Chicago, IL – A collection of trade shows bringing together like-minded exhibitors and attendees in the printing and food packaging industries will join forces at McCormick Place in Chicago this Fall.
The plan, unveiled this week, has GRAPH EXPO 15 and its co-located partner CPP Expo running September 13-16 in the South Hall of McCormick Place. The North and East Halls will host PROCESS EXPO, InterBev Process and the International Dairy Show on September 15-18.
The collection of shows will bring together printers with members of the food processing industry, one of the leading end-users of industrial printing services and equipment. The show venues have been centered on McCormick Place in recent years. The new overlapping dates will be an opportunity for one-stop shopping by buyers from processing companies, many of whom are based in the Midwest.
“Industry convergence has been a hot topic for many years,” said Ralph Nappi, president of Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), the organizer of GRAPH EXPO 15. “Processing, packaging, printing and converting will all converge in one location for the first time.”
Chris Price, vice president of GASC, told Trade Show Executive the initial projections were for a combined 550,000 net square feet (nsf) of exhibit space. The registration fee gives all attendees access to all exhibit areas.
The 2014 edition of GRAPH EXPO and CPP EXPO covered 238,500 net square feet. The Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA) announced in October that booth sales for the 2015 PROCESS EXPO had reached 200,000 nsf. The co-located 2013 editions of the biennial PROCESS EXPO and International Dairy EXPO totaled 314,600 nsf.
The newest player is InterBev Process, which will be re-launched this year by NurnbergMesse North America as a co-located event with PROCESS EXPO and the dairy show.
Reach Ralph Nappi at (703) 264-7200, x227, or rnappi@gasc.org; Chris Price at (703) 264-7200, x221, or cprice@gasc.org; Andrea Paulinelli, director of trade shows for NurnbergMesse North America, at (770) 618-5842 or andrea@interbev.com; senior vice president, at (703) 663-1201 or adrennan@fpsa.org
