The second New York edition of ADF (Aerosol Dispensing Forum) and PCD (Packaging of Perfume, Cosmetics & Design) was held September 6-7 at the Altman Building and Metropolitan Pavilion, and it was a success, organizers say.  The show attracted 10% more visitors compared to last year. And, 70% of exhibitors rebooked onsite for next year.

Christelle Anya, show director, commented, “We are thrilled with the success of ADF&PCD, and with the feedback we received from visitors and exhibitors alike. A 70% rebooking rate says a lot, and further emphasizes the highly targeted audience in attendance.” (See video interview with Anya)

Packaging executives spotted walking down the hot pink carpeted aisles were from leading brands, including Church & Dwight, Colgate-Palmolive, Coty, Estée Lauder, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oréal, P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, Revlon and Unilever, among others.

Amy Christian, of Tata Harper Skincare, told show organizers, “It is nice to see all of the up and coming products since we like to source from multiple vendors.”

Many exhibitors seemed happy about the amount of foot traffic, and the types of visitors the show attracts. “This event is a boutique trade show for people that are involved in the business. No shenanigans, simply straightforward networking and business,” said Matias Levit, Condensa.

Conference Speakers Drew Crowds

The ADF conference program drew standing room only crowds that spilled into the show aisles, while a newly revamped format for the PCD conference program improved attendance over last year.

Anya said, “Our team worked very hard, conducting market research and meeting with industry leaders in the beauty industry, to understand their most pressing, real-world challenges…We curated a high-level conference program to specifically address these challenges. We are delighted that the effort paid off and the industry responded. We want to encourage the industry to constantly liaise with us and share their current challenges so that we can address these next year.”

Speakers from Birchbox, Colgate-Palmolive, Fashion Institute of Technology, Glossybox, Johnson & Johnson, Linked In, Pratt Institute, and other top companies explored a variety of topics, including global beauty trends, sustainability and e-commerce.

Dana Aidekman, director of merchandising, Birchbox, offered her perspective on how beauty retailers and subscriptions continue to rely on innovative product formats and packaging to fuel growth, especially as sampling strategies grow. “As a packaging industry outsider, my perspective is different…I focus on what will drive sales for our brand partners, and ultimately their suppliers,” Aidekman stated. (See BeautyPackaging.com for extended coverage of several of the conferences, including more insights from Aidekman, and future trend insights for beauty by Jeanine Recckio, of MirrorMirror Imagination Group.)

Presenting the 2017 Innovation Award Winners

The ADF&PCD Innovation Awards Ceremony was held during the show. Awards were presented to Coppertone Whipped Lotion Sunscreen, Kanebo Evita Beauty Whip Soap, Ball Corporation for L’Oréal Men Expert, Aveda Tulasara Wedding Masque, Bobbi Brown Liquid Lip Art Stick, Garnier Fructis, and Calvin Klein CK One Gold. (See more coverage of the Innovation Awards at BeautyPackaging.com)

The Innovation Awards ceremony concluded with a cocktail reception sponsored by Power Container, allowing attendees to meet the winners and network.

Supplier Innovations

This year’s show featured a wide variety of packaging options—and even more dispensing solutions. An especially large number of suppliers featured innovative solutions for pump dispensers, especially foamers.

Packaging suppliers featured options in plastic, glass and metal. There were innovative designs for sampling, gift sets, fragrances, color cosmetics, skincare, haircare and personal care products on display. Several suppliers promoted contract manufacturing as an area of expertise, since they handle everything from formulation to filling. Others featured new types of decorating techniques for glass, as well as new stock designs in plastic, for bottles and caps.

Here, we highlight several of the packaging options featured by suppliers.

Foaming pumps seem to be a trend, as quite a few suppliers offered different solutions for foaming products. Apollo, a cosmetic packaging manufacturer in South Korea, featured two dispensing options—a Fine Foamer, which incorporates outer-spring technology, and a Fine Mist, which has a metal-free path. The supplier also provides decorating options.

Daiwa Personal Care featured its foam pumps. “Our foam pumps produce a thick foam,” said John Schaudies, vice president, Daiwa Can Personal Care, as he demonstrated the creamy texture the dispenser produces. According to Schaudies, beauty and personal care brands are fueling the demand by formulating new types of foaming products, in new product categories.

The foamers are ideal for body wash, face wash and shampoo.

When working with Daiwa, a brand has the option of choosing the type of mesh screen to pair the pump with, to customize the foam’s density. The coarser the screen, the denser the foam will be. The supplier says that their pump is cost-efficient for brands, because they require 20% less product than the norm, to produce a dense foam. The supplier also had a biodegradable foam tube on display.

HK Blossom spoke to visitors about expanding into North America. The supplier specializes in innovative dispensing systems for beauty and treatment products, and counts many skin-care brands among its customers. Their new black and white line includes dual dispensing options.

Bruce Glincman, global sales director, HK Blossom, showed visitors a new foamer, which is equipped with a brush applicator on top.  (See video)

Lindal Group (see video) featured its new FlipClassic, which is an insert-less actuator with an integrated cap, ideal for personal care products in tubes. It is a compelling alternative to more costly twist-lock actuators, since it is highly cost-efficient, explained Philip Brand, marketing director and Kashif Choudry, group product marketing manager. Unlike more costly twist-lock and traditional cap-plus-actuators, FlipClassic’s cap and actuator are securely hinged, offering easy one-handed operation. 

Brand and Choudry explained, “It is an ergonomically appealing design with a fresh, contemporary look. It also delights consumers by solving the common problem of lost caps, especially in the case of the fast-growing travel pack product sector, where undesired actuation is a concern.” Lindal also spoke to visitors about its new production facility in the U.S.

Airopack (see video), which uses air rather than propellants for dispensing, has expanded with a new filling operation, Airofiller, and spoke to the show’s visitors about its new capabilities. Airopack is known as “the plant-friendly aerosol.” 

American Spraytech featured hair mists and sprayable lotions, among other innovative products, in cans powered by its dispensing systems. Many brands utilize its packaging technologies for dry shampoos and hair color.

Crisanoplast, an Italian company, featured a full range of caps designed for personal care products, including spray caps. Its new “Alex” spray cap is an innovative design, since it can be produced in two colors, due to its molded insert. The supplier’s range of caps are available in both matte and gloss finishes. Options include one-piece spray caps, which are cost-efficient.

‘Copycat’ Looks

Several suppliers featured innovative packaging designed to resemble other materials. Heinz-Glas spoke to visitors about an innovative decoration—a “faux metal” shoulder on a glass bottle. The decorating process is done in-line.

Heinz-Glas recently worked with La Mer to utilize the technique on an oval-shaped bottle for one of its new skincare products, which was on display. “The shoulder looks like metal, but it is metallized glass,” says Monica Juguet, sales, Heinz-Glas. “The indentation on the glass makes it look like a separate metal piece,” she adds. 

New High Glass featured six new caps that appeared to be glass, due to their high level of clarity—but they were plastic. The six new stock cap designs were paired with luxe, heavyweight glass bottles. Made for crimped bottles, the caps were shown in various shapes, and are available in new color options.

Stolzle Glass USA featured “faux labels.” The supplier developed an innovative digital printing technique for glass that can be used to print an image, or create the look of a marbled or wood grain surface. The decoration can be used to completely cover a glass bottle, wrapping around every side and edge—or just one side. It looks and feels like a “real” label. “We can customize the decoration for smaller quantities,” said Gregory Grimonprez, technical sales director, Stolzle USA.

SIBO featured lightweight plastic caps that resembled wood, and they even have a textured look and tactile feel. “The wood-grain effect is an in-mold design,” explained Klemen Pipan, sales manager, SIBO.

Beautiful Bottles, Jars & Cans

Baralan (see video) featured several new packaging options for skincare products, developed by the company’s new prestige division. The new glass Opal collection features dropper bottles in new shapes and airless jars. Baralan also developed a new line of custom caps to compliment the collection, and they are fully customizable. Standard color options make the collection affordable for brands that need smaller quantities. 

Verescence (see video) spoke to visitors about the beautiful jar they produce for Dior’s Hydra Life skincare line. The seamless glass is ultra-thin, and looks modern and luxe. Another jar on display featured engraving inside.

Glass jars are being used more often by prestige skincare brands, according to Sheherazade Chamlou, vice president of sales and marketing, Verescence. The supplier’s numerous jar styles, made using innovative types of glass that offer a variety of benefits, are designed to give the prestige market more options. 

Colt’s Plastics showcased some of its most popular jar designs. One of its collections features jars in heavy-wall PETG, available in every size a brand could possibly need, from 5-to 100ml. The jars and caps are stock components, and can be customized.

SHB spoke to visitors about its wide range of stock molds for plastic bottles and tottles, which can be mixed and matched with a variety of different caps. Jens-Olaf Stolle, managing director, explained that the company focuses on helping a brand differentiate with design, and has online tools to help brands easily create custom looks from its standard options. The bottles on display were in various shapes, and some are ergonomically designed with ridges on both sides, which might help when grabbing a body wash in the shower, for example. Flat and curvy shapes provided different looks. They are available in clear, frosted, or plastic that contains various percentages of post-consumer resin.

Ramon Clemente featured glass bottles in unusual shapes. The supplier specializes in molding glass into skulls, slanted designs and asymmetrical bottles with side necks. Molding these shapes, and ensuring proper glass distribution requires skill, and the supplier says they are often a go-to source for technically challenging designs.

Caps, Tubes, Turnkey Solutions & More

Suppliers that specialize in providing turnkey solutions are important assets. Cosmetics & Perfume Filling & Packaging (C&PF&P) will provide everything a brand needs for a launch, and often works with prestige and niche fragrance brands. A number of fragrances were on display, showcasing the supplier’s expertise in supplying and assembling bottles, pumps, caps, decorations, filling and gift set packaging and samplers.

Fareva’s expertise lies in dispensing systems, as well as in formulations and filling. Its new skincare line was on display, which includes a new clay mask in a twist-up stick package, and a sulfate-free shower gel. The team said its new makeup division is coming soon, along with suncare products.

Fareva’s R&D team focuses on bringing innovative formulations to market, and the company operates 35 factories. Fareva, which is based in France, recently opened a new aerosol plant in Mexico, and has plans to create a U.S. hub. The company is expanding due to a new alliance with Walgreens and Boots stores.

When a brand needs a metallized look, they often reach out to Tapematic (see video). The supplier spoke to visitors about the many advantages of its decorating processes, often used to give caps a luxe look. The supplier’s in-line decorating module is used to digitally engrave any image on a metallized cap. The same process can also be used to create embossed effects. 

Corpack (see video) featured a new variation for TwinPack, its dual-chamber bottle, which holds two product formulations in the same component. The supplier also recently launched a complete Drop Range, which is designed for color cosmetics. 

Montebello showcased its new innovative tube design, which doesn’t require a separate cap. Instead, the tube itself is blow-molded into the shoulder, and seals closed with a foil. It is available in 2” and 2-1/2” diameters. This unusual design uses 50% less resin in the tube’s shoulder area.

Ball Corp.(see video) introduced its aluminum cans with tactile decorations, as well as matte and gloss finishes. Tactile touches encourage the consumer to reconnect with the package at every use, and also serves as a grip in the shower,” said Jason Galley, director, global innovation and business development. 

Qosmedix (see video) showcased a new range of skincare applicators in cute styles. The washable applicators are designed for blendable applications, and are available in various colors and shapes. They are in stock in the supplier’s office in New York. 

Boxes, Papers, Bags & Pouches

At Accurate Box Co., a large sign proclaimed, “The box is just as important as what’s inside!” The company works with some of the largest beauty brands, including many that sell large quantities online. The supplier’s shipping boxes are adorned with vibrant graphics, mainly on the inside of the lid, to re-create a brand’s in-store visuals inside the box.

Iggesund promoted its sustainability platform, as well as the unique features of its flagship product, Invercote. “Brands come to us to collaborate,” said Neal Haussel, director, strategic business development & sustainability for Iggesund NA. We take several factors into consideration, including water use and CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process, to ensure that our products meet a brand’s sustainability goals,” he explains.

Parcome demonstrated how a few of its boxes and cartons open up. Perfect for holiday packaging and gift sets, they featured innovative designs with drawers and origami-inspired folds. Several set-up boxes were modeled after jewelry boxes. One round carton, produced for Shiseido, “popped open” when it was unfolded. “This design gives consumers that ‘wow’ experience,” said Romain Lacombe, U.S. executive director, Parcome. 

DaklaPack featured all types of flexible packaging, offering unique shipping, packaging and filling solutions. The European company expanded to the U.S. 18 months ago, and says they have since attracted the attention of many beauty brands. Extra large pouches were on display, filled with hair treatment and straightening products. The sizes are ideal for professional brands that sell product in large quantities to salons, or for a personal care brand to sell economically priced refills.

All types of shopping bags were on display, some printed with metallic logos. DaklaPack also supplies the prettiest mailers made from bubblewrap, covered in gold and hot pink foil.

Expansion Slated for 2018

Show organizer, Easyfairs announced plans to expand ADF&PCD in 2018 by adding its popular Packaging Innovations show. It will run alongside the Pentawards Conference and Pentawards Live, which celebrates award-winning package design.

The new concept is expected to bring together brands, design agencies, packaging manufacturers, material producers and innovators across all market sectors to network and collaborate.

Save the date: ADF&PCD, with Packaging Innovations, Pentawards Conference and Pentawards Live will take place on September 5-6, 2018, at the Altman Building and Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.