Taking place in Chicago from 15 to 17 September, LOUPE Americas 2026 will show how technologies from label production can be transferred to flexible packaging. The focus will primarily be on pouches, shrink sleeves and other roll-to-roll applications. For the first time, the trade show will be held under the LOUPE name instead of Labelexpo, reflecting its broader scope.
Based on an article by Andy Thomas-Emans, Strategic Director, LOUPE Global.
Flexible packaging will be a key focus at LOUPE Americas 2026. In doing so, the trade show continues a development that has been evident at the former Labelexpo events for around twelve years: narrow- and mid-web machines originally developed for label production are increasingly being used to convert flexible packaging materials.
These applications include shrink sleeves and pouches in particular, as well as other roll-to-roll formats such as form-fill-seal packaging. For label converters, this development creates opportunities to use existing machinery, expertise and production structures for additional packaging applications.
Short runs, a large number of different packaging variants, customised designs and short lead times are particularly relevant. In this segment, narrow- and mid-web equipment can occupy a market niche in which wide-web converters cannot always operate economically due to their production structures.
More than a change of name
The renaming of Labelexpo as LOUPE is intended to reflect these technological and market developments. While Labelexpo was historically positioned primarily as a trade show for label printing and converting, LOUPE explicitly covers three areas: labels, flexible packaging and the inline converting of folding cartons.
Labels remain the technological core. LOUPE is therefore not becoming a general packaging trade show. The focus remains on technologies originating in narrow-web label production: inline flexographic printing, digital printing, hybrid press concepts and the associated embellishment, converting and automation solutions.
The main difference from the former Labelexpo is thus the more explicit inclusion of adjacent packaging segments. The show will demonstrate how production concepts developed for the label market can be transferred to flexible packaging and inline folding-carton applications. Conventional wide-web processes such as CI flexographic printing or gravure printing are no more central to the show concept than conventional sheetfed offset printing. The emphasis is on short and medium runs, a wide variety of versions and high-value, embellished packaging products.
LOUPE Americas is the first event in the series to be held under the new name. It will take place from 15 to 17 September 2026 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, near Chicago. The organiser is positioning it as a platform for label and package printing with more than 400 exhibitors.
Process chains for flexible packaging
The trade show is expected to cover the entire process chain relevant to narrow- and mid-web flexible packaging. This includes inline flexographic, digital and hybrid presses with web widths of up to approximately 660 mm, slitting and rewinding systems, laminating technology, materials, inks and coatings, as well as equipment for embellishment, pouch making and shrink-sleeve converting.
Several exhibitors will focus on integrated production workflows rather than individual machines.
HP Indigo will present the HP Indigo 200K digital press alongside the narrow-web HP Indigo 6K+. Both presses will be used to produce flexible packaging and labels. Another focus will be on collaboration with converting partners to demonstrate complete production chains from printing through to the finished packaging product.
Flexible packaging and shrink-sleeve applications will be produced on the HP Indigo 200K. Converting will be handled by an updated 30-inch-wide Gonderflex platform for thermal lamination and coating. The system is equipped with a JetFX digital embellishment solution. According to the supplier, the JetFX system complies with the relevant requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Union and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment for food-contact materials.
Karlville will also convert a job printed on the HP Indigo 200K. The company will use its new Combi laminator, which can laminate flexible packaging, shrink sleeves and self-adhesive labels using solvent-free or thermal processes. The K3 Plus shrink-sleeve converting system will also be on display.
Pouch production and digital printing
AB Graphic International will introduce its new ABG FlexPack division to the North American market. Its stand will feature a Galaxy GS20 Plus pouch-making machine combined with ABG’s Pouch Jet digital inline embellishment system. According to the company, this configuration will be presented in North America for the first time.
Mark Andy will demonstrate flexible packaging printing on a Performance Series S9 press. The two scheduled jobs are a dog-treat pouch and a form-fill-seal pack. Both will be printed in CMYK with two layers of white. The substrates will be supplied by Multi-Plastics and the inks by Sun Chemical. Mark Andy will also display samples of finished pouches produced on a Karlville converting machine.
Xeikon, Flint Group’s digital printing division, will print pouches at the show. The company will use a Xeikon TX500 digital press with Titon toner technology to print a single-layer flexible packaging material with barrier properties supplied by Synthogra.
As part of its “One Complete” concept, Bobst will present pouches printed on a Master M6 and subsequently converted using a Nova SX 550 solvent-free laminator.
Digital embellishment reaches pouches and shrink sleeves
Alongside printing, the inline and offline embellishment of flexible packaging is also becoming increasingly important. In addition to the JetFX and ABG systems, SAPA Intelligent Technology will present its DMS digital embellishment line for shrink sleeves and flexible packaging.
The modular roll-to-roll system combines digital foil application, 3D embossing, spot varnishing and holographic transfer on a single platform. Breit Technologies will show equipment for the Cast and Cure process, which can be used to create visual and tactile effects on flexible packaging.
The examples illustrate a central element of the LOUPE concept: technologies for customisation and embellishment that are already established in the label market are being transferred to adjacent packaging formats. The trade show is therefore aimed particularly at converters producing pouches and shrink sleeves in shorter runs or with frequently changing designs.
Films, papers and functional materials
The range of materials on display will also cover various flexible packaging applications. Cosmo Films will show transparent anti-fog BOPET lidding films for fresh produce, barrier films for pet food, temperature-resistant TR-BOPP films, high-barrier BOPP films and retortable lidding films.
Flexcon will present reclosable film constructions. JCR Pack’s range includes shrink films, barrier materials, adhesive tapes, stretch films, closures, biaxially oriented polyamide films and absorbent pads.
Nobelus will present StrataFlex METPET Thermal Pre-Lams, pre-laminated films with a heat-activated adhesive layer. The company will also show specialist surfaces available as films and thermal laminates. These include soft-touch, textured and holographic surfaces as well as scratch-resistant constructions. New additions to the range are Karess Soft Touch, FineGrit Rough Touch and FineGrain.
Avery Dennison will present its Rapid-Roll portfolio for flexible packaging. It includes pouch materials with paper or film facings, snack-packaging webs suitable for liquid contents, and the ChemControl and StickPak product ranges.
Sappi North America will show fibre-based flexible packaging materials. These include LusterBag, a high-strength material for dynamic filling processes which, according to the manufacturer, is FDA-compliant. Propyplast will present flexible packaging films alongside its existing portfolio for in-mould labels. Protect-all will showcase laminating and surface-coating technologies.
Barrier coatings for mono-materials
In certain applications, barrier coatings can replace complex laminates and thus enable recyclable mono-material structures. Corresponding solutions will therefore form another focus of the trade show.
Siegwerk has announced a new high-barrier coating for the production of fully recyclable, single-layer polypropylene pouches. According to the company, the inline-applied system of white ink and an oxygen barrier is designed to achieve the barrier performance, seal integrity and print quality previously associated primarily with more complex multi-material structures.
Archroma Packaging Technologies will exhibit for the first time and present barrier coatings for fibre-based and flexible packaging.
INX International Ink will show its Innova Plus NCF and BelleFlora NCF nitrocellulose-free ink systems developed for flexible packaging.
GEW will present air- and water-cooled LED UV systems. For flexible packaging, these systems are particularly relevant due to their energy efficiency and lower heat input compared with mercury-vapour lamps.
Software and web handling complete the process chain
In addition to printing, materials and coatings, the exhibition will include software for production planning and control. CERM, eProductivity Software and HiFlow Solutions will present MIS and ERP modules for flexible packaging.
Martin Automatic will show the MBS automatic butt splicer and the LRD transfer rewinder for the automation of production lines for flexible packaging and shrink sleeves. KTI will also present automated web-handling solutions, including the ZC and ZG butt splicers and MR Series turret rewinders.
Ashe Converting Equipment will exhibit its Diamond wide-web duplex centre-wind slitter rewinder for the first time. The machine is intended in part for label converters entering flexible packaging production and looking to slit master rolls to the required widths.
PouchMark Automation will demonstrate variable information printing directly onto Mylar and other film pouches, as well as tubing. International Media Products will show thermal transfer solutions for coding flexible packaging.
Label technology as the starting point for diversification
The exhibitor examples show that the evolution from Labelexpo to LOUPE is more than a change of name. It follows the increasing convergence of label production and packaging converting. Printers are now using digital, flexographic and hybrid technology beyond conventional self-adhesive labels and are expanding their offerings to include shrink sleeves, pouches and other flexible formats.
LOUPE reflects this development without abandoning its technological origins. Its focus is not package printing as a whole, but a clearly defined segment: narrow- and mid-web roll-to-roll production processes for short runs, numerous variants and high-value applications.
This is precisely what distinguishes the new LOUPE both from the former Labelexpo, which focused more heavily on labels, and from broadly positioned printing and packaging trade shows. The event is broadening its scope, but its starting point remains the press concepts, process chains and expertise of the label industry.
