Astrapak eyes opportunities at Africa’s Big Seven

South African packaging heavyweight Astrapak Limited is exhibiting for the first time at Africa’s Big Seven Food and Beverage Trade Expo (AB7) with a view to expanding its business to local and extended home markets. The seven-in-one show takes place at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand from 17 to 19 July 2011.
“AB7 is a constantly-growing exhibition which offers exhibitors a valuable opportunity to interact with thousands of local and overseas customers in the food and beverage market”, says Charles Muller, Group Marketing Executive of Astrapak. Last year, AB7 attracted record attendance of 7 600 visitors from 42 countries, with 300 exhibitors from 39 countries. This year, exhibitor registration is already 47 percent higher than last year.
Astrapak Limited employs over 4 000 people, has an annual turnover of around R3-billion and offers a wide range of flexible and rigid packaging solutions. As part of a R100-million investment in its flexible operations, Astrapak is investing in state-of-the-art equipment to produce higher quality films.
“The Board decided that it was time to upgrade our technologies in 2011 to become a superior producer of flexible products that compares favourably with anything else available in the world,” adds Muller.
In January the company announced the despatch of a multilayer cast extruder from Italy to its Tristar Plastics operation in Johannesburg.
Astrapak will exhibit its latest food and beverage packaging product line-up at AB7, which is a key component of its manufacturing operations. “Africa’s Big Seven will give us the exposure we are looking for to go hand-in-hand with our philosophy, ‘A world of opportunities’”. He feels that AB7 will provide a solid networking foundation to spread the Astrapak message to the rest of Africa.
EMS will add a fifth hall to last year’s total floor space, to accommodate even more exhibitors than last year. “Already 80% of the expanded available space has been booked,” says John Thomson of Exhibition Management Services, organisers of the event.  “Many new exhibitor countries such as Spain, Angola, Russia and Iran are making first time appearances. As always, the AB7 expo exhibits the latest in innovation, products and technology in the food and beverage business, and it’s the perfect stage for companies to take business to new heights”.
Africa’s Big Seven is the ideal venue for entrepreneurs, small business owners and independent retailers to discover new products and suppliers, and for manufacturers to find new customers and markets, and for every participant to gain insights into the latest trends in the world food industry.
The AB7 trade expo showcases a vast array of products, equipment, services, systems and technologies, comprising:

• Agri-Food – manufacturers and producers expo seven shows in one;
• IFMA – dedicated biennial meat industry expo;
• FoodBiz Africa – food service and equipment;
• FoodTech Africa, together with DrinkTech – production, processing and packaging;
• InterBake Africa – equipment, processes and ingredients for the baking industry;
• Pan Africa Retail Exhibition – food, beverages, merchandise and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG);
• Retail Solutions Africa – technology for retailers.

AB7 and the Southern African International Trade Exhibition (SAITEX) take place together, offering visitors free access to both shows for unprecedented exposure.