FINAT, the European association for the label industry, is pleased to announce the programme for its European Label Forum 2023, to be held from Wednesday 31 May till Friday 2 June at the Hilton Park Vienna (A).

FINAT’s 63rd annual in-person conference since its foundation in 1958, and its 7th in the current format as ‘European Label Forum’, comes at a time that the European labels and packaging industry is undergoing the impact of successive distortions caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic, rapid post-Pandemic recovery as well as subsequent socio-economic and geopolitical turmoil.

Having weathered the storms of 2020 and 2021 as part of societies’ essential infrastructure, in 2022 European label companies were riding the waves of supply chain volatility caused by paper strikes, excessive raw materials lead times and shaky stock levels, combined with growing economic uncertainty caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, energy shortages, cost increases, interest rate rises and consumer price inflation severely impacting disposable incomes.

At the time of releasing this programme (February 2023) it remains to be seen how these forces will impact our industry going forward into the spring and summer, but our event next June in wonderful Vienna is likely to be the perfect occasion for business owners, industry leaders and value chain partners to address critical questions like:

• How will societies, economies and markets be responding to the present ‘perfect storm’?
• How will our industry be doing in the broader scope of labels and packaging industry perspectives?
• What does the current environment mean for business consolidation and technology investment?
• What can our industry do with our value chain partners to advance the transition to circular business models, environmentally sustainable processes and products in the face of climate change and raw materials shortages?
• What are the lessons learned from last year’s supply chain disruptions and which tools are available to manage risks within the triangle of customer service, economic viability and the necessary working capital?

All these questions and more will be addressed at our industry’s annual leadership summit next June. For more information and registration visit www.europeanlabelforum.com.