FESPA Global Print Expo 2021 was a highlight of this year’s international trade fairs and decal was present, after the interruption imposed by the pandemic context. It was a return that we’ll tell you about in this interview with Carlos Alves, from our Export department, who was with his team in Amsterdam between October 12 and 15.
FESPA begins long before the official date
Participating in an event of this size, where the world competition is literally meters away, involves a long process that begins in advance.
The number of people involved in the process is high, comprising various departments and skills. All so that the decal stand stands out and is ready to welcome visitors on the official date.
The fair is the main stage and, according to our sales manager, “represents the long road traveled so far by decal and the members of the Export team, all the efforts made day after day”. Efforts which, in this edition, had the added challenge of guaranteeing customers that the (re)meeting would be safe.
The return to the biggest fair on the market
October has arrived and, for the Export team, the return to FESPA2021 proved to be a “remarkable” moment due to the impact of once again “seeing people from all over the world gathered together at a fair”. A “sign of hope to return to normal life”, after 20 months marked by the pandemic that met the “great” expectations of decal and its customers.
Carlos Alves highlights the “strong interest of companies” in “doing business”, adding that “the efforts required to be present at an event like FESPA, in the current circumstances, meant that the objectivity of the visitors we met really stood out”.
It is, in fact, the visitors who make FESPA a unique business opportunity and the smaller influence in this edition was not seen as a negative point. On the other hand, the “strong presence” of customers and decal partners was pointed out and “the quality and possible results of the meetings made up for the quantity”.
This edition’s decal novelties
This was helped by the new decal vinyl anti-humidity collection, alldecor 2d and PVC Free ranges, developed for the visual communication and interior decoration segments.
Carlos Alves points out that these innovative products were “extremely well received” because they represent “solutions that the markets are looking for to problems that have been going on for a long time, such as curling, waving, high vinyl cast prices and eco-friendly products”.
These solutions, along with the others that make up decal’s self-adhesive product range for the large format digital printing market, brought many visitors to our brand’s stand over the four days.
The “closing” of 2021 with 2022 on the horizon
It is not yet possible to fully quantify the results of the 2021 edition, but those that already exist indicate positive results, contributing to the fact that expectations for the 2022 edition will exceed those of this year.
The date and venue are confirmed – May 31 to June 3 at the Messe Berlin, Germany – and Carlos Alves adds that the Export department believes that “next year we will have a much larger volume of customers and we hope to have even more news to present at the next edition”.
Till then, there is a lot of post-show work to do and, according to our sales manager, this translates into “doing what we do best, which is to promote our brand and sell the solutions we have. Our aim is always to develop and look for partners so that we have the right companies representing us all over the world.”
