More than 2,950 exhibitors from more than 73 countries will fill over 43,500 m2 of exhibit space at PLMA’s 2024 World of Private Label International Trade Show, May 28 and 29 at the RAI in Amsterdam.

The show floor will span 14 halls, including nine for food and five for non-food. It will feature 67 national and regional pavilions.

“Our high-impact global event provides a dynamic two-day platform for more than 28,000 private label professionals from 120 countries to connect, source and grow,” said PLMA President Peggy Davies. “The innovation unveiled for food and non-food products and packaging on the show floor and in Idea Supermarket will strengthen the already booming private label industry.”

This year’s tasting and testing days for PLMA’s International Salute to Excellence Awards have taken place. Spoiler alert: yes, there were some very innovative products. In two days, more than 500 food and non-food products were evaluated by two international panels of professional judges on several criteria, including taste, product concept, packaging, and value for money.  Submissions came from over 70 retailers from 23 countries around the world and included food, beverages, home and household, health and beauty and pet categories.

The private label wine category had its own separate tasting sessions. Under guidance of Master of Wine Cees van Casteren, two panels of wine experts tasted some 130 wines divided in about twenty categories. From sparkling whites and roses through classic wines to organic, judges rolled the wine, smelled it, looked at it, tasted, and scored it on concentration, complexity, length and balance.

It is February when we write this, and some of you will wonder why you haven’t heard from us regarding the annual PLMA Roundtable Conference, which would always take place in this month, rotating between European cities.

Well, don’t worry, we’ve just made some changes, including the timing. We moved the conference to an annual late October event, still moving between European cities and Milan will be our next destination. Also, we changed the name of the conference to “Private Label Summit”, which is a better reflection of what the event is about (and we actually never used a table that was round). So mark your calendars and keep an eye out for our updates on "The Future of Private Label as a Brand" at PLMA's 2024 Annual Private Label Summit on 29-30 October in Milan. 
 

How will branded companies be attempting to regain lost ground and how may incremental innovation help private label to consolidate its wins?

Cyrille Filott and Sebastiaan Schreijen of Rabobank may not have a crystal ball, but they will take you along in their thoughts on current market dynamics and the opportunities for the right type of innovation during PLMA's upcoming Lunch & Learn series.

This one-hour online Lunch and Learn session entitled "Enhancing Resilience through Incremental Innovation in Private Label" will be led by Rabobank on 27 March 2024 from 12:30-13:30 CET.

It’s free for PLMA member and retailers. A link to register can be requested here.

PLMA is making its annual Executive Education programme available for everyone, wherever they are, by organizing it online this year. On the mornings of 28 and 29 February, there will be teaching sessions, panel discussions, interactive lectures on current topics that concern the private label industry.

The curriculum covers retail trends, product and packaging innovation, successful private label strategies in today’s challenging market, neuro marketing and best practices in the retailer-supplier relationship. For more information click here.