Loupe India 2026: Transformation of label and packaging is evident!

 

 Loupe India, formerly known as Labelexpo India was held on 29^th October to 1^st November 2026 at India Expo Mart Limited NOIDA. The event was well attended, and the changing face of this industry was evident. One of the salient points was a generational change happening. While the reduced attendance of Industry’s elders and veterans was felt, yet the freshness of the next generation stepping into decision-making roles indicates the transformation happening in Indian label and packaging industry. Technological evolution is an imperative, change is always the prevailing constant! We witnessed industry suppliers reworking their strategies, label and packaging converters indulging in technologies other than conventional and imminent transformation; the indigenisation of equipment, tooling and materials. A very important wind of change blowing over this colorful and vibrant industry is the increasing number of women in leadership roles in every aspect of operations.

Some of the elders/veterans who have been regulars or visible part of label industry and were not seen at this event included Narendra Paruchuri of Pragati Pack Hyderabad, Surender Kapur of JK Prints, Ramesh Deshpande of Renu Prints, Kusum Dunglay of Goodwork Company, Gururaj Ballarwad former owner of Wintek Bangalore, P C Jain of Great Eastern ID Tech Gurgaon, Marc Reynders of Reynders Chaupanki Rajasthan, Debashish Sarkar of Classic Images, Late UK Gupta of Holostik Noida, Bharat Mehta of erstwhile Super labels Mumbai, late Bhushan Banahatti of Narayan Offset Nagpur, Subhash/Romi Bhandhari of Nirmal Stickers, Vikrant Kapoor of Printrays Jalandhar, B S Reddy of Pravesha, Vijay Varma of Arunodaya Print Pack, A Ramesh of SK Strappings & Labels Chennai, and so many others. The names mentioned are those who may have missed due to pre-occupation, may have taken a back seat, retired, left business or have sadly passed away. Their contribution to industry is and will always be remembered for leaving behind a legacy that is precious. The presence of some of the 2^nd generations that have taken leadership or decision-making roles  was evident. These young leaders are either management graduates or trained hands on in their factories and have access to an ocean of knowledge online expanded by AI. They impart a different kind of approach to selection and purchase, leading to expansion of their companies.

 

           

Over the decades the narrow web label industry has continued to transform. What started in the early 1970s as converted with slow flatbed letterpress machines printing 4-5 inches per minute in 5 inches width, transformed into CI flexo rotary converting in the mid-1980s running at increased speeds in 7 inches width with inline die-cutting. In years following the introduction of flexo rotary the width went wider to 10 inches or 250 mm and speeds up to 40 to 50 meters per minute. As flexo plate making evolved, in the 1990s, modular multicolur presses printing with water-based inks and hot air dryers too became evident and speeds reaching closer to 100 meters per minute. Another transformation happened with the switchover to UV flexo due towards the end of 1990s. Quality became improved and consistent with speeds rising further due to UV curing. Rapid transformation happened in the first decade of the new millennium; inline embellishments were introduced, printing widths increased from 250mm and further to 330mm and more. Narrow web presses with combination of various print technologies were introduced and print width increased further at higher speeds. Another new technology transformation made it presence in the self-adhesive label industry in India, digital label production started in 2008, but the acceptance was minimal. Digital label printing has been growing and evolving slowly and steadily with different variants like inkjet, dry toner, liquid toner and UV Inkjet. Digital printing has grown as a stand-alone printing process with offline finishing because inline finishing made the equipment unaffordable. However, the width and speed kept on increasing with evolution.

At Loupe India 2026 one could sense that it is time when digital equipment is making a definite statement of having arrived for good in the Indian label converting segment. The highest number of digital presses ever displayed at this Loupe, formerly Labelexpo, were present along with hybrid presses making their entry and registering sales. While HP leadership mentioned earlier that it has been the best year for them. Pulisi exhibited their hybrid press with inline flexo, embellishments and die-cutting. They also announced multiple sales. Pictures taken during my walk through the show are proof of the increased proliferation of digital printing in labels.

Labels have been over the decades been a male dominated industry but at Loupe we saw the ongoing transformation, more and more women are taking up leadership positions in all segments like converting, pre-press, equipment supplies etc. This article would be lacking in its focus if names of some of the women who were prominently visible are not quoted. I mention them; Priyata Raghavan of Sai Packaging, Manjula & Preeti Mishra of Holosafe, Isha Deshpande of Trigon Digital, Minakshi Mittal of Wonderpac, Manjusha Singh of DIC, Priyanka Rathi of Holostik, Nalani Jaichandra of VEEPEE Graphics, Shagun Walia and Shipra Bijawat of Avery Dennison, Taruna Garg of NBG, Jinali Mehta of Reifenhuaser, and many more. The women in Informa team led by Jade Grace, and Chelsea Mcdougal were omni present taking care of arrangements or reporting the event proceedings. They did an excellent job.

Loupe India was supported by LMAI (Label Manufacturers Association of India), with most of the board of directors present at the show. On the second evening of the exhibition the glittering LMAI Awards night was held to a full house of industry constituents.

 

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Written by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited New Delhi November 2026