Packaging Innovations & Empack

At Packaging Innovations & Empack you can cover packaging materials, machinery and outsourced packing for free at NEC Birmingham, as one ticket gets you into three shows. Easyfairs runs this two-day packaging and processing trade exhibition, combining Packaging Innovations for materials and packaging design, Empack for machinery and automation, and Contract Pack & Fulfilment for outsourced packing, fulfilment and third-party logistics. The 2026 show was the 21st edition, and the organiser describes the event as annual.

Dates and admission for 2027

Entry is free, and your one visitor ticket covers Packaging Innovations, Empack and Contract Pack & Fulfilment, so it is worth reading what a co-located exhibition ticket covers if you are planning a route across all three. The next edition runs on Wednesday 24 February 2027 from 10:00 to 17:00 and Thursday 25 February 2027 from 10:00 to 16:00. The event is strictly for those aged 16 and over. Undergraduate students and apprentices on relevant courses can attend by registering as students. You may register on arrival, though the organiser advises registering in advance. Sales pitching to exhibitors is not allowed.

Who visits and who exhibits

As an exhibitor you can meet CEOs and managing directors, packaging developers, buyers and new product developers, all named by the organiser among its visitors. Its breakdown of job functions puts management at 17%, procurement at 12% and marketing, design and brand management at 7%. The exhibitor directory is grouped by end market: food and food service, beauty and personal care, drinks, household and FMCG, and retail and ecommerce.

The 2027 exhibitor directory lists 428 companies, with 363 under Packaging Innovations and 65 under Empack. Product categories include flexible plastic packaging, corrugated packaging, caps and closures, and contract packing and fulfilment services, with exhibitors from countries including China, India and Greece. The show sits in our manufacturing and engineering listings.

Features, talks and awards

You can see packaging machinery in action, attend CPD-accredited sessions and put a product or a career forward for feedback and awards.

• Empack Tour, a route for seeing packaging machinery in action.
• Automation & Robotics Zone, the Discovery Theatre and CPD-accredited sessions.
• Museum of Failure, Material ConneXion, the Expert Trail, a beer bar and the Northern Design Festival, all listed as 2026 features.
• Future Trailblazer Awards for early-career packaging professionals, who can enter themselves or be nominated.
• Pitch the Co-Packers, where brands looking to scale production present products to co-packers for expert feedback and compete for support to grow.

Speakers named on the official site include senior staff from Whole Foods, Siemens, Mars, PepsiCo, HelloFresh and Asda. The Packaging Plus app holds your entry voucher, floorplan, exhibitor list and agenda, and the organiser says its matchmaking tool suggests suppliers and books meetings on the show floor.

Show size and leads per stand

You can judge the show by its 2026 figures.

Edition	Dates	Venue	Visitors	Exhibitors
2026 (21st)	11 and 12 February	NEC Birmingham	8,021 unique visitors	500 suppliers
2027	24 and 25 February	NEC Birmingham

According to the organiser, the 2026 visitors came from more than 3,000 brands and each stand averaged 91 leads.

Exhibiting

You can book a shell scheme stand that comes furnished and powered. Shell scheme stands come in multiples of 12 square metres and include a table, two chairs, a literature rack, one open side, two spotlights, a twin 500-watt socket and daily cleaning. Space-only plots suit companies building their own stand, and our guide to shell scheme or space only sets out the trade-offs. Every booking comes with an EasyGo package (GoVisibility, GoLeads, GoPlus or GoPremium). All tiers include smart badge readers, with GoLeads, GoPlus and GoPremium giving one, two and three readers and also including the Visit Connect lead-capture app.

Easyfairs also runs Lab Innovations and Advanced Engineering, both at the NEC from 4 November 2026, and Southern Manufacturing & Electronics at Farnborough from 2 February 2027. For a packaging show in the south, London Packaging Week opens at Excel London on 22 September 2027.

Getting there

You save £5 if you pay for parking before the day of your visit, bringing the cost to £12.95 to £29.95 depending on vehicle, and parking is booked through the NEC. The NEC is in Solihull, joined to Birmingham International station by a five-minute indoor walk and to Birmingham Airport by the free Air-Rail Link. Drivers arrive via the M42, M40 and M6. The 900 bus from Moor Street runs every 20 minutes and takes about 30 minutes. HotelMap is the show’s accommodation partner. More events in the city are on our Birmingham trade shows page.

Source: packagingbirmingham.com, packagingbirmingham.com/why-exhibit, packagingbirmingham.com/plan-your-visit, packagingbirmingham.com/faq