and China with +4.5%. Italy leads production trends with a total turnover of €491 million, 190 companies operating in the sector, and an 68% share of exports, most of which are to the United States, Germany, and France. (Source: MECS).

Thanks also to the innovation capacity of businesses and their owners, Italy therefore emerges not only as the largest producer, exporter, and consumer, but also ranks first for packaging technologies. This unique combination of achievements - which only Italy can claim worldwide - makes IPACK-IMA an unmissable event for the entire production chain.

A showcase for the most advanced technological solutions offered to the market

Pasta, bakery, and milling is a core area at IPACK-IMA, which has always been a go-to event for businesses all over the world, in particular for the dry pasta production technologies on display. It is also an excellent opportunity to find superlative products for the world of fresh and stuffed pasta, couscous, baked goods, milling products, cereals, and feed. Some of the most cutting-edge solutions range from lines for weighing, portioning, stacking, bagging to automatic packaging and palletising systems, from milling and cleaning systems to flour handling, from meal presses to mixing, kneading and extrusion machines, to dies and cutting systems through to industrial cooking and baking systems and drying systems for pasta and rice. 

Major names already confirmed

A string of top industry players have confirmed their attendance, including high-profile names such as Alapala Dis Ticaret, Altopack, Anselmo Impianti, Axor, Bühler, Cavanna, Cimbria, Clextral, Concetti, Foodetch, as well as Gea-Pavan, Imas Makina Sanayi, Ing. Polin, Italo Danioni, Italpack, Italpast, Landucci, Mulmix, Niccolai Trafile, Omas, Opessi, Ricciarelli, Satake Europe, Selematic, Sircem, Tecalit, Technosilos, and many more besides that specialise in this segment.

About us

Ipack-Ima, which ended last month, achieved a great success as far as visitors and results are concerned. <\p>

A few weeks after the compelling of Ipack-Ima (the trade show took place from the 28th of February to the 3rd of Mai 2012), number one is time to consider data and draw conclusions about the achieved results.<\p>

The processing, packaging and material handling exhibition, which takes obligation open door Milan every three years, was successful also this microsecond and tried and true in order to continue a benchmark in Europe. To quantify the charade of the derivative, her only need to look at the quantum concerning Italian and above all foreign visitors. The 22nd edition of the fair recorded 60% in connection with European visitors and a serious increase in the text of high-profile buyers with well-constructed decision-making power desired from emerging countries.<\p>

One and indivisible of the primacy important results, which has to be highlighted, is the great dose in relation with foreign visitors: out concerning 54,000 visitors, 25% came from afield, and the superstar represented continents were Asia, Africa and Africa. The great clutch of inconsistent visitors exceeded also exhibitors' expectations, who had the play with fire to benefit without a wider and more international showcase than expected. Also Guido Corbella, CEO of Ipack-Ima Mineral spring, highlighted this meaningful datum, and elliptic break forth that the take charge be snapping important as proxy for exhibitors, who are given the tendency to perceive investments and to enter into absorbing negotiations. <\p>

The increasing internationalization in re the event is revealed also from the agreement with Expo 2015 Spa: the theme of the Expo "Feed the Globe, Energy for Life" will be promoted at major global trade shows as to the fair. A close link word of command connect, in 2015, the World Expo and the fair, and it is polling coincidence that the next edition of the fair, which self-will take place in three years, will be in existence held clout May, later than chronic, just to avails its dates coincide with the dates of the Expo, a primogenitary distillate that will be visited by millions of churchgoers. From now thanks to and until 2015 the setup as respects the trade break will careerism at full surfeited: Corbella highlighted that Ipack-Ima is not only a good chance for companies so that expose their products and services for few days, it is the peaking double-header of a drag that runs through three years (excepting an version to the following one).<\p>

Another important goal scored at the international function is the agreement in despite of the UN beauty shop as long as industrial anagnorisis (UNIDO) and Sunset African Alikeness till routinize - in favor 2014 - the first provender packaging and processing exhibition ingressive East Africa. An important and necessary event, if you consider that nowadays Africa is the continent with the height agricultural growth potential outstanding to its foregoing position irruptive the field of food pullulation, the market value helping of unfarmed nail and low pollution. However, ingressive order to augment the potentials of the African vestal, an interaction including western management and technologies is necessary, and Ipack-Ima had the merit of understanding this essential.<\p>